Reviews

Der zerrissene April by Ismail Kadare

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warnersvaccumcleaner's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

Idk how I’m going to write a literary assignment about this book when I didn’t like it, but my teacher practically worships it. Not a lot of good things to say tbh. 🤷‍♀️🙏

jacs7264's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Dark & sad but beautifully written. Strong, well developed characters that draw sympathy.

nothingforpomegranted's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A disturbing fable about the culture of blood feuds among Albanian mountain people and the wealthy amateur sociologist who takes his new bride on a honeymoon to observe them. The novel begins with Gjorg lying in wait for the man he is responsible for killing because he had killed his brother, knowing fully that pulling the trigger effectively ensures his own death sentence, to be enacted within a month. The conflict between duty, honor, and desire for life pervades the entire novel and characterizes Gjorg’s ultimate demise. Simultaneously, Bessian and his wife are fascinated (and distressed) by the customs of the mountain people and the emerging discovery of the sheer quantity of active blood feuds, made all the more apparent and chilling to the reader by the chapter written from the perspective of the blood lord, responsible for collecting the blood tax throughout the region.

This was a quick read that welcomes deep analysis. The characters were intriguing and complicated, and it offered a peek into a culture I know very little about, which is exactly what I’m looking for when I buy books when I travel.

If you liked…
The Pearl - fable, short and quick, family dynamics and desperation, conflicts of duty and desire
Don Quixote - a foolish adventure story with bizarre side characters and innkeepers who like to gossip

gabesteller's review against another edition

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4.0

Jumping from bell hooks to Albanian Blood Feuds because I contain multitudes! Anyway basically knew nothing about Albania other than that it has a totally sick flag, And it turns out it is totally fascinating but unfortunately fascinating in the way a lot of places are, in that theres a lot of very sad/bad stuff going on.

Book's all about the existentialist wanderings of Gjorg a young man who has 30 days reprieve before he will he hunted down after murdering a neighbor in the decades long blood feud his family is caught in. He is on occasion spotted by the other main characters a bourgeois couple who who choose to spend their honeymoon in the mountains hoping to get get an taste of the last bit of tradition and myth still around in their modernizing country. The mountains have a cool aesthetic and some of their ancient traditions are kinda badass but are they basically totally fucked up????

I mean Yah its basically totally fucked up but their was some wonderful rumination on the formation of myths and the social order.

i was at first a little skeptical cuz it was kinda exposition heavy but honestly it was pretty interesting . As implied, even tho its the 1930's the mountains are really a land out of time, essentially feudal and totally dominated by the esoteric oral tradition the "Kanun" which outlines the rules of the MANY MANY blood feuds running. And they do a lot of crazy shit like all the dudes who have just murdered a rival or are on the hunt to murder have to wear a black ribbon to mark them as the Living Dead. and when a son is murdered the family like hangs his bloody shirt outside their house until he's avenged. Everyone lives in these Towers called Kullas And once someone murders somebody u gotta pay the blood tax to the Prince at the biggest tower, the Castle of Orosh, to possibly get ur 30 days of freedom before ur hunted. So yah all pretty metal but ya know still a lot of murder! (also My friend Hanna told me it still goes on!! Certain Kulla's are called "towers of refuge" where u can hide out and they are STILL USED and like construction has to go around them and everything to this day!!)

While most of the characters were a little trope-y for my taste as a novel of ideas i thought it was sooo interesting. what is the difference between the blood tax the prince of Orosh takes and the money The Bourgeois writer husband plans to make writing a novel about the blood feuds (but aren't i currently reading a novel about the blood feuds?) and The writer guy seems cringy when he talks about the magic in the mountains but isn't the social power of the kanun such that its a sort of unconquerable magical law for young men like Gjorg who know no other world (Emphasized by the rlly chilling last scene). And therefore it sorta tracks that after seeing Diana the Bourgeois Wife in passing, Gjorg idealizes her into a sort of magical fairy figure cuz hes going a little bit crazy with all the regret and fear and despair and HAS LIKE 2 MORE WEEKS TO LIVE, and he just wants some beautiful transcendence!!

Myth is basically Aesthetics! Albania is cool! Nice job Ismail!

ty 4 the rec hanna!

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vitsa's review against another edition

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4.0

Really enjoyed this book. The writing was beautiful.

The story was compelling and I wanted to keep reading to see how the characters felt about and dealt with their circumstances. I really liked the way the author portrayed how the two may characters were affected by what happened to them. Gjorg’s hopelessness at being caught in a system he didn’t want to be part of but couldn’t escape and Diana’s quiet horror at what she was seeing, it was a really sublime portrayal.

It was also the perfect length, at no point did it feel like the story was dragging. Really enjoyed it over all, and I am definitely interested in reading more by this author.