I didn't know anything about Albania. If I had to point out where in Europe it is, it would be like playing pin the tail on the donkey blindfolded - the tail could land up on its ass or its nose or anywhere in between. So first things first, Google. I discover that Albania is in southern Europe. It is bordered by Greece in the south and shares the rest of its borders with some other countries I know nothing about. Yet.
I chose Ismail Kadare's Chronicle in Stone for the period it is set in - World War II. Of the little that I know of WWII, Somewhere-in-Europe-Albania figures nowhere
The novel is set in a small city close to the Albanian-Greek border. When the story starts the border with Greece has just been closed and the city is under Italian control. But, this does not affect the protagonist's life, a young boy of 12-13. He spends his days traipsing around the city with his best friend Ilir, dreaming up gory fantasies and listening in to the gossip that the neighbours bring to his grandmother. But, his idyllic existence is short lived. The war intensifies and air raids, fighter planes, sirens and bomb shelters take over the cityscape. The city gets tossed around from the Italians to the Greeks and back and forth a couple of times. Every change brings with it more mayhem in the life of the boy and his friends and neighbours. They are forced to seek refuge first in the citadel and then later in a village in the outskirts. The story ends just before the end of the War, as the inhabitants return to their homes...'Again the tender flesh of life was filling the carapace of stone.'
While neither the name of the protagonist or the town is mentioned in the novel, the age of the protagonist and the description and location of the city implies that it is autobiographical in nature. The events that inflict the region are in sync with the history of Gijrokaster, Kadare's hometown.
The writer creates many detailed images and makes the landscape pop up from the pages. His favourite tool literary tool is personification. The river, his house, books, the streets, all come to life. In one instance, he describes the fortress where the boy along with the rest of the citizens seek refuge:
'The fortress was indeed very old. It had given birth to the city, and our houses resembled the citadel the way children look like their mothers. Over the centuries, the city had grown up a lot.'
The novel delivers a strong message about war and its effects on everyone in its path. As I read it I picture a boy in a city in Sudan, watching the buildings around his house crumble to the ground. Or a young boy on a Greek island looking out from his window as refugees filter into his town...'The windowpanes were covered with frost. I stared blankly at the swarms of refugees on the road below. In tatters. Snowflakes and rags. The world seemed filled with them.'
I chose Ismail Kadare's Chronicle in Stone for the period it is set in - World War II. Of the little that I know of WWII, Somewhere-in-Europe-Albania figures nowhere
The novel is set in a small city close to the Albanian-Greek border. When the story starts the border with Greece has just been closed and the city is under Italian control. But, this does not affect the protagonist's life, a young boy of 12-13. He spends his days traipsing around the city with his best friend Ilir, dreaming up gory fantasies and listening in to the gossip that the neighbours bring to his grandmother. But, his idyllic existence is short lived. The war intensifies and air raids, fighter planes, sirens and bomb shelters take over the cityscape. The city gets tossed around from the Italians to the Greeks and back and forth a couple of times. Every change brings with it more mayhem in the life of the boy and his friends and neighbours. They are forced to seek refuge first in the citadel and then later in a village in the outskirts. The story ends just before the end of the War, as the inhabitants return to their homes...'Again the tender flesh of life was filling the carapace of stone.'
While neither the name of the protagonist or the town is mentioned in the novel, the age of the protagonist and the description and location of the city implies that it is autobiographical in nature. The events that inflict the region are in sync with the history of Gijrokaster, Kadare's hometown.
'The fortress was indeed very old. It had given birth to the city, and our houses resembled the citadel the way children look like their mothers. Over the centuries, the city had grown up a lot.'
The novel delivers a strong message about war and its effects on everyone in its path. As I read it I picture a boy in a city in Sudan, watching the buildings around his house crumble to the ground. Or a young boy on a Greek island looking out from his window as refugees filter into his town...'The windowpanes were covered with frost. I stared blankly at the swarms of refugees on the road below. In tatters. Snowflakes and rags. The world seemed filled with them.'
Strange that descriptions from half a century ago, stand true today. Only the locations and the players change.
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