How The Soldier Repairs The Gramophone
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Review
'Sasa Stanisic's inventive flourishes...inject the novel with a breezy bravado.' (INDEPENDENT )
'a sad and magical book' (SCOTSMAN )
'An enchanting tale that captures the impact of war on people's lives' (BIG ISSUE IN THE NORTH )
'a sad and magical book' (SCOTSMAN )
'An enchanting tale that captures the impact of war on people's lives' (BIG ISSUE IN THE NORTH )
Claire Allfree, METRO
"Aleksander's endearing attempts to accept that his homeland has changed for ever mark this out as another impressive novel to emerge from the Balkan conflict"
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Clever, funny, sad.,
By
This review is from: How The Soldier Repairs The Gramophone (Hardcover)
How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone tells the story of Aleksandar Krsmanovi', a boy who is growing up in the Bosnian town of Visegrad but flees with his family to Germany in 1992 to escape the war. Since Stanisi' grew up in Visegrad and moved to Germany in 1992 as a fourteen-year-old, I assume it is somewhat autobiographical.
The blurb on the back cover compares Stanisi' with Jonathan Safran Foer and David Foster Wallace, which gives you some idea of the kind of writer he is: a clever young man who isn't afraid to leave evidence of his cleverness on the page. There are sections written in different voices, stylistic quirks, elements you might call magical realist, a bit of a book-within-a-book and so on. In fiction there can be a fine line between overtly clever and overly clever, and for the first few chapters I was a bit unsure which side of the line this book falls, but it won me over. It's by no means a perfect novel -- it's a bit messy -- but it's interesting, funny and clever and in the end I found it surprisingly moving.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing,
By Book chatter (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: How The Soldier Repairs The Gramophone (Hardcover)
When this book was first published I must have read a good review, as rather than borrow a library copy, I bought my own hardback. Now I've finally got round to reading it, I gave up after 32 pages. Set in Visegrad, Bosnia before WW2 and in the time of Tito, this follows the story of Aleksander. It starts with the death of his great grandpa and then meanders through a series of tales and reminiscences (up to where I stopped, but I'm sure it continued). A strange production style, with a list of comments along the top of the chapter instead of a number or heading, which relates to what's covered in that chapter - making it feel like a non fiction book. the text also feels dense for the same reason. I didn't find it funny either.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.2 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews) 8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
awe,
By Arienette Cervantes - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone (Hardcover)
I picked up this novel after attempting (and then giving up on) a couple of others that I felt I was wasting my time on. I wanted to read a valuable book...and then I found one.
This starts out happy. And then it gets a little bleak. And then it comes together in a manic fit of emotion. This is Aleksandar's documented memory and it provides so much insight to his shattered world. At times, we are as disillusioned as he is-but then he enlightens us with his deft storytelling... His sporadic thoughts... "If I were a magician who could make things possible, I'd have lemonade always tasting as it did on the evening Francesco explained how right it was for the Italian moon to be a feminine moon. If I were a magician who could make things possible, we'd be able to understand all languages every evening between eight and nine. If I were a magician who could make things possible, all dams would keep their promises. If I were a magician who could make things possible, we'd be really brave." Sasa Stanisic is a truly innovative author. This was spectacular. 7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a firecracker!,
By Dragana Djordjevic-Laky - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone (Hardcover)
Whether the term "migrant literature" is justified in its existence is a question that is, hm, existential. Sasa Stanisic may not think it is, but whatever the theoretical basis, DO READ this book, please! Even if you think you've read about all the semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tales sparkling with magic realism, pop-culture, wayward tragicomedy and lyrical interludes you can take, read it. In the author's adopted home country of Germany, it's a much publicized fact that he came as a refugee from Visegrad, Bosnia-Hercegovina (engraved in literature by 1961 Nobel Prize Winner Ivo Andric) at age 14 without speaking a word of German but started publishing to great success years ago and pulled off this poetic, inventive masterpiece when he was all of twice that age.
Anthea Bell's translation is certainly competent, though occasionally she doesn't quite hit the offbeat tone. But, in fairness, that's tough to do. Even in the original there are chapters where it takes pages to grasp what's going on, and I strongly hope that readers will apply some patience where necessary, because it will be rewarded. The most poignant example is the tour-de-force chapter (too long to quote) between pages 256 and 276 about a soccer game between warring factions turned bloody, which is based on a true event. So why should American readers care about mental pole vaults on a part of the world with rituals, wars and sports they may not understand? Because the book makes a mark. Clever? For sure. Think Jonathan Safran Foer getting drunk with Gary Shteyngart, and I said this before I saw that the latter threw in his praise on the back flap. Biased reviewer? Maybe, though only to the extent that I hold writers whose vita bears any resemblance to mine to a higher standard. But find out for yourself. 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of my fav reads of the year,
By ash - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone (Hardcover)
I well remember the frustration I felt when I would sit and listen to the news about the war in Bosnia, about the snipers, the mass killings, the ethnic cleansing (I hate that term), and the destruction of the beautiful city of Sarajevo. I was hoping, young that I was, that the world would set this all straight. Boy was that bubble burst in an instant.
This book brings all of that back. With a staccato almost like a machine gun, he lets the memories of the war, and the time before, shoot the reader. Its a heartbreaking book about a heartbreaking war, but it could be about any war, any time, anywhere. Caveat - his writing style is not for everyone. Some people may find the twists, turns and cloverleafs a bit daunting. There were times I had to put it down and read something else for a bit to get my balance. Others might be put off by the stream of consciousness. My suggestion to you is to just read and not worry about the style. I know for me, despite some confusion here and there, the time spend was well worth it! |
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