Tuesday 8 February 2011

Broken April - Classic Novel

Sorry for the delay on the new post, I've been really tied down as of late. Moving on, the next classic novel I will share with you is "Broken April" by Ismail Kadare. Ismail Kadare is an Albanian author who has tremendous talent, especially in poetry. He has deservedly been nominated for numerous Noble Awards.
Broken April  is a deep and sincere story set in the High Plateau, by where the central Albanian government does not run there. This means that any killing that occurs will not go unavenged. To say it bluntly, blood feuding is effective gorvernment.First we meet Gjorg, who is forced to avenge his brother's death, and eventually finds himself in the centre of a blood feud which has torn him and the opposing family to peices.
Along come a rich couple from the capital city Tirana, who have decided to visit High Plateau. They cross paths with Gjorg, and become part of something they wouldn't expect on any type of holiday they would go to.

"To tell the truth, this was one of the few cases in which she had not told him just what she was thinking. Usually, she let him know whatever thoughts happened to come to her, and indeed he never took it amiss if she let slip a word that might pain him, because when all was said and done that was the price one paid for sincerity." 

"His suspicion that he was not going in the right direction tortmented him more and more. At last he had the conviction that he would never go anywhere but in the wrong direction, to the very end of the handful of days that was left to him, unhappy moonstruck pilgrim, whose April was to be cut off short." 


This was, at first, not a particularly appealing novel for me to buy. I knew of the author yet was unsure as to whether to pursue it. After reading this classic novel, I was certainly glad I picked it up. Without any exaggeration whatsoever, it is a fantastic novel, and also extremely depressing. To gain somewhat of an insight in Albanian history, as well as be gripped into a chilling story made this book such an entertaining read.
Ismail Kadare is a genius with this book, and I have promised myself to look into more novels he has wrote. "Broken April" by Ismail Kadare is a classic novel by a classic author. If there is one author who you wish to look into, it is, without a doubt, Kadare.

7 comments:

  1. the cover is interesting, and it sounds really interesting I'll have to pick up a copy to check out

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  2. I read this not too long ago! Its a good one.

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  3. Read this one also a bit ago. Can't remember some of it so it might be time to re-read. Thanks for the reminder!

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  4. I'll have to check my library to see if I can't find it. It might be interesting.

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  5. When was it published? Thanks for the suggestion, will add it to my reading list for sure :)

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  6. As an Albanian, the synopsis of this novel definitely hits close to home on a personal level. Sounds like a fantastic story, and from experience can attest to the truth behind these old-world policies.

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