Under the Colors

by Milovan Djilas, Lovett F. Edwards (translator)

Set in the closed world of late-nineteenth century Montenegro, Under the Colors tells the story of a heroic people's struggle to free themselves from alien rule. Milovan Djilas describes in epic style an era and a way of life that have long since disappeared. Yet this majestic historical novel has an import for today, when the voices of political prisoners are stifled in the prisons of many countries. Djilas writes of the psychological and ideological effects of imprisonment and torture for both the victim and oppressor. Under the colors is a novel that explores the concept of courage under conditions that seem totally destructive to the human spirit. Montenegro of the last century, a "land without justice," is a world where in T. S. Eliot's phrase, "there is only the fight to recover that what has been lost/ And found and lost again and again."

557 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Milovan Đilas was a prolific political writer and former Yugoslav communist official remembered for his disillusionment with communism. Much of his work has been translated into English from Serbian. He was, above all, a literary artist. In several of his books, Djilas proclaimed himself a writer by vocation, and a politician only under the pressure of events.

Reviews

[Boris Laketić · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ovaj istorijski roman, smešten u Plavu i neposrednoj seoskoj okolini 1879. godine, ima šest poglavlja slične dužine. Četiri poglavlja tematizuju složeni proces raspadanja patrijarhalne bratstveničke zajednice Radaka (srpskih kmetova) u jednom planinskom selu nadomak Plava, a pred pozadinom odluke Berlinskog kongresa da se Crnoj Gori pripoje Plav i Gusinje. Jedno poglavlje tematizuje razvoj unutrašnjih odnosa u jednoj begovskoj porodici u Plavu, a pred pozadinom sve izvesnije ratne opasnosti i pretnje gubitka feudalnih poseda i vlasti. Zadnje poglavlje predstavlja hroniku bitke za Plav u decembru 1879.

Prilično monotona proza. Obiluje nesugestivnim opisima. Povremeno ima misaonih i emotivnih prodora, mada bez većeg dometa. U celini gledano je snaga romana mala. Ima istorijsku težinu, ali u relativno lokalnom okviru. Aktuelnost je slaba, prikazani kolektivni procesi i ljudske sudbine se uglavnom doživljavaju kao nešto što je nepovratno ostalo u prošlosti.

[Laura Rowden · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time favorite novels. Must read for anyone interested in the Balkans in the early 20th century