BOTM October The Successor

[Celia]

The novel is divided into seven chapters, the first four of which ("A Death in December", "The Autopsy", "Fond Memories", and "The Fall") are narrated by an omniscient narrator, and the fifth ("The Guide") by a third person limited narrator (the dictator of the country, a thinly veiled portrait of Enver Hoxha). As the mystery behind the death – announced, in a characteristically simple Kadareian manner,[3] in the novel's opening sentence ("The Designated Successor was found dead in his bedroom at dawn on December 14") – ostensibly closes to an inevitable resolution, the narration abruptly turns to first-person point of view, as each of the last two chapters is narrated by one of the novel's two most important characters: "The Architect" (who renovated the Successor's palace and was one of only few people who knew about its secret underground passage leading directly from the Guide's to the Successor's home), and in the "extraordinary [last] chapter",[2] "The Successor", the already deceased title character.

Essentially a political thriller and a "whodunit tragicomedy",[3] The Successor gradually moves away from speculating about the identity of the likely murderer – after juggling with the possibilities of him being a Sigurimi agent sent by Hoxha, a rising political figure called Adrian Hasobeu striving to become the Number 2, the Architect who once felt offended by the Successor's jokes, or even the Successor's wife who slept much too soundly during the murder – choosing instead to focus on the brutal effects a close-knit dictatorship may have on everyone forced to live under it, no matter how safe he or she may seem in the eyes of the outward observers. Possibly analysing his own controversial dual role as both a privileged writer and an internal dissident under the Hoxha regime,[4] Kadare uses the figure of the Architect to explore the problem of artistic integrity in such circumstances,[5] and the events of Agamemnon's Daughter are here recounted once again – this time through the eyes of the female protagonist, Suzana – as further evidence that even the most intimate feelings, such as love, may fall victim to political intrigues and the demands of the state, in cases when the individual is continually sacrificed at a more fundamental, systematic level.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Suc...

[Rosemarie]

I've read this and really didn't see any of the comedic side. There was a sense of oppression and futility in all their actions, since they had no freedom-except the dictator.

[Gail]

I just finished The Successor, and I agree with you Rosemarie. There were a number of times that I thought it was leaning toward humor, satire or mockery and it always landed flat on paranoia and anxiety.
I suspect that the writing suffered from being translated into French and then from French into English but Kadare does have a simple straight forward style that came through. More than anything else, the fear that everyone lived under was made evident to the point that instead of resolving the murder mystery, we are left with everyone feeling guilty.
I did think that the Architect was a bit of a stand in for the author, as he attacked the regime while living under the same fears as the rest of the population to the point of feeling as if he, the author, was responsible for the horrific manipulations of the Dictator. This was similar to the way the Architect felt, that by building a beautiful building for The Successor he as good as killed the man.

[K]

Gail, I agree that the humor may have been too subtle to carry through two translations. I found it quite bleak;at least it was short, readable and had an interesting ending. I will read more Kadare. "Chronicle in Stone" is the other one I've read,liked it a lot.

[Gail]

Yes, I loved Chronicle in Stone. I have also read Broken April which is incredibly depressing but nevertheless a very interesting book.