Status Updates From Omer Pasha Latas: Marshal t...

The emphasis on different characters: the marshal’s procurer, kitchen lead, and wife paints in the corners of this world. Desire and violence fill in the spaces between. I’m reminded of Tolstoy’s Hadji Murad, Roth’s Radetsky March, and even The Glory of the Empire by Jean d’Ormesson.

The way that Andrić builds the world of 19th century Sarajevo and its environs then populates it with individuals, invaders, and their attendant horror is incredible. The passages on melancholy are perfect meditations.