The Siege

Apr 23, 2013 Roger rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an entertaining, layered novel by an internationally honored Albanian writer (he won the International Booker Prize in 2005,) who does not seem very well known in the US. Too bad. The story is on the surface about a siege of a 15th century Christian castle by the expanding Islamic Ottoman Empire. Mostly we come to know the besiegers, their women, their hopes, and fears and comedies. It's intriguing and unputdownable, and there's nothing of the fusty historical novel about it. It was writ...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Caitriona H rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is sort of a test of whether one should judge a book by its cover - I don’t know why I enjoy midnight blue skies scattered with stars so much, perhaps it’s a universal human instinct. However, the Ottoman subject matter of the book is one I have touched on before (see Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières review).

This is another work in translation and, as it’s not so well known, the forward to the book is actually a really interesting complement to the work. I know very, very little ab...more This is sort of a test of whether one should judge a book by its cover - I don’t know why I enjoy midnight blue skies scattered with stars so much, perhaps it’s a universal human instinct. However, the Ottoman subject matter of the book is one I have touched on before (see Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières review).

This is another work in translation and, as it’s not so well known, the forward to the book is actually a really interesting complement to the work. I know very, very little about medieval Albania, where this story is set, and Kadare’s use of this as a historical allegory for Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe is an intriguing element I would probably not have picked up on. The Siege is divided into chapters by the defending Albanians and attacking Ottomans and the chapters are viewed from the perspective of a variety of characters involved in both armies. The voices, from the commanders of the two armies to the women and eunuch of the Ottoman harem, through all sorts of soldiers and hangers-on, are credible, appealing and reveal more than is explicitly stated. Discovering history through characters is one of my favourite ways to learn and this does not disappoint, although the mechanical nature of war is also dwelt upon. This is not just a saga of people but of technical, economic and social development. There is a sense of both the smallest people on the ground and the larger picture, which I think is an unusual and difficult balance. Ismail Kadare and his translator David Bellos have won the International Man Booker Prize and the calibre of their work is evident from the start of this story. The drama and pace are unrelenting- I couldn’t believe how many elements of warfare I never considered- although the chapter about miners buried alive under the castles walls reminded me a little of Sebastian Faulks’ Birdsong (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Birdsong-Seba... ) and there are heroic charges aplenty. The responsibilities and challenges to the individual as well as the masses are thrown up regularly and shocked me every time. It is in these moments of philosophy and poetry that you can attempt to draw parallels with the author’s Soviet sub-story, but I don’t think these are necessary or detrimental to the excitement of the plot.

This is a good cover and a great book, another example of why literature in translation should not be consigned to an ‘intellectual’ heap or considered second rate. The shifting story lines add more depth than you expect for a book this short and stimulating, and I expect many different types of reader would enjoy it differently. I will re-read this.

978-1847671226 £8.99 Canongate Books

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Siege-Ismail-...(less)

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Jul 28, 2011 Steve Cran added it · review of another edition

Pasha Tursun is sent off to faraway Albania to subdue a rebellious population and make Albania part of the Ottoman Empire. One Citadel decide to hold out against Ottoman rule. They refuse to submit and they refuse to convert. Their mythical leader Skanderbeg holds them to their Christianity and binds them to the Catholic Church. The Ottoman Army is comprised of many different nationalities and they are all camped by the wall of the Citadel ready to take it over. Pasha Tursun has also fallen out...more Pasha Tursun is sent off to faraway Albania to subdue a rebellious population and make Albania part of the Ottoman Empire. One Citadel decide to hold out against Ottoman rule. They refuse to submit and they refuse to convert. Their mythical leader Skanderbeg holds them to their Christianity and binds them to the Catholic Church. The Ottoman Army is comprised of many different nationalities and they are all camped by the wall of the Citadel ready to take it over. Pasha Tursun has also fallen out of favor with the Sultan so it is imperative that he overtake the Citadel. He brought along with him his four wives, a usual no no for a military campaign.

The Albanian Defenders desperately hold on in the face of overwhelming odds. The first assault by the Ottoman army takes them for a bit of a surprise. THe Turks have brought a cannon which reeks havoc on the walls. but the attack fails. The Albanian forces hold them off. The cannon fails to bring down the walls. The Turks try at least four different assaults against the garrison all of which fail. They try sabotaging their water supply by finding it with a horse. They are successful in finding the water and the defender do encounter intense thirst. but that does not bring them down. Next the Turks try infiltrating the fortress with rats in order to bring disease bu the Albanians counter that with rat traps. They also try tunneling into the fortress but the fortress cave in on them. While the Turks may have destroyed the defender's water supply the defenders destroyed the Turks food supply which was being shipped by Christian Venetians. The defenders also stage a night raid against the Turks.

In the end it is safe to say the Turks hold out. THe book does delve into Military camp life, Ottoman intrigues as well as the the lusty side of Turks in battle. Many soldier are concerned with the women they will capture. Their are feuds between officers over power struggle and little young boys. An officers life in the Otoman army is one of a constant power struggle and always watching your back. To see who may try to kill yoou for their next advancement.
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Jun 16, 2011 Wolf rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not a Historical Novel, Not Quite as Great as Some Reviewers Say...

On the surface this appears to be the story of the siege of a medieval Albanian fortress by the Ottoman Turks. In fact it is firmly about the contemporary concerns of the author.

As others have said, Kadare uses the fifteenth century siege as a way of exploring issues occupying the Albanian of the 1970s. Although parts of the story do effectively capture something of the lost world of the Albanian resistance leader Skanderbeg and...more Not a Historical Novel, Not Quite as Great as Some Reviewers Say...

On the surface this appears to be the story of the siege of a medieval Albanian fortress by the Ottoman Turks. In fact it is firmly about the contemporary concerns of the author.

As others have said, Kadare uses the fifteenth century siege as a way of exploring issues occupying the Albanian of the 1970s. Although parts of the story do effectively capture something of the lost world of the Albanian resistance leader Skanderbeg and his Ottoman opponents (the mixture of Christianity and older beliefs of the Albanians is nicely portrayed), one is struck by anachronisms in the attitudes of the characters. Even more tellingly, however, the battle scenes, of which there are several, are told at a distance or reported by observers. We are never - even when the Turkish commander joins his troops in a final push - put into the heart of the action - the troops storming a breach, those scrambling over the parapets - as it happens. Kadare simply isn't interested.

The mechanics of the siege are only touched on. Damage inflicted by cannon fire on the castle walls is mentioned, but the breaches caused are not ever discussed by the besieging war council, which seems a trifle odd, given their importance to getting in. Nor do we hear of the defenders trying to patch them up. A mine dug by the Ottomans manages to get under the castle walls yet, rather than try and bring the walls down with it, they dig on to get inside the castle - an odd and unexplained decision. The castle, and therefore the siege, exists in the story only as an implacable obstacle: a literal symbol that the lives of the Turkish soldiers and their commanders' ambitions can be dashed against, in a confused maelstrom, belying the Ottomans apparent meticulous planning.

So what we have instead of a historical novel is a way that Kadare can discuss things that, presumably, communist Albania would not have let him talk about openly. The Turkish army, with its internal divisions, its secret intelligence on its own attitudes, its paranoid tendency to turn on its own, creating its own enemies, worse than those it really faces, its lightless labour camp and its strongman leader, whose main aim is to preserve his own position, is a pretty clear portrait of communist Albania. There are digressions about the nature of national identity, the progress of science and the durability of culture and language. For a short book there is a lot of intellectual ballast. Ideas are packed in.

The problem - for me, at least - is that this is too much a novel of ideas. As well as the lack of interest in the surface story of the battle, there is a lack of interest in the characters that people it. The kind reviewer might call them archetypes, but more accurately, they are ciphers, whose characters often develop little beyond their job descriptions.

Overall, good, but not great.(less)

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Feb 11, 2011 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 21st-century, albanian, fiction, man-booker-international

I read Kadare’s The Palace of Dreams in 2005, and thought it was an excellent book, but this is even better. At face value, it’s the rivetting story of a C15th siege – the Christian Albanians in the besieged citadel and the Ottomans camped outside. The chapters alternate between these two POV but the Ottomans tell most of the story in what appears to be a straightforward 3rd person narrative. However, there are deliberate anachronisms such as show trials and biological warfare which jolt the rea...more

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Oct 08, 2009 Tony rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels, translated-fiction

Originally published in Albania in 1970, and then translated into French in the mid-90s, this excellent novel has finally made it into English. It tells the story of a fictional 15th-century siege of an Albanian castle by an Ottoman army. The details of this appear to be largely drawn from accounts of the 1474 siege of Shkoder, as well as the exploits of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg (aka The Dragon of Albania), who led the resistance to the Ottomans for about twenty years, until his death in 1468...more Originally published in Albania in 1970, and then translated into French in the mid-90s, this excellent novel has finally made it into English. It tells the story of a fictional 15th-century siege of an Albanian castle by an Ottoman army. The details of this appear to be largely drawn from accounts of the 1474 siege of Shkoder, as well as the exploits of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg (aka The Dragon of Albania), who led the resistance to the Ottomans for about twenty years, until his death in 1468.

The siege is mainly told from the Ottoman perspective, as we are taken into the Pasha's tent for discussions of strategy, wander around the camp with the hapless scribe/historian sent to chronicle the impending great victory, and listen to the monologues of the quartermaster who has to keep the siege logistically afloat. There are also occasional brief interludes written from the perspective of the Christian defenders trying to conserve their water until the arrival of the rainy season that would effectively save them.

The mechanics and psychology of the siege are wonderfully brought to life, as the Ottomans struggle to bring their superior manpower and technology to bear in an effective manner. In that sense, it's a gripping, effective, and often bloody, work of historical fiction which will appeal to fans of that genre. At the same time, the story appears to function as allegory for the plight of Soviet-dominated Albania during the Cold War. The Ottoman army -- cowering under an absolute ruler abetted by a pervasive secret police, riven by internal factions (warlords, mystics, technocrats, etc.), and subject to show-trials and cruel and unusual punishments -- bears striking similarities to Albania under the rule of Enver Hoxha. Meanwhile, the castle's desperate defenders take on the role of freedom-loving intelligentsia within that same society. The symbolism is stark, since history tells us that the Ottoman Empire does eventually conquer Albania, and the castle does fall.

The translation is very good, as the camp comes alive on every page, and the battle scenes resound off the page. But it's to Kadare's immense credit that the story remains gripping while conveying its densely layered message. Well worth reading if you have any interest in the Ottoman Empire, Albania, military history, or simply excellent world literature.(less)

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Apr 24, 2009 ina rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is about the Ottoman siege of a fictitious Albanian Christian city. It was written from the point of view primarily of the Ottomans, but by an albanian author. He wrote in a historical context where Albania was under pressure from the Soviet block, but under the throes of a repressive Albanian regime. Understood in this way, this book is a political discussion of a contemporary political situation, in a reality when nothing can be expressed directly and subtle analogy has to be applied.
The...more

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Sep 15, 2010 Shane rated it 4 of 5 stars

The author claims that this is not a historical novel, and yet the story is set in the mid 15th century and is a primer on the methods of warfare used at the time. It is also a metaphor for Albania during its Communist rule in the 20th century, for although the invading Ottoman empire circa 1474 is portrayed as the bad guy, the implication and insinuation is that this totalitarian empire is a reflection of later day Albania itself.

In a nutshell, an Albanian fortress is besieged by an invading Ot...more The author claims that this is not a historical novel, and yet the story is set in the mid 15th century and is a primer on the methods of warfare used at the time. It is also a metaphor for Albania during its Communist rule in the 20th century, for although the invading Ottoman empire circa 1474 is portrayed as the bad guy, the implication and insinuation is that this totalitarian empire is a reflection of later day Albania itself.

In a nutshell, an Albanian fortress is besieged by an invading Ottoman army, but prevails despite everything that is thrown at it – from ladders, to death squads, to tunnelling, to cannon, to shutting off aquifers, to cutting off food supplies, to throwing poisoned vermin over its walls. There are spies on both sides; the reward for failure is imprisonment or death (even cannon that don’t fire straight are ‘fustigated,’ life is cheap, and God help any female Albanians taken prisoner – they don’t last even an evening in the hands of their sex hungry enemy obsessed with blond women’s pubic hair.

In the end, the Ottomans retreat, and Albania is safe until the next invasion...and the next... for victory is finally achieved only when the minds of the opponents are vanquished.

I was intrigued by the vast support network that buffets an army of this size: mufti, dervishes, astrologers, spell casters, architects, chroniclers, poets, hoxas (professional prayers), dream interpreters, keepers of the seals, knife grinders, dwarfs, harem wives, eunuchs, and water carriers, to name a few.

Even though the story is primarily told via the lowly chronicler, Mevla Celebi, the point of view pans the various players in the invading camp, including the commander-in-chief, who is most at risk for a failed campaign. We also begin each chapter with a page or two from the diary of an unknown soldier on the Albanian side, which sums up the reaction to the previous chapter’s events from those under siege. The style mixes humour with terror to bring out a chilling effect on the reader.

On reflection, I realized how reminiscent the Ottoman Empire’s practices are of present life, not only during Communism in the 20th century, but in our modern public or private sector corporations today. For even though superstition has been replaced by rationality and the human casualty rate may not be so high today, the following still applies: win at all costs, scapegoat and sideline those who fail, spy on one’s competitors, some people are more equal than others in the human bureaucracy, pick your battles, the chief solicits feedback but makes his own decision in the end, human resources are disposable etc., etc. Certainly a book worth reading and reflecting on whether much has changed since the 15th century, especially in our attitudes towards conquest and acquisition.
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Oct 30, 2009 Madhuri rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: booker, history

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Nov 16, 2012 Fatema Alammar rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

رواية محشوّة بالأفكار والأسئلة، لاهبة بحمم الحرب ودوّي الطبول والمدافع، مصاغة بنَفَس شاعريّ لافت، تنفذ عميقا في أوردة وشرايين الشخصيات المبتلاة بالمشاركة في حصار طويل، ممضّ، وقاسي:
تلفتك شخصية مؤرخ الحملة، بكل حساسيته وقلقه وخجله وارتباكه ومثابرته وانشغاله الذهنيّ وتساؤلاته. المهندس جياور (نموذج رجل العلم والتخصص) بوجهه الجامد، الخالي من التعابير، وبكلامه الذي تُبتر فيه الألفاظ "يصفّها صفا بلا أدنى مسافة أو فاصلة وينطقها بإيقاع موحّد لا يتبدّل، إن في حديثه الرتيب المرهق شيئا من الصحراء". ضابط ال...more

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May 20, 2009 Charlaralotte rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2009

Funny to find that this book won an award for best translation. My main problem was with the translation. Odd mix of British English, American English, and generally anachronistic dialogue translation. Would have preferred more of the original language words to have been left in place. Readers can catch on to their meaning...

Other than being caught off-guard by weirdly transcribed turns of phrases, the description of the siege was quite good. I'm not much for battle books, but this one held my a...more

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May 02, 2009 LeAnn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Readers of literary historical fiction

In The Siege, Ismail Kadare succeeds in telling a story that is at once a fictionalized piece of history, a believable what-if about the Ottoman invasion of 15th-century Albania, and a subtle commentary on modern politics and war.

As with other armies throughout history, the Turks led military campaigns from late spring to early fall. The Siege begins as the Catholic Albanians, having sent the Ottomon envoys packing, prepare for the coming of the invading force. The tale is told in two perspecti...more In The Siege, Ismail Kadare succeeds in telling a story that is at once a fictionalized piece of history, a believable what-if about the Ottoman invasion of 15th-century Albania, and a subtle commentary on modern politics and war.

As with other armies throughout history, the Turks led military campaigns from late spring to early fall. The Siege begins as the Catholic Albanians, having sent the Ottomon envoys packing, prepare for the coming of the invading force. The tale is told in two perspectives, alternating with very brief comments from an unknown Albanian, perhaps a monk or priest writing a journal of the siege, and longer chapters told from the viewpoint of a few key Turkish players, including the Pasha, or commander-in-chief, the camp historian, and a doomed astrologer.

It is the contrast between the ordinary Turk with the views of the war council that highlights the medieval-modern aspects of Kadare's tale.

On the one hand, fervent Turkish soldiers fear and disdain the "symbol of torture" -- the Cross -- that looms above the castle's walls; they listen to the mullahs and work themselves into a passionate fury on the eve of battle. The naive camp historian frets and worries over worthy verses glorifying the Ottoman cause. He fears that he isn't up to the task of writing an epic and finds himself with writer's block. There is the astrologer who wrongly predicts success and the confident poet who is blinded. There are the thousands who die trying to scale the walls.

On the other hand, the Quartermaster, a world-weary and pragmatic man, worries about supplying the troops and discusses the Albanians and how to defeat them with the nuance of a seasoned diplomat. The doctor debates the pros and cons of bioweapons such as plague-ridden rats over other pestilent diseases and other animal vectors -- all of which must be approved from on high. The Pasha suspects that he's been chosen by his enemies in the Padishah's court to lead the campaign, whose failure is his life. The engineers build bigger and better cannons with no concern for human life, only whether the massive destruction can be predicted and controlled, and the enigmatic architect, a figure who moves in and out of Turkish prisons, is a renegade Christian selling out the architectural secrets of his fellow Christians. There is even a war cry chosen and sent down from on high.

Written with a light hand, The Siege manages to leaves the reader disturbed and not a little sad.(less)

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Jan 31, 2013 *Reem* rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

هذا الكتاب شكّل بالنسبة لي نقله نوعيه.فهو ليس نوعي المفضل. ولكني لا أمانع التغيير والتنويع. رواية الحصار تتحدث عن مغامرة حدثت في القرن الخامس عشر عندما حاصرت الجيوش العثمانيه والتي عرف عنها الشده والبأس والمزج بين كافة الجنسيات ، قلعةً البانية شامخةً وسط الجبال والتلال. أبى المدافعين الاستسلام وقاوموا صنوف الحصار التي تنوعت بين القذف بالمدافع والنار والأسلحة الحديثة واستخدام السلالم وحفر الإنفاق تحت الارض. كما سعى المهاجمون الى البحث عن اماكن الماء لإفراغها او تلويثها لتعطيش المدافعين. بل استخدم...more

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May 16, 2010 Lauren Albert rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I imagine it is difficult to write about sieges since they are mostly boredom sometimes alternating with brief periods of horrific violence. Kadare manages to make the story compelling perhaps because of the feeling of anxiety and uncertainty that hangs over each character but all for differing reasons--you want to see how events proceed for them. Kadare shows his unsurprising bias in favor of the Albanians yet manages to show great pity for the Muslim soldiers who die at their leaders' whim. He...more

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Sep 19, 2009 Irfan Ali rated it 3 of 5 stars

The topic of this novel is a unique one, one that is seldom covered by western authors: the siege of an albanian fort by ottoman army in the middle ages. The author has successfully captured the horrors of medieval warfare, with its long and brutal sieges and mayhem and terrible loss of life for the attackers. The story relates the siege from ottoman army perspective with interspersed short narrative from the albanian fort.
The translation does have a dry feel to it in several portions of the no...more

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Aug 22, 2010 John rated it 5 of 5 stars

Published in 1970, this novel describes a fictional siege of a Christian castle in Albania by a Muslim army in the 15th century. The story is told mostly from the point of view of various members of the Ottoman army, including the Pasha leading the army. The army makes several attempts to occupy the castle and Kadare describes the effects of the seige on the army in excellent prose. It's an amazing novel. Kadare is a prolific Albanian writer who has also lived in France since 1990. He won the fi...more

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Jul 23, 2009 Arthur rated it 3 of 5 stars

Ottoman Turks try to capture an Albanian citadel. The perspective is largely from the Turkish camp as seen through the eyes of various functionaries within the camp. It's an allegory. Kadare wrote this when Albania was run by the Commies and was threatened by the Soviets. The story is engaging, but not compelling and the allegory is not very germane to life in the Post-Communist world. If Kadare hadn't won the Mann Booker prize, I probably wouldn't have picked up the book, wouldn't have finished...more

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Aug 28, 2011 أشرف فقيه rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

هذه رواية عظيمة.. ليس كرواية تاريخية وحسب وليس لأنها تبدع في وصف محض "حصار".. لكن إسماعيل كاداريه وخلال الحملة العثمانية التي اختلقها على قلعة ما في القلب الألباني قد نجح أن ينقل لنا روح ذاك العصر بأسره، متجسدة في فلسفة الامبراطورية، فلسفة التوسع، فلسفة الحصار والإبادة وفلسفة المقاومة. إنه قد نجح في أن يجعلنا نفهم جوهر هويته الألبانية المتنازعة بين استحقاقات ماضيها المسيحي البعيد، والعثماني الأقرب منه، ونجح في أن ينقل لنا كل مبررات اللبس والارتباك والتشتت التي تعتري تلك الهوية خلال فصول روايته....more هذه رواية عظيمة.. ليس كرواية تاريخية وحسب وليس لأنها تبدع في وصف محض "حصار".. لكن إسماعيل كاداريه وخلال الحملة العثمانية التي اختلقها على قلعة ما في القلب الألباني قد نجح أن ينقل لنا روح ذاك العصر بأسره، متجسدة في فلسفة الامبراطورية، فلسفة التوسع، فلسفة الحصار والإبادة وفلسفة المقاومة. إنه قد نجح في أن يجعلنا نفهم جوهر هويته الألبانية المتنازعة بين استحقاقات ماضيها المسيحي البعيد، والعثماني الأقرب منه، ونجح في أن ينقل لنا كل مبررات اللبس والارتباك والتشتت التي تعتري تلك الهوية خلال فصول روايته. والعبقرية تتجلى تماماً في أنه قد فعل ذلك متعمداً اختيار أبطال روايته من قلب المعسكر الغازي. إنه لم يستخدم ضمير المتكلم الألباني إلا نادراً. لم يختلق إلا شخصية واحدة محورية ألبانية. لكنه ومن خلال وصف المعسكر الآخر.. المعسكر التركي القادم لمحو الكيان الألباني، قد نجح باقتدار في إيصال صوت شعبه وقضيته بكل موضوعية كما يظهر لي.
تتميز الرواية بنفس سردي بديع، وبإحاطة بالتفاصيل التاريخية، وبتصوير بليغ جداً لأهوال الحرب ولنفسيات الشخصيات التي تم اختيارها بحرفنة لتصلح للتمدد عبر الزمان والمكان. النص يجيد وصف تلك المرحلة من طور العروج العثماني بكل اندفاعه المحموم للسيطرة على العالم وكل ملابساته وتعقيداته حد الاقتدار.
هذه الترجمةالعربية عانت من بعض الركاكة هنا وهناك، إلا أنها تظل مقبولة جداً بل ومطلوبة بإلحاح لا سيما وقد تأخرت ثلاثة عقود عن هذه الرائعة الأدبية العالمية.(less)

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Dec 09, 2012 Fahad rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, favorites

الحصار

في كل مرة تقرأ فيها كتاباً تاريخياً يجب أن تنتبه إلى أن المؤلف إذ يلاحق الأحداث والدول والقادة والمعارك ينسى الإنسان، وليس هذا خطئه، فدوره هو في أن يدون المعلومة التاريخية، أو يحققها، أو يحاول استخلاص مغزى أو معنى منها، أما عن الإنسان الذي عاش ومات، عانى، ضحك وبكى، حلم ثم مات فدفن ودفنت أحلامه، بل ربما دفنت مدينته ذاتها من بعده، وصارت أطلالاً موحشة، هذا الإنسان لن يستعيده لنا إلا الروائي، وحده هو من سينقض على ما كتبه المؤرخ، ينبشه، يفككه، يعيد بعثه، ليجعل أبطاله يعيشون هناك، كأنما بعثت تل...more الحصار

في كل مرة تقرأ فيها كتاباً تاريخياً يجب أن تنتبه إلى أن المؤلف إذ يلاحق الأحداث والدول والقادة والمعارك ينسى الإنسان، وليس هذا خطئه، فدوره هو في أن يدون المعلومة التاريخية، أو يحققها، أو يحاول استخلاص مغزى أو معنى منها، أما عن الإنسان الذي عاش ومات، عانى، ضحك وبكى، حلم ثم مات فدفن ودفنت أحلامه، بل ربما دفنت مدينته ذاتها من بعده، وصارت أطلالاً موحشة، هذا الإنسان لن يستعيده لنا إلا الروائي، وحده هو من سينقض على ما كتبه المؤرخ، ينبشه، يفككه، يعيد بعثه، ليجعل أبطاله يعيشون هناك، كأنما بعثت تلك المدينة المهجورة ليوم، بعثت لتكتب وتخلد أدباً.

ولكن أينه الروائي العبقري؟ الذي تخرج من بين يديه هذه التحفة !! كاداريه – أو قاداريه إن شئنا إعادة الأشياء إلى أصلها – أحد هؤلاء العباقرة، لأنك تأتي لديه، وقد قرأت كلمة حصار مئات المرات في كتب التاريخ، وشاهدت الحصار في أفلام هوليودية عظمى من وزن (Troy) و(Kingdom of Heaven) و(The Lord of the Rings) حيث تمطر المدن المحصنة بالصخور الضخمة، وحيث تخاض معارك عنيفة على ثغرات الأسوار، وحيث يتعاضد الصوت بالصورة ليسلبا لبك، ويجعلاك في قلب الحدث، ولكنك مع هذا كله تدرك وأنت تقرأ كاداريه أنك ما شهدت حصاراً.

إن الحصار ليس تلك المعارك السريعة التي تستمر ليوم أو يومين كما تنقل لنا الأفلام، إن الحصار الذي نعيشه مع كاداريه هو آلاف من الجنود الذين يحاولون العيش في العراء، إنه القادة العسكريون الذي يجتمعون بشكل متواصل على مرأى القلعة الكئيبة حالمين بلحظة الفتح، إنها المحاولات الفاشلة، والموتى الذين يتكدسون تحت الأسوار، إنها المقاومة الشرسة والعنيفة، وإنها وهو الأهم المعسكر بل على الأصح المدينة المصغرة التي تقام مؤقتاً بجانب القلعة، هناك حيث تسبك المدافع الضخمة، وحيث يطعم آلاف الجنود المتضورين، وحيث فرق الهندسة العسكرية تحاول صناعة آلات الحصار، وقطع قنوات الماء التي تروي المحاصرين.

تفتتح هذه الرواية في ألبانيا القرن الخامس عشر، حيث جيش تركي ضخم بقيادة (أوغورلو طرسن باشا) - القائد العسكري المغضوب عليه والذي أعطي هذه المهمة الصعبة كاختبار أخير – يحاصر قلعة ألبانية، منذ هذه البداية وحتى 375 صفحة تليها وتكوِن متن الرواية، سنكون في معسكر طرسن باشا ورجاله، لن نتخطى الأسوار أبداً لنعيش مع الألبان المحاصرين، لن نعرف أحداً منهم، سيمنح المؤلف في بداية كل فصل صفحتين فقط للمحاصرين تروى بضمير المتكلم، ثم سنمضي بقية الفصل مع أهم شخصية أو لنقل الشخصية التي تجعلها وظيفتها تتنقل في جميع أنحاء المعسكر، إنه موثق الحملة (مولى جلبي)، هناك سنلتقي بكبار الضباط والقادة، سنطلع على الاجتماعات الحربية، والخطط التي توضع ومن ثم تنفذ، كل المخاوف والخسائر والآلام، كل التعساء الضائعين، والقلعة صامدة لا يقتحمها الفرسان، ولا حملة السيوف، ولا الانكشارية أو الاستشهاديين، وكل أقسام الجيش التركي التي يبرع كاداريه في استخدامها في روايته.

هل هذه الرواية عن الصمود كما حاول البعض تفسيرها؟ هل هي تتحدث عن صمود الألبان أمام القوة العثمانية العظمى، وهو ما يفخرون به في تاريخهم، وخاصة وقت (إسكندر بك) الذي يحوم في هذه الرواية كشبح فوق رؤوس الأتراك، ولكن الألبان غير حاضرين في الرواية، إذن هل هي عن (حالة الحصار) التي تصيب المحاصِر، خوفه من الفشل، خوفه من الشتاء القادم الذي سيجعله يفك الحصار ويرحل، وحساباته التي تدخل فيها الخسائر والعوائد المتوقعة من الفتح، كل هذا يجعله أمام حسابات لا نهاية لها، بينما ليس لدى المحاصرين إلا خيار الصمود والصمود فقط.

رواية عظيمة، والوصف فيها وخلق الظروف ومحاولات الاقتحام مكتوبة بنفس عالٍ وقلب شجاع.

أخيراً اكتشفت وأنا اقلب كتب كاداريه في مكتبتي أنني امتلك نسخة من هذه الرواية بترجمة أخرى لمحمد غضيمة صادرة من دار الآداب، ولكن بعنوان مخترع (طبول المطر)، وهو عنوان لا علاقة له بالعنوان الألباني ولا الفرنسي أو حتى الإنجليزي !! وبعدد صفحات يقل مئة صفحة عن النسخة التي لدي !! كما أن المترجم للأسف دمج النص الصغير الذي يخص القلعة الألبانية والذي يوضع كمقدمة لكل فصل ببقية الفصل، فصار لا يسهل تمييزه عن بقية الفصل التركي، ما يحسب لهذه الترجمة فقط هو الاحتفاظ باسم الفرق العسكرية التركية كما وردت في النص من دون ترجمتها، ولكن أفسد هذا حقيقة أن المؤلف لم يشرح للقارئ معنى كل اسم، فلذا لن يفهم قارئ هذه النسخة دور كل فرقة !! من أراد أن يقرأ هذه الرواية فعليه بنسخة (الدار العربية للعلوم ناشرون) والتي ترجمها (محمد درويش) وهي متوفرة الكترونياً، رغم أن هذه الرواية مما يقتنى.
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Jan 31, 2010 Joshua rated it 5 of 5 stars

In 1969, after the Soviet Union had brutally crushed the liberal government in Czechoslovakia, tiny Albania, allied with Communist China, was very much in fear of a Soviet invasion. Ismail Kadare, a celebrated Albanian novelist and poet, then in his early thirties, had the idea for a work of fiction telling the story of his country when it was once before threatened by an overwhelming force. In the early fifteenth century it was the Ottoman Turks who were determined to trample Albania under its...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Aboorth rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

لم تتخللها لغة تنسيني وحشية تفاصيلها الموضوع الحرب والحصار وضياع
قيمة الإنسانية .. ربما وكوني فتاة لم تصلني حروفها لليوم احتقر كل من يبجل الحروب وأن كانت بضرورة كما
يزعمون !

تذكرت كيف إني اقرأ بتحرر من العواطف تاركة التقييم للعقل والفائدة
وهنا لم أستفد والذنب ليس ذنب الكاتب ولكنه ذنب الموضوع حيث تولى الأهمية للسرد التوثيقي
وأنا كإنسانة أنتظر أحداث من بشر تذكرني بماهيتي ولو بلحظات بسيطة ...
تقفز من بين حطام النفس هامسة أو صارخة ندم أو تقرف مما يحدث وليعود بعدها لسرده المتخم
بالآلات والإنتصارات الحربية...more

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Jun 27, 2012 Liliana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was an eyeopener for me. My island, Malta, too was besieged by the Turks in 1565, a little more than a century later than the setting of this book. So I have always viewed the siege from the defenders point of view, as we were the defenders. Fortunately for us as well as the defenders in this book, the Turks were defeated.

This books lays out the cruelty and inhumanity of war, that tramples on all especially the lowest and humblest, defenders and attackers. This applies as well to moder...more

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Dec 29, 2012 صلاح القرشي rated it 4 of 5 stars

هذه رواية أخرى عظيمة أطالعها لاسماعيل كادرية بعد العمل الوحيد الذي قرأته سابقا وهو قصة مدينة الحجر

رواية الحصار لهذا الألباني المخضرم تقرأ للمتعة وللتأمل العميق في النفس الإنسانية ولفهم التاريخ والأهم من هذا كله هو الاحساس بعظمة الفن الروائي الذي يستطيع تقديم كل هذه الأشياء معا

لو مات هذا الرجل دون أن يمنح نوبل فالأمر سيكون محزنا رغم أن ما سيعوق نوبل عنه هو مواقفه السياسية المربكة وخصوصا مايثار حول علاقاته بالديكتاتور انور خوجه

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Nov 27, 2009 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: in-translation

This may seem like a straight forward historical novel about a citadel in Albania under seige from the mighty Ottaman Empire, but it is so much more than that.

Written originally in 1970 in Albania just after the Soviets had shattered the Prague uprising in Czechoslovakia, it is one of the best critics of hostile invasion and control you will ever read.

Considering the original was Albanian and it was updated in french in the mid 90s a big congratulations to all the translators involved.

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May 09, 2009 Steve rated it 2 of 5 stars

I had high hopes for this novel, the inaugural winner of the International Man Booker Prize in 2005, but found it more exotic than dramatic. A view into the social and engineering dynamics of siege warfare as the Ottoman empire advances on Europe was fascinating, but the thin point of view weaving the novel's threads into a story made for a frayed fabric. Not a candidate for book group reading, alas...

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Jun 25, 2011 Paul rated it 3 of 5 stars

Great storyteller, a lot of activity, chaos and swirling anxieties. The summation in the final chapter gave a foreboding sense of the futility and inevitability of war. The ineluctable struggle for supremacy, but who really wins? The technique is compelling, the voice and tone sometimes at odds with the period, but it also makes the characters more approachable in the alarming circumstances.

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Jul 20, 2012 Cristina Bettencourt rated it 5 of 5 stars

My favorite book by this author. He seems to be able to recreate the mentality and the perspective people may have had in those times. He makes me "feel" with them regardless of the fact that I am submerged in my zeitgeist, and in principle a bad neutral observer. This combined with a compelling writing style.

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Jul 15, 2011 Michele rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The nastiness of warfare hasn't changed much over the centuries. Kadare paints a picture of the siege of an Albanian castle/fortress. I found the first 40% rather mundane. It was only when Kadare started exploring the underlying cause/goals of war that I found the novel interesting. The novel was translated from Albanian to French to English, so I have to wonder what was lost in the translation. I'm glad I read this book, but I didn't love it.

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Oct 18, 2009 Kathidfsmc rated it 2 of 5 stars

This was interesting but at times I felt like I was reading a history book. The only difference was they spoke about the feelings of the people in the book. It was interesting though. It gave me a perspective of what things may have been like for warriors during this time period.

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Mar 03, 2011 Zach rated it 4 of 5 stars

A nice bit of storytelling. Kadare uses a simple, sparse approach in the description of battle to great effect. He offers a nice selection of characters, the main three (as I see them) each with a different and illuminating perspective. I would definitely recommend the book.

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