A Tomb for Boris Davidovich

Posted on 07 March 2018 by Danilo Kiš

Composed of seven dark tales, A Tomb for Boris Davidovich presents variations on the theme of political and social self destruction throughout Eastern Europe in the first half of the twentieth century The characters in these stories are caught in a world of political hypocrisy, which ultimately leads to death, their common fate Although the stories Kis tells are based on historical events, the beauty and precision of his prose elevates these ostensibly true stories into works of literary art that transcend the politics of their time. Download A Tomb for Boris Davidovich – kino-fada.fr Brilliant forward by Joseph Brodsky Check.Adequate afterword by William T Vollman Check.Bookended in between I ll quote Grace Zabriskie s interloping madwoman from Inland EmpireBrutal fucking murderA Tomb for Boris Davidovich is a book of brutal fucking murders You begin to feel the creeping disquiet, the emerging horror, very early on, when Miksha, the tailor s apprentice, solves the problem of a bothersome skunk that s been snatching chickens from the chicken coop by trapping the pol Brilliant forward by Joseph Brodsky Check.Adequate afterword by William T Vollman Check.Bookended in between I ll quote Grace Zabriskie s interloping madwoman from Inland EmpireBrutal fucking murderA Tomb for Boris Davidovich is a book of brutal fucking murders You begin to feel the creeping disquiet, the emerging horror, very early on, when Miksha, the tailor s apprentice, solves the problem of a bothersome skunk that s been snatching chickens from the chicken coop by trapping the polecat, and while still alive, running a rusty wire through its nostrils, hanging it in full display on the tailor s front doorstep, making incisions along its neck and belly like a crimso... He who has seen the present has seen everything, that which happened in the most distant past and that which will happen in the future.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, book VI, 37 Quoted by Danilo Ki If conventional short stories could be compared to films in which the story unfolds in a linear manner, then the stories in A Tomb for Boris Davidovich could be compared to a series of still photos a little like Chris Marker s film La Jet e each described in precise, almost austere detail Th He who has seen the present has seen everything, that which happened in the most distant past and that which will happen in the future.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, book VI, 37 Quoted by Danilo Ki If conventional short stories could be compared to films in which the story unfolds in a linear manner, then the stories in A Tomb for Boris Davidovich could be compared to a series of still ...If you think this is merely the stuff of historical nightmare, try to put in mind the current realities of Guantanamo, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, et al According to the formidable Joseph Brodsky, the author of the Introduction to this edition of Kis A Tomb for Boris Davidovich ATfBD the Yugoslav Union of Writers accused the author of plagiarizing Solzhenitsyn, Joyce, Nadezhda Mandelstam, Jorge Luis Borges, the Medvedev brothers, and others I understand each excepting, of course, Mandelsta If you think this is merely the stuff of historical nightmare, try to put in mind the current realities of Guantanamo, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, et al According to the formidable Joseph Brodsky, the author of the Introduction to this edition of Kis A Tomb for Boris Davidovich ATfBD the Yugoslav Union of Writers accused the author of plagiarizing Solzhenitsyn, Joyce, Nadezhda Mandelstam, Jorge Luis Borges, the Medvedev brothers, and others I understand each excepting, of course, Mandelstam and the Medvedevs becaus...In Danilo Ki s style I ve seen a perceptible influence of Isaac Babel and also his stories are spiced with some Varlam Shalamov s overtones.But thematically A Tomb for Boris Davidovich goes as a sequel to A Universal History of Iniquity by Jorge Luis Borges Those who play revolutionary games are villains by definition and even if they win sooner or later they ll fall prey to the greater villains N...It s not that I m saying Danilo Ki isn t original or talented but what I m saying is that we needBorgeses of xyz Ki does this job wonderfully for Yugoslavia in his Boris book And most cheerfully I now have the following string of literary cards Borge Ki Vollmann which pleases me greatly Less cheerfully is the discovery of a juxtaposition of stories in this novel which shows not much has changed and one could discover perhaps quickly a story written by a Mus It s not that I m saying Danilo Ki isn t original or talented but what I m saying is that we needBorgeses of xyz Ki does this job wonderfully for Yugoslavia in his Boris book And most cheerfully I now have the following string of literary cards Borge Ki Vollmann which pleases me greatly Less cheerfully is the discovery of a juxtaposition of stories in this novel which show...Goddamnit, that was genius ly crafted bleakitude I think I need a hug before I can stew on this text Brodsky s intro is tremendous a fitting companion to such an important piece of lit.IL PENSIERO IL PEGGIORE DEI DELITTI Qui solo i nomi sono fittizi La storia, purtroppo, assolutamente vera Anche se vorremmo che non lo fosse.Sette storie che parlano di Storia, sette narrazioni che usano la Storia per raccontare il Male quel Terrore, che chiss perch si identifica con la Rivoluzione francese, mentre il secolo breve che lo porta alle vette massime Nel caso specifico, in questi sette racconti si tratta del terrore sovietico, del regno di doppiezza e paura.Si tratta di IL PENSIERO IL PEGGIORE DEI DELITTI Qui solo i nomi sono fittizi La storia, purtroppo, assolutamente vera Anche se vorremmo che non lo fosse.Sette storie che parlano di Storia, sette narrazioni che usano la Storia per raccontare il Male quel Terrore, che chiss perch si identifica con la Rivoluzione francese, mentre il secolo breve che lo porta alle vette massime Nel caso specifico, in questi sette racconti si tratta del terrore sovietico, del regno di doppiezza e paura.Si tratta di sette biografie ricostruite, ma forse anche inventate, con scrittura densa,...Citind povestirile lui Kis, portretele unor oameni strivi i, chiar anihila i, de propriile convingeri sau de sistemul la care au aderat, mi a revenit obsedant n minte unul din tablourile lui Goya Cronos devor ndu i copiii C ci exact asta s a nt mplat n toat perioada revolu iei bol evice i, ulterior, n regimul stalinis...I don t think I ve ever read something so proficient yet so indebted to another author Kis, it has been noted, is a Borges progeny Check it out The next night, that of January 29 30, the scene was repeated the guards led Novsky down the vertiginous spiral stairs into the deep cellars of the prison Novsky realised with horror that this repetition was not accidental, but part of an infernal plan each day of his life would be paid for with the life of another man the perfection of his biograp I don t think I ve ever read something so proficient yet so indebted to another author Kis, it has been noted, is a Borges progeny Check it out The next night, that of January 29 30, the scene was repeated the guards led Novsky down the vertiginous spiral stairs into the deep cellars of the prison Novsky realised with horror that this repetition was not accidental, but part of an infernal plan each day of his life would be paid for with the life of another man the perfection of his biography would be destroyed, his life s work his life deformed by these final pages If, as Mario Vargas Llosa says in Borges s Fiction , from A Writer s Reality , Borges s prose has wreaked havoc among countless admirers, in whose work the use of certain images or verbs or adjectives established by him turns into mere parody, t...Jesus, that was my husk of a response after I finished this one on a rainy afternoon, still jet lagged from a honeymoon of sorts in London and back in Indiana, one foaming with the necessity of quickly organizing most aspects of my life.

English
07 March 2018

Danilo Kiš