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Yugoslavia, My Fatherland
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message 1:
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Diane , Armchair Tour Guide
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rated it 4 stars
Dec 15, 2018 07:49AM
Start discussion here for Yugoslavia, My Fatherland by Goran Vojnović.
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Diane , Armchair Tour Guide
(last edited Dec 15, 2018 08:08AM)
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rated it 4 stars
About the Book (Goodreads description)When Vladan Borojević googles the name of his father Nedelko, a former officer in the Yugoslav People’s Army, supposedly killed in the civil war after the decay of Yugoslavia, he unexpectedly discovers a dark family secret. The story which which then unfolds takes him back to the catastrophic events of 1991, when he first heard the military term deployment and his idyllic childhood came to a sudden end.
Seventeen years later Vladan’s discovery that he is the son of a fugitive war criminal sends him off on a journey round the Balkans to find his elusive father. On the way, he also finds out how the falling apart of his family is closely linked with the disintegration of the world they used to live in. The story of the Borojević family strings and juxtaposes images of the Balkans past and present, but mainly deals with the tragic fates of people who managed to avoid the bombs, but were unable to escape the war.
About the Author (from Wikipedia)
"Goran Vojnović (born 11 June 1980) is a Slovenian writer, poet, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his 2008 novel Southern Scum Go Home (Slovene: Čefurji raus!) which won him numerous awards as well as a lawsuit filed by the Slovenian Police that was withdrawn a day later after media attention and public outrage at police filing charges for a work of fiction brought embarrassment to the Slovenian Ministry of Interior.
Vojnović was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He studied at the Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and Television. He published his first collection of poetry Lep je ta svet in 1998".
This is the first book I've finished since joining this group, and was pleasantly surprised with this book! The story was gripping and really portrayed what I imagine living through the transition phases of Yugoslavia's demise must have been like. I found it interesting to compare Vladan's experience to what refugees throughout the Middle-East must be facing.
Great book and it felt very realistic to me - so interesting to read something from an author who was a child during the break up of Yugoslavia. But since we're talking translations, was anyone else annoyed by the number of mistakes in it? (Reading kindle version.) I felt it needed a good proofread.
