What is your opinion on Ivo Andric?

[johann cruyff]

You guys have most certainly heard of this author - some of you have probably only heard of him in the context of being a Nobel Prize laureate,some of you may have read some of his works.Anyway,for those of you who have read his books,what do you think?

He is generally considered to be the finest writer coming from the Balkans(alongside,let's say,Krleza and Selimovic),whose works aren't,as many tend to think,understandable only to those well versed in Ottoman history of the Balkans - it is true that he deals predominantly with that period,but his philosophy and ideas transgress geographical borders.

If you haven't read anything written by Andric,I recommend The Damned Yard,The Bridge on Drina and The Chronicles of Travnik,along with many short stories such as The Letter from 1920,The Viziers Elephant etc.I strongly suggest you read any of those books if you find them.

Oh,BTW,if any of you are interested in any information regarding Bosnian,Croatian or Serbian literature,feel free to ask me,I'll do my best to answer.

[Etienne]

He's on my list of things to buy and so is Selimovic (I had noted The Dervish and Death), and I'm adding Krleza.

[ex ponto]

He's the only world class writer in the former Yugoslavian countries.

[Remarkable]

"The Bridge over Drin" is a fascinating book!Well,Ivo Andriç is also a great writer but the problem of the authors of small countries is that they don't have enough publicity.Balcan has some very fine writers and not only in the former Yugoslavia...

[aabbcc]

He's the only world class writer in the former Yugoslavian countries.
[bolded part mine] Why would he be the only one? Perhaps he is the only one that is widely known of, but he is definitely not the only one regarding good authors from that area who could compete the best masterpieces of world literature.

But as somebody said, the tragedy of "little countries" is that all - or most of - the cultural treasures they have remains hidden within and it takes quite an effort to break the obstacle - language to start with (too little is translated at all and some of the best things were never translated). If it weren't for that, ex-Yu countries would have a few rather recognised authors.

[ex ponto]

[bolded part mine] Why would he be the only one? Perhaps he is the only one that is widely known of, but he is definitely not the only one regarding good authors from that area who could compete the best masterpieces of world literature.

But as somebody said, the tragedy of "little countries" is that all - or most of - the cultural treasures they have remains hidden within and it takes quite an effort to break the obstacle - language to start with (too little is translated at all and some of the best things were never translated). If it weren't for that, ex-Yu countries would have a few rather recognised authors.

Well, that's my opinion. If you spill your blood for your art - you must achieve something valuable. And that's what I think Andric has done in his early days. I mean - made sacrifices in his life, in many ways, for the sake of his art. And he's the only one that has done it in such extent - in Serbian literature.
So, there are good Serbian poems, stories, novels, but not really great, world class, authors. Except him.
Sorry, I don't have enough knowledge to speak abot Croatian, or especially Slovenian literature.

[johann cruyff]

Well, that's my opinion. If you spill your blood for your art - you must achieve something valuable. And that's what I think Andric has done in his early days. I mean - made sacrifices in his life, in many ways, for the sake of his art. And he's the only one that has done it in such extent - in Serbian literature.
So, there are good Serbian poems, stories, novels, but not really great, world class, authors. Except him.
Sorry, I don't have enough knowledge to speak abot Croatian, or especially Slovenian literature.

Well,I think that's where you're wrong.There are a few more great,world class authors,but there's a significant difference between world class and world famous...

[aabbcc]

(...) there's a significant difference between world class and world famous...
That is what I had in mind, (hvala, kolega :D). I personally believe that there is a whole set of ex-Yu authors who, had they written in another language and in another country, would have been famous worldwide (but then we end up on the previous point - the tragedy of little countries...).
Matoš' short stories and poems
Držić's plays (before Shakespeare!)
Krleža's novels
Šenoa's novels (proto-realism and realism, some of which could compete the best world's realist masterpieces) and The Fall of Venice
Gundulić's epic works
Selimović's novels
the legendary Dis
even that virtually-illegible Marulić, and not only Judita
...

One could even argue that some of the most known world masterpieces are masterpieces not only due to their quality, but also due to luck of having been written "in the right time and place", and in the right language. So often I wonder how much awesome literature there must be in places like Hungary, Finland, Czech Republic, Greece, etc, who - to greater or lesser degree - share the tragedy of being small countries with languages which are on the world level virtually insignificant.
When you think of Greek literature, do you ever think of anything other than literature of classical antiquity and Kazantzakis? When you think of Israeli literature, do you ever think of anything other than, say, Kishon or Grossman?That is what is appreciated because that is what is known worldwide, not necessarily vice-versa. Who knows, maybe they have some incredibly beautiful works which are simply not known.
Maybe there is far more to Hungarian literature than Hamvas or those few romantic poets that are translated, but we simply do not know of it?
Not to mention that authors that are world famous are not always world class (Gavran probably being the best example from Croatian literature - you would not believe, but whilst Držić or Gundulić are not translated, Gavran is... and that is what the world judges them based on, not their greatest pieces - because they are unheard of).

Some countries simply have got greater cultural impact on the world far more due to their political power or similar factors (such as US today with cultural imperialism), than to the fact that the English, or the French, or the Americn, or the Russian have the best literature in absolute. What is known worldwide is often known worldwide due to a whole other set of circumstances other than its quality... Which is not to say that the aforementioned nations do not have got some of the best world literary pieces - but aren't we all a bit biased when ready to claim them to have brilliant literature without considering these factors?

... after all, was it not Njegoš who noticed, Iz grmena velikoga lafu izać trudno nije / U velikim narodima geniju se gnj’jezdo vije? (roughly translates as - the lion does not have difficulties getting out of big bush; the nest for the genius is in the big nations)
... Lion cannot easily get out of small nations.
One, they see him.
Two, he writes in some obscure little language nobody has even heard of, let alone speak.
Three, his country is usually too poor or too insignificant to have its works translated worldwide. Or both, which is the worst case.

Think about that. Making absolute claims is potentially dangerous. There is far much more behind "great classics" than their quality at times.

But this is getting off-topic, so I suggest we either open a new thread for this, or just turn back to Andrić.;)
I like Andrić's works.

[bazarov]

Ooooo, what a topic!

Hej Slaveni, još ste živi! :)

Johan Cruyff, Barca's legend opened really interesting topic...I am just reading Dervish and the Death and it's really a great book (someone asked).
In my opinion, if Krleža was a French, Russian or American and not some Tito's partisan, he would be worldwide known; in this way he is just a unknown world-class writer.

Anastasija, I mostly agree with you with one question: what or who is Dis?

[aabbcc]

Anastasija, I mostly agree with you with one question: what or who is Dis?
Dis... (http://www.tvorac-grada.com/poznati/dis.html)

[johann cruyff]

An interesting link that doesn't quite explain who Dis was,though...

Vladislav Petković Dis,Serbian impressionist,a pretty talented poet,albeit not too famous,even in Serbia,I believe.IIRC,he died in WWI,his ship sunk.

[aabbcc]

An interesting link that doesn't quite explain who Dis was,though...
... but I could have sworn that author's works told more about him than biographical information or trivia on how he foretold his death? :bawling: :D :crash:

[johann cruyff]

... but I could have sworn that author's works told more about him than biographical information or trivia on how he foretold his death? :bawling: :D :crash:

Touché!:)

I bet everyone here instantly knows everything about the mysterious author in your signature upon reading it as well...:D (just kidding,you do have a point,but the page you linked us to doesn't even give the poet's name).

[bazarov]

Just came on my mail; some kid in Serbia said it to his teacher :


ko je bio ivo andric?
- on je bio zidar i napravio je najveci most na drini, al mu nisu platili.
:lol: :lol:

[johann cruyff]

I sincerely hope that kid was six or something...:crash: