On the Edge of Reason- Miroslav Krleža

[Amanda]

This Croatian novel follows the trials of an unamed middle aged lawyer who blurts out an honest thought at a party and ends up subjected social and legal oppression due to it. This sounds extreme, but it isn't just any honest thought- he calls a powerful member of the community a monster for bragging about shooting and killing 4 petty thieves in his wine cellar and trying to escape over his fence. What ensues is allegations of libel, insanity, persecution by the legal authorities etc.

This book represents more than this incident- but rather a larger condemnation of tyranny against the individual and freedom of expression, a theme that was apprently central to much of Krleža's work. It also does a great job demonstrating the difficulty of not succombing to complacency and not speaking truth to power in the face of oppression and slander (something that seems to ring true of whistleblowers in all nations). I gave it 4 stars.