What do You think about Bosnian Chronicle (1993)?
The Bosnian Chronicles is a fictitious account of the 19th century diplomatic squabble between the Napoleonic French and Royal Austrian super powers in the microcosmic town of Travnik; More importantly it's how this seemingly undaunted hamlet reflects the far-sounding events with such intensity as if it had been placed at the very heart of the conflict itself. Not unlike other Andrić narrations, the geographical setting is claustroscopic in nature. This precludes the type of breath-taking sweeping epic trait that Drina carries; In fact, where this novel excels is not at manipulating the time or space dimension, but in crafting the human dimension to great depth and gut wrenching effects. It excels on isolating the several atoms of existence that make up the small town of Travnik and exposing their reaction to their own observance by the external stimuli that is the larger than life struggle for power.It's not by any means a book of easy digestion. It's not - if I'm honest with my own experience - a book to be read during daily commuting. To fully appreciate it, i found that one needs considerable amounts of time at hand, has it takes it's time to introduce and develop characters and their interactions. The mundane social rites, gossiping, ploys and copious others instances of interplay - and obviously the way in which these are so masterfully presented to us - end up amplifying Travnik into it's own world, vibrant with life, strife and complexities. Andrić pits the old and the young, the secular and the religious, the modern and the conservative, the Grandiose and the minnow by drawing up several unique, realistic and complex characters. Another great work by Andrić, who cemented his place as one of my favorite authors, if not the very favorite.
—Flávio Sousa
http://nhw.livejournal.com/522861.html[return][return]I had previously heard of this book as Travnik Chronicle, which is the original Serbo-Croat title, but only worked out that they were the same novel as I was finishing it. It's the story of life in Andri's home town of Travnik as experienced by the Austrian and French consuls during the Napoleonic wars, told mainly from the viewpoint of the foreigners living in the town. I really liked it.[return][return]Travnik was the administrative capital of Bosnia until 1850, so the obvious place for the consuls to be posted. I thought at first that there was no plot at all, just a series of balanced and very detailed character sketches of the consuls themselves, their wives, the three successive viziers, and their staff. The native Bosnians themselves are not at the centre of the narrative - the Catholic clergy feature quite a lot, the mainly Muslim townspeople to a large extent as stereotypes (the book's biggest flaw), the Jewish community are reasonably well represented, the local Serbs come into it only twice quice near the end.[return][return]But I began to realise that the book is largely about how people experience other cultures. Although the foreigners - Austrians, French and Ottoman viziers - all hate living in Travnik and dealing with the locals, I think Andri portrays this as a big mistake on their part. Danville, the French consul who arrives at the start and leaves at the end, is the most sympathetic character, perhaps closest to a viewpoint character, but he is perpetually writing bad poetry about Napoleon and missing the local drama of the town for the sake of conspiring against the Austrians. By the time I was halfway through the book I felt that it should be compulsory reading for anyone working on the Balkans, provided they were prepared to look through the Western characters' stereotypical reactions to the Bosnians.[return][return]Am I reading it too generously? Was Andri being serious rather than ironic? Why could he not have stated more clearly that he is exposing rather than sympathising with the foreigners' condescension? I stand by my interpretation because Andri wrote the book in 1942, in Nazi-occupied Belgrade. And I think that his portrayal of civilised diplomats immersed in a barbarous, violent culture takes on a whole new burden of meaning when you remember that, until the collapse under German invasion of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Andri was serving his country as an ambassador - in Berlin.
—Nicholas Whyte
After reading the Bridge on the Drina I decided to get to Bosnian Chrnocile and as I loved the first one I had very high expectations on this book, but It's true it gets slow from time to time moslty in the middle, but I liked the storyvery much, I guess Andric takes it's time to describe a lot most of the characters that maybe you won't remember a few pages later but I guess that's his style. It's a good picture of a Bosnian town In Napoleon times and the consul Generals of France and Austria. It's a nice story and you see how the French consul deals with this New and strange Eastern Land to him and how the fall of Bonaparte affects him. I really enjoyed it very much beyond the little details that made it long and slow to read.
—Mar
