Tag Archives: fiction

Under the Yoke

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Since it’s the only Bulgarian novel I have ever read, I’m not exactly in a position to say that Under the Yoke by Ivan Vazov (published 1889) is the greatest Bulgarian novel.  But, if there’s a better Bulgarian novel, I’d like to read it!  Under the Yoke is one of the most powerful and enthralling books I’ve read in recent years.  It is beautifully written, and the translation was excellent, with only a handful of words that may have been imperfectly translated.  Vazov creates a richly real setting and scenario, with wit and sensitivity.  In style, he approaches George Eliot.  The epic subject and story are more akin to For Whom the Bell Tolls.  It is equally powerful as Hemingway’s classic.

After reading Turgenev’s On the Eve recently, which featured a Bulgarian patriot as a leading character, I became interested in that part of Bulgarian history and literature.  The L.A. Public Library fortunately had Under the Yoke for loan, so I borrowed it.  It has taken a day or two to shake the effects of the dramatic ending.

Now, I need something lighter, so, in one of the more extreme reverse leaps that one can attempt on the literary spectrum, I have turned to Nancy Mitford’s The Pursuit of Love.  The Yoke is slowly starting to lift.

The test of time. . .

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I wonder sometimes about the literary fiction that has been published during my lifetime, and whether any of it will be known and read in future generations.  The way society is changing so fast makes me a little pessimistic about what the future holds.  Reading and literature are simply one part of the worrisome scenario.

So my question is: Are there any literary or mainstream novels published since Catch 22 that will live on for future generations?

Subquestion 1:  What about The Da Vinci Code, and is it even a literary novel, or is it a genre novel?

Subquestion 2: Am I revealing a deplorable literary ignorance by asking the above questions?

Thanks for any feedback.

Watership Down

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As an animal sympathizer, I probably should have read Richard Adams’ Watership Down decades ago.  But somehow I never got around to it until now.  It’s not that it delivers an overriding message about animal exploitation.  But it does subtly dramatize the everyday mistreatment of animals that our society tolerates.  However, simple themes of courage, loyalty, friendship, and freedom were what the book was really about.

And those themes were presented in one of the most exciting, suspenseful plots I’ve ever read.  I was on pins and needles for half the book.

The book is rather sexist, which is strange to say of a book about rabbits.  But most books are sexist.

If you want to come across the names of every conceivable flower, tree and shrub in rural England, Richard Adams is your man.  He’s amazing when it comes to knowing every obscure weed that grows upon the down or heath.  Anyway, all things considered, it’s quite a remarkable and rewarding book.