What do You think about The File On H (2002)?
I had reservations about reading this one. First, I've not fully committed to really immerse myself in books that have reasonably serious materials. And the book being about two Irish-American scholars from Harvard setting out in a journey to Albania in pursuit of an academic undertaking of Homeric proportions has all the bearing of books I would generally avoid, or delay. But once I started this book, there was that need in my guts to down it in one sitting. Unfortunately for me, life has to get in the way of my reading.The events in the book unfold in the city of N-- where anything curious, even of the slightest, sets the whole town abuzz. Such is the reason why the book is engaging; it is a satire of a provincial life that ranges from the wildly amusing to the indecent. Each character has a pronounced individuality, especially the locals, that makes them all the more irresistible. The Governor's pride, his wife's vanity, Dull's work ethics, etc etc. All this puts a comical relief to the rather serious endeavour the two foreigners are up against. Not that their parts here are, in any way, less engaging. As a matter of fact, I enjoyed it tremendously. The narrative has a lyrical dimension that I keep rolling the words in my mental tongue. It also gives a crash course, albeit a crack to how colossal it is, to Homeric poetry. Although I had a guess on how the book will end, and I sort of did get it right, it does not take away the pleasure. This book has so much to offer that you can read it at any angle. I also particularly like that all these events revolve, and with an allusion almost palpable, to the enigma that is Homer.
—Nibra Tee
My first Kadare book!Lengthy mainly irrelevant anecdote: when I was a student, years ago, we had to study Homer. It wasn't optional - you could choose which of the big two (Iliad and Odyssey) you'd study in more depth, but you definitely had to read both. So it was that I'd heard of Milman Parry, who wrote about Homer and the oral tradition in the early 20th century. I even vaguely knew that he'd been out to the Balkans somewhere and made the first ever recordings of the last ever rhapsodes (illiterate poets who knew great long epic poems off by heart). I suppose there are no rhapsodes left now, anyway. But because I was only young then, and relatively unquestioning, I just accepted that as a given thing - Parry says this, he advanced such and such a hypothesis, blah blah. It didn't occur to me ever to wonder what it would be like for a Harvard academic to pitch up in the Balkans in the 1920s with his strange new recording equipment and start tracking down the last authentic rhapsodes. That would have made a much more interesting read than any of my essays ever did, and that's why I'm not Kadare. So this is the story of two academics, Irish, but arriving by way of Harvard, who come to Albania (not quite where Parry went, but close) to track down and record the last of the rhapsodes. Albanian bureaucrats are convinced that they are spies, and go to great lengths to put them under effective surveillance. The mayor of the small town nearest to where they are staying is under pressure - will his spies be up to scratch? His wife is bored and just glad to see new faces. The academics themselves are naive and bemused. If you read it on one level, it's a funny small town comedy/spy story. If you want to get deeper, there are all sort of Homeric parallels - one of the characters even goes blind! Unsubtle. Written in Albanian, then translated into French, and then I think translated from the French into the English, not directly from the Albanian. Author ultimately went into exile in France, sometime in the 80s - this book was written in 1981, if I recall correctly. Not surprised he chose France - all sorts of 'writing about writing' potentially wanky bits here. But it's not wanky, it's really really good.
—Jo
This novel gets more interesting as more details surface. Bill and Max, two Irish scholars, come to Albania to study the declining tradition of oral epic that goes back to Homer and to discover Homer's identity. The little backwater town of N_____ is very suspicious of these visitors, the governor under the instructions of the minister assigning spies to inhabit the attic above their room in order to track their English conversations and whereabouts. All of the undercover espionage escapes the Irishmen's notice as the governor also invites them to various social events at his home. Many but not everyone see them as a security threat and their tape recorder as a devilish instrument. Daisy the governor's wife develops romantic ideas about unmarried Bill, and the innkeeper Shtjefen persuades the reluctant Albanian highlanders, who stay at his crossroads inn, to sing into machine's microphone. While the scholarly team records and transcribes the bards' performances, they also address more scientific questions related to oral transmission and to similar phenomena that attempt to explain the diffusion of this poetry, the performers' omissions and additions to the long songs, etc. Those readers with a knowledge of Albanian history will enjoy the novel even more than one who reads for pleasure a fine storyteller's narrative. Another suggestion is to reread the novel because the story is very good and well-crafted.
—Asma Fedosia
