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kristinvdt's review against another edition
3.0
Funny and easy to read in the beginning, but then I lost steam. I think my ignorance of the area/country contributed to my difficulty with the book, that I think is probably quite good.
michael5000's review against another edition
4.0
This is what I always hope for when I read Kafka, but never quite find. It has lots of zip and good humor leavening its dark European ironies.
cathdm's review against another edition
funny
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
graywacke's review against another edition
funny
fast-paced
4.0
Quick read. Looks at Albanian culture through Irish Homeric scholars from Harvard who have come to record Albanian traditional saga singers. Everything is told indirectly, but it's compelling and fun and works.
eva_dx's review against another edition
2.5
Ik las dit boek door mijn interesse in de Homerische kwestie. Ik was geïntrigeerd door de link met Albanië. Ik heb Homeros en de rapsoden altijd in een Griekse context gezien, dus het was interessant om de link met Albanië, Servië en Kosovo te zien. Ook de politieke dynamiek tussen die drie landen vind ik interessant en speelde een rol in dit boek. Ik was echter een beetje teleurgesteld. Ik had al eerder een ander boek van Kadare, de versteende bruidsstoet, gelezen en dat was erg goed geschreven. Dit vond ik minder goed. Het verhaal was eigenlijk wat saai en ik zat er niet helemaal in. Ik voelde weinig nood om verder te lezen. Ik heb dat toch gedaan, in de hoop dat het verder beter zou worden. Vooral de vele passages met de rapporten van de spion waren dodelijk saai en onnodig langdradig geschreven. Ik voelde daarnaast ook geen connectie met de personages. Er was wel wat plot, maar dat was onvoldoende om deze leeservaring echt fijn te maken. Jammer.
nwhyte's review against another edition
http://nhw.livejournal.com/743751.html[return][return]It is short but very deep: the tale of two ethnographers visiting Albania in the 1930s during the rule of King Zog, to record ancient epic poetry (the H in the title stands for Homer). The two ethnographers are supposed to be Irish, but might as well be Japanese for the purposes of the story: the novel is about Albania, not about Ireland. (Perhaps it was in part a response to Andri's foreigners encountering Bosnia in The Days of the Consuls?)[return][return]But it's also about the construction of truth, how stories are told, especially when the state tries to regulate knowledge and information. Although the patriotic version of Albanian history - 1878, 1913 - is the only one told here, one senses that Kadar
indumugic's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
It's been a long time since I sat glued to my chair reading a fiction book. Ismail Kadare's The File on H. is a clever, witty, and fast-paced book. It is about the story of two Irish-Americans who travel to Albania to find the source of Homer (and therefore, the H. in the title). Although based on a real life incident - Parry and Lord, who proved that Homer's works were oral and looked around Albania for sources to prove this, the book does not honour them but rather mocks them in a very comical way. The governor's awe for his informer that he has never seen, his wife's interest in the Irishmen and the small-town suspicions that flare up in different parts of the novel are parts that are very hilarious.
shimmer's review against another edition
5.0
The novel, so far, is terrific. Less terrific is discovering that my ebook edition is missing most of a chapter and having to abandon the book until I can get my hands on a print copy.