Chronicle in Stone by Ismail Kadare

Ismail Kadare is an Albanian writer, and Chronicle set in the southern town of Gjirokaster during WW2. I don't know much abou historical or modern Albania or even much about WW2 for that matter but this book still made perfect sense to me, was beautifully evocative and a joy to read.

Usually when I'm enjoying a book I race through it. I'll take a couple of days to read it if I'm going slowly. With Chronicle it was different. I've been reading it since the last post. It'svery unusual for me to read like this but somehow it suited the book itself. I feel I have given it the sustained attention it deserves.

Told through the eyes of a young boy, the book tells the story of the inhabitants of Gjirokaster under Italian (then Greek, then Italian, then Greek, then Italian...then German) occupation. Kadare writes (or is translated - I think both writer and translator have done a brilliant job here) absolutely beautifully. Evocatively. His descritpions of the city and its surroundings, and perfect descriptions of the characters are absolutely enchanting and very moving.

This isn't a book full of wild action scenes, but I found that it was still a very tense and gripping read. The rumoured presence of Vasiliqia, a Greek holy woman who goes round choosing male citizens to be executed just by pointing at them, was a horrible moment. And the inevitability of Isa and Javer's fate...The book is gentle, with touches of humour and very clever use of a child narrator, but still does not shrink from the real nature of war. Perhaps the saddest part, from my view, was the death of the old lady Kako Pino, something that truly shocked and horrified me.

Kadare has written a very clever, but still enjoyable and above all moving book. The narrative is interspersed with smaller sections of news, but whereas this might distract from a less accomplished story, I found the fragmented structure very appealing. Chronicle draws together traditional Albanian superstition and society with the modern world, and throws in the calamity of war to stir things up still further. When you realise that much of this must have been based on Kadare's own experience, the story is even more profound.

I haven't said this before (or at least I don't remember if I have) about any book, but this is one that I think everyone - no matter where they come from or what their background is - should read. And I would even go so far as to rail and wail about why it isn't on the national syllabus - it should be (but that's another argument). One of the best books I have ever read, and definitely one of my favourites. Bless the day I was trauling through Amazon and it came up in my recommendations! And thank you Ismail Kadare for opening my eyes through your genius literature!