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The Concert
A group of Albanian friends are torn apart by the political turmoil of the mid 1970s, as the nation's diplomatic ties with China begin to unravel, and their personal entanglements follow suit in the face of government insecurity
444 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
25 people are currently reading
516 people want to read
About the author
Ismail Kadare
290books1,655followersIsmail Kadare (also spelled Kadaré) was an Albanian novelist and poet. He has been a leading literary figure in Albania since the 1960s. He focused on short stories until the publication of his first novel, The General of the Dead Army. In 1996 he became a lifetime member of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences of France. In 1992, he was awarded the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca; in 2005, he won the inaugural Man Booker International Prize, in 2009 the Prince of Asturias Award of Arts, and in 2015 the Jerusalem Prize. He has divided his time between Albania and France since 1990. Kadare has been mentioned as a possible recipient for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times. His works have been published in about 30 languages.
Ismail Kadare was born in 1936 in Gjirokastër, in the south of Albania. His education included studies at the University of Tirana and then the Gorky Institute for World Literature in Moscow, a training school for writers and critics.
In 1960 Kadare returned to Albania after the country broke ties with the Soviet Union, and he became a journalist and published his first poems.
His first novel, The General of the Dead Army, sprang from a short story, and its success established his name in Albania and enabled Kadare to become a full-time writer.
Kadare's novels draw on Balkan history and legends. They are obliquely ironic as a result of trying to withstand political scrutiny. Among his best known books are Chronicle in Stone (1977), Broken April (1978), and The Concert (1988), considered the best novel of the year 1991 by the French literary magazine Lire.
In 1990, Kadare claimed political asylum in France, issuing statements in favour of democratisation. During the ordeal, he stated that "dictatorship and authentic literature are incompatible. The writer is the natural enemy of dictatorship."
Ismail Kadare was born in 1936 in Gjirokastër, in the south of Albania. His education included studies at the University of Tirana and then the Gorky Institute for World Literature in Moscow, a training school for writers and critics.
In 1960 Kadare returned to Albania after the country broke ties with the Soviet Union, and he became a journalist and published his first poems.
His first novel, The General of the Dead Army, sprang from a short story, and its success established his name in Albania and enabled Kadare to become a full-time writer.
Kadare's novels draw on Balkan history and legends. They are obliquely ironic as a result of trying to withstand political scrutiny. Among his best known books are Chronicle in Stone (1977), Broken April (1978), and The Concert (1988), considered the best novel of the year 1991 by the French literary magazine Lire.
In 1990, Kadare claimed political asylum in France, issuing statements in favour of democratisation. During the ordeal, he stated that "dictatorship and authentic literature are incompatible. The writer is the natural enemy of dictatorship."
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November 18, 2017
The author, Kadare, is the classic writer of Albanian times under communism. This historical novel focuses on the period, roughly 1972-1978, when Albania had allied itself with Red China rather than Russia. But the Albanian leader, Enver Hoxha (he needs a nickname so I’ll give him one: Crazy Man) is splitting with Mao over Mao’s invitation to Nixon to visit China.
Mao is losing it too � he’s 80 and “living in a cave� (actually an underground house). His much younger ex-movie-star wife is running the show behind the scenes and after Mao’s death she will become infamous as part of the “Gang of Four.� She is anti-art, anti-literature and anti-music. So the book is not just about Albania but also about simultaneous goings-on in China. Mao thought that his entrée into Albania would help spread his brand of communism throughout Europe.
The fictional story focuses on a young married woman with kids whose brother has just committed a crime against the state. The brother has been kicked out of the communist party which has tremendous implications for the entire extended family: it will impact their jobs, their ability to get housing, the ability of her daughter to get a colleges scholarship, and so on. Meanwhile she’s still recovering from the recent death of her sister and she’s worried that her husband is having an affair. While the families in the story are urban and educated, they are just one generation away from peasants divining the future from chicken entrails as portrayed in the author’s novel Chronicle in Stone. Instead they read coffee grounds around the table!
While all this is going on, the sub-stories focus on the impact of the impending China-Albania breakup. There’s a race to the bottom in delegations and exchanges between the two countries: fewer, and lower level people; the newspapers report gatherings of diplomats as cordial rather than warm and friendly, etc.
The main character’s husband has to travel to China and is overwhelmed by all the sayings and slogans: “the two just and the three unjust things, the four chief recommendations, the seven faults, the five virtues and the ten evils, etc.� Mao’s attitude was “People who remember too much are a danger to us.�
A quote I liked: “…Besnik facing life’s ups and downs with such calm indifference, Silva had wondered whether this was because he had already had his full quota of happiness.�
An Albanian word I liked: “sybukura� � a woman with beautiful eyes.
I much preferred this author’s novel "Chronicle in Stone" to Concert. This book seemed overly long and a bit of a chore to read at times. There are too many family names to absorb at first and a bit too much about politics in China, especially speculation related to the mysterious death in an air crash of a Chinese leader who might replace Mao - Lin Biao. The writing is literary but not exceptional.
top photo of Albania's capital, Tirana, from tirana.albania-car-rentals.com
bottom photo of Tirana from alamy.com
Mao is losing it too � he’s 80 and “living in a cave� (actually an underground house). His much younger ex-movie-star wife is running the show behind the scenes and after Mao’s death she will become infamous as part of the “Gang of Four.� She is anti-art, anti-literature and anti-music. So the book is not just about Albania but also about simultaneous goings-on in China. Mao thought that his entrée into Albania would help spread his brand of communism throughout Europe.
The fictional story focuses on a young married woman with kids whose brother has just committed a crime against the state. The brother has been kicked out of the communist party which has tremendous implications for the entire extended family: it will impact their jobs, their ability to get housing, the ability of her daughter to get a colleges scholarship, and so on. Meanwhile she’s still recovering from the recent death of her sister and she’s worried that her husband is having an affair. While the families in the story are urban and educated, they are just one generation away from peasants divining the future from chicken entrails as portrayed in the author’s novel Chronicle in Stone. Instead they read coffee grounds around the table!
While all this is going on, the sub-stories focus on the impact of the impending China-Albania breakup. There’s a race to the bottom in delegations and exchanges between the two countries: fewer, and lower level people; the newspapers report gatherings of diplomats as cordial rather than warm and friendly, etc.
The main character’s husband has to travel to China and is overwhelmed by all the sayings and slogans: “the two just and the three unjust things, the four chief recommendations, the seven faults, the five virtues and the ten evils, etc.� Mao’s attitude was “People who remember too much are a danger to us.�
A quote I liked: “…Besnik facing life’s ups and downs with such calm indifference, Silva had wondered whether this was because he had already had his full quota of happiness.�
An Albanian word I liked: “sybukura� � a woman with beautiful eyes.
I much preferred this author’s novel "Chronicle in Stone" to Concert. This book seemed overly long and a bit of a chore to read at times. There are too many family names to absorb at first and a bit too much about politics in China, especially speculation related to the mysterious death in an air crash of a Chinese leader who might replace Mao - Lin Biao. The writing is literary but not exceptional.
top photo of Albania's capital, Tirana, from tirana.albania-car-rentals.com
bottom photo of Tirana from alamy.com
November 12, 2017
Koncert ne fund te dimrit: roman = Le concert = The Concert, Ismail Kadare
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: بیست و یکم ماه آوریل سال 2012 میلادی
عنوان: کنسرت در پایان زمستان؛ نویسنده: اسماعیل کاداره؛ مترجم: مهین میلانی؛ تهران، نشر مرکز، 1375؛ در 575 ص؛ شابک: 9643051137؛
اسماعیل کاداره (زاده 28 ژانویه سال 1936 میلادی) نویسنده، شاعر و روزنامه نگار آلبانی است. در دهه 1990 میلادی آلبانی را ترک و به فرانسه پناهنده شد. انتشار کتابهای� مدته� در آلبانی ممنوع بود، ولی در فرانسه با استقبال روبرو شد. کاداره در سال 1996 میلادی به عضویت فرهنگستان علوم اخلاقی و سیاسی فرانسه درآمد و پس از آن نیز به عنوان افسر «لژیون دونور» معرفی شد. نخستین رمان ایشان «ژنرال ارتش مرده» در سال 1961 میلادی منتشر شد، و پس از آن کم و بیش 20 رمان و چندین کتاب شعر به چاپ رسانده� است
آثار: ژنرال ارتش مرده - ترجمه مجید حاتم انتشارات فکر روز؛ آوریل شکسته - ترجمه قاسم صنعوی، نشر مرکز. رمان در فهرست 1001 کتاب است؛ رویدادهای شهر سنگی - ترجمه جلالالدی� کزازی، نشر مرکز. رمان در فهرست روزنامه گاردین ( 1000 رمان که هر شخص باید بخواند) قرار دارد؛ کنسرت در پایان زمستان - ترجمه مهین میلانی، نشر مرکز، رمان در فهرست 1001 است
نحوه زندگی مردم آلبانی، در زمان خراب شدن روابط آلبانی و چین، و نحوه ی زندگی در جوامع کمونیستی است. «سیلوا» کارمند یک وزارتخانه است، «گیرگی» همسرش حامل نامه هایی است که چین و آلبانی برای هم میفرستند. برادرش «آریان» در ارتش دچار مشکل شده، و خواهرش «آنا» که فوت کرده هنوز در ذهن آنها جاری ست. شایعاتی در باره ی «آنا» و «اسکندر برمما» نویسنده معروف وجود داشته، و گفته میشده که کتاب «برای فراموشی یک زن» برای آنا نوشته شده، زمانی که آنا تقاضای طلاق داده شوهرش بحث را به دادگاه میکشد که اسکندر موجب تقاضای آنا بوده است، آنگاه متوجه میشوند، «بسنیک» قرار است با آنا ازدواج کند. لیندا همکار سیلوا نیز عاشق بسنیک است. اسکندر عاشق آناست، درخت لیمویی که اول داستان به درون خانه میآید در پایان شکوفه میدهد
نقل از کتاب: کنسرت در پایان زمستان
هربار که زمستان بر شیشه های پنجره ها بکوبد، تو، هرچند هم که نباشی، باز برمیگردی. حتی اگر به شکل موسیقی، عزا و صلیب هم درآیی، باز تو را میشناسم و به سویت پر میکشم. پایان نقل. ا. شربیانی
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: بیست و یکم ماه آوریل سال 2012 میلادی
عنوان: کنسرت در پایان زمستان؛ نویسنده: اسماعیل کاداره؛ مترجم: مهین میلانی؛ تهران، نشر مرکز، 1375؛ در 575 ص؛ شابک: 9643051137؛
اسماعیل کاداره (زاده 28 ژانویه سال 1936 میلادی) نویسنده، شاعر و روزنامه نگار آلبانی است. در دهه 1990 میلادی آلبانی را ترک و به فرانسه پناهنده شد. انتشار کتابهای� مدته� در آلبانی ممنوع بود، ولی در فرانسه با استقبال روبرو شد. کاداره در سال 1996 میلادی به عضویت فرهنگستان علوم اخلاقی و سیاسی فرانسه درآمد و پس از آن نیز به عنوان افسر «لژیون دونور» معرفی شد. نخستین رمان ایشان «ژنرال ارتش مرده» در سال 1961 میلادی منتشر شد، و پس از آن کم و بیش 20 رمان و چندین کتاب شعر به چاپ رسانده� است
آثار: ژنرال ارتش مرده - ترجمه مجید حاتم انتشارات فکر روز؛ آوریل شکسته - ترجمه قاسم صنعوی، نشر مرکز. رمان در فهرست 1001 کتاب است؛ رویدادهای شهر سنگی - ترجمه جلالالدی� کزازی، نشر مرکز. رمان در فهرست روزنامه گاردین ( 1000 رمان که هر شخص باید بخواند) قرار دارد؛ کنسرت در پایان زمستان - ترجمه مهین میلانی، نشر مرکز، رمان در فهرست 1001 است
نحوه زندگی مردم آلبانی، در زمان خراب شدن روابط آلبانی و چین، و نحوه ی زندگی در جوامع کمونیستی است. «سیلوا» کارمند یک وزارتخانه است، «گیرگی» همسرش حامل نامه هایی است که چین و آلبانی برای هم میفرستند. برادرش «آریان» در ارتش دچار مشکل شده، و خواهرش «آنا» که فوت کرده هنوز در ذهن آنها جاری ست. شایعاتی در باره ی «آنا» و «اسکندر برمما» نویسنده معروف وجود داشته، و گفته میشده که کتاب «برای فراموشی یک زن» برای آنا نوشته شده، زمانی که آنا تقاضای طلاق داده شوهرش بحث را به دادگاه میکشد که اسکندر موجب تقاضای آنا بوده است، آنگاه متوجه میشوند، «بسنیک» قرار است با آنا ازدواج کند. لیندا همکار سیلوا نیز عاشق بسنیک است. اسکندر عاشق آناست، درخت لیمویی که اول داستان به درون خانه میآید در پایان شکوفه میدهد
نقل از کتاب: کنسرت در پایان زمستان
هربار که زمستان بر شیشه های پنجره ها بکوبد، تو، هرچند هم که نباشی، باز برمیگردی. حتی اگر به شکل موسیقی، عزا و صلیب هم درآیی، باز تو را میشناسم و به سویت پر میکشم. پایان نقل. ا. شربیانی
February 17, 2018
Κεντρικό θέμα οι σχέσεις Κίνας-Αλβανίας κατά την δεκαετία του 70. Ο Kadare γράφει υπό καθεστώς κομμουνισμού και αυτό φωνάζει στο κείμενό του. Η ιστορία του πλαισιώνεται από πολλούς χαρακτήρες ακόμη, ίσως μάλιστα πάρα πολλούς για να μπορέσεις να συγκρατήσεις τον ρόλο του καθενός αλλά και την σύνδεσή του με όλους τους υπόλοιπους αλλά και την ίδια την ιστορία. Κυβερνητικοί υπάλληλοι, οικογενειακά δράματα, πολιτικές και όχι μόνο αναταραχές μπλέκονται περίεργα σε μια ιστορία που δεν κατάφερε ωστόσο να με συνεπάρει.
Ήταν πολύ αργό για μένα, σε πολλά σημεία μου φάνηκε σαν να πλατιάζει απλά και μόνο για να γεμίσει περισσότερες σελίδες ενώ οι χαρακτήρες του έμοιαζαν κάπως αποστειρωμένοι, χωρίς ιδιαίτερο βάθος.
Η αλήθεια είναι ότι ζορίστηκα να το τελειώσω έχοντας ένα περίεργο μικτό συναίσθημα ότι μου αρέσει αλλά και δεν μου αρέσει ταυτόχρονα. Σίγουρα με μια κεντρική ιδέα περί σχέσεων μεταξύ χωρών θα ήθελα να με είχε συναρπάσει. Κρίμα που δεν τα κατάφερε.
Ήταν πολύ αργό για μένα, σε πολλά σημεία μου φάνηκε σαν να πλατιάζει απλά και μόνο για να γεμίσει περισσότερες σελίδες ενώ οι χαρακτήρες του έμοιαζαν κάπως αποστειρωμένοι, χωρίς ιδιαίτερο βάθος.
Η αλήθεια είναι ότι ζορίστηκα να το τελειώσω έχοντας ένα περίεργο μικτό συναίσθημα ότι μου αρέσει αλλά και δεν μου αρέσει ταυτόχρονα. Σίγουρα με μια κεντρική ιδέα περί σχέσεων μεταξύ χωρών θα ήθελα να με είχε συναρπάσει. Κρίμα που δεν τα κατάφερε.
October 28, 2013
In 1978, China broke off its trade and other relations with Enver Hoxha's Albania. The 2 countries had been begun to be closely allied in the early 1960s, as was first reported in the West by the West German journalist in his book Albania first published in English in 1962.
The Concert by Ismail Kadaré is a long novel set both in his native land Albania and also in the People's Republic of China during the final months of the friendship between the 2 distantly separated nations. Not only were they distantly separated geographically, but also culturally as his novel illustrates very clearly.
The reader is plunged into the world and family life of the upper echelons of Albanian bureaucracy. Their attempts to lead 'normal', almost bourgeois lives, are constantly overshadowed by the secretive machinations of Enver Hoxha's repressive regime. Plots are hatched (by whom we can never be sure), people are arrested and then released, consciences are searched (both by their owners and also by the state), people are sent from Tirana to the provinces and also to China, & self-interests compete with state interests. Kadaré's novel reveals both how normal and at the same time how abnormal life was in Albania. Friends visit each other, share meals and drink coffee together, but it only takes a telephone call or a rumour to cause turbulence in cosiness of the social setting.
I will not attempt to summarise the complex plot consisting of a number of sub-plots that gradually mesh together. However, as the story unfolds, so does the knot that had tied together the Chinese and Albanians. The effects that this unravelling has both on the Albanians and their soon-to-be former Chinese allies is beautifully conveyed in this book.
My only criticism of this long story, is that I found that the author's writing was less tight, less economical, and less concise, than in many of the other of his books that I have read. Apart from this, the book is a fascinating account of a peculiar episode in Balkan history written in Tirana (between 1977 & 1988, but first published in France) by someone who experienced it first hand.
Reviewed by the author of and other books about the Balkans
The Concert by Ismail Kadaré is a long novel set both in his native land Albania and also in the People's Republic of China during the final months of the friendship between the 2 distantly separated nations. Not only were they distantly separated geographically, but also culturally as his novel illustrates very clearly.
The reader is plunged into the world and family life of the upper echelons of Albanian bureaucracy. Their attempts to lead 'normal', almost bourgeois lives, are constantly overshadowed by the secretive machinations of Enver Hoxha's repressive regime. Plots are hatched (by whom we can never be sure), people are arrested and then released, consciences are searched (both by their owners and also by the state), people are sent from Tirana to the provinces and also to China, & self-interests compete with state interests. Kadaré's novel reveals both how normal and at the same time how abnormal life was in Albania. Friends visit each other, share meals and drink coffee together, but it only takes a telephone call or a rumour to cause turbulence in cosiness of the social setting.
I will not attempt to summarise the complex plot consisting of a number of sub-plots that gradually mesh together. However, as the story unfolds, so does the knot that had tied together the Chinese and Albanians. The effects that this unravelling has both on the Albanians and their soon-to-be former Chinese allies is beautifully conveyed in this book.
My only criticism of this long story, is that I found that the author's writing was less tight, less economical, and less concise, than in many of the other of his books that I have read. Apart from this, the book is a fascinating account of a peculiar episode in Balkan history written in Tirana (between 1977 & 1988, but first published in France) by someone who experienced it first hand.
Reviewed by the author of and other books about the Balkans
February 26, 2024
Chiar mă întrebam, oare de ce Kadare nu-și încearcă puterile pe curse mai lungi? Felul lui de a lega cuvintele în istorii e superb, dar rezultatul e cel mai des o nuvelă sau un roman nu prea lung. Și poftim, dau de acesta, pe care scriitorul albanez l-a clasat printre cele trei romane "curajoase". ("Palatul viselor" și "Firmanul orb" sunt celelalte două.)
Mă așteptam la ceva mai mult, dar chiar și așa, o serie de teme sunt abordate cu cea mai pură genialitate. Le remarc pe următoarele patru:
1. Indiferent de coloratura ideologică, relațiile umane întotdeauna converg la "nunți, botezuri și cumătrii". Fără îndoială socialismul lăsa suficient spațiu pentru îndrăgostiri, ambiții, solidaritate și vrajbă. Chiar și în Albania;
2. În totalitarism liderul e o figură aparte, un semi-zeu. Trebuie să fii clarvăzător ca să-i deslușești natura tiranică. La moartea conducătorului se plânge. Înțelepciunea lui e indiscutabilă. Nouă ne-a trebuit un liberal precum era Gorby ca să deschidem ochii;
3. În totalitarism realitatea nu apare niciodată în negru sau alb. Nu există "așa a fost" până ce nu e demonstrat contrariul. Versiunea oficială e aproape întotdeauna o minciună, dar adevărul se prezintă sub forma unei duzine de ipoteze. Poftim de pricepe.
4. Relațiile dintre state seamănă foarte mult cu cele umane. Prieteni la cataramă, fratele mai mare, gelozie, dispreț, ură. E drept că de latura "sentimentală" a geopoliticii se ocupă conducerea. Poporul suportă consecințele și duc târâș-grăpiș "povara istoriei"
De ce patru stele și nu cinci? Unele linii de subiect s-au rătăcit. (Cum a murit Ana?) Metafora lămâiului (câte se întâmplă în lume până rodește un lămâi!) e prea trasă. Per total un "happy end" pentru Enver Hodja. Dar mă rog, în '81 și pentru asta era nevoie de curaj.
Mă așteptam la ceva mai mult, dar chiar și așa, o serie de teme sunt abordate cu cea mai pură genialitate. Le remarc pe următoarele patru:
1. Indiferent de coloratura ideologică, relațiile umane întotdeauna converg la "nunți, botezuri și cumătrii". Fără îndoială socialismul lăsa suficient spațiu pentru îndrăgostiri, ambiții, solidaritate și vrajbă. Chiar și în Albania;
2. În totalitarism liderul e o figură aparte, un semi-zeu. Trebuie să fii clarvăzător ca să-i deslușești natura tiranică. La moartea conducătorului se plânge. Înțelepciunea lui e indiscutabilă. Nouă ne-a trebuit un liberal precum era Gorby ca să deschidem ochii;
3. În totalitarism realitatea nu apare niciodată în negru sau alb. Nu există "așa a fost" până ce nu e demonstrat contrariul. Versiunea oficială e aproape întotdeauna o minciună, dar adevărul se prezintă sub forma unei duzine de ipoteze. Poftim de pricepe.
4. Relațiile dintre state seamănă foarte mult cu cele umane. Prieteni la cataramă, fratele mai mare, gelozie, dispreț, ură. E drept că de latura "sentimentală" a geopoliticii se ocupă conducerea. Poporul suportă consecințele și duc târâș-grăpiș "povara istoriei"
De ce patru stele și nu cinci? Unele linii de subiect s-au rătăcit. (Cum a murit Ana?) Metafora lămâiului (câte se întâmplă în lume până rodește un lămâi!) e prea trasă. Per total un "happy end" pentru Enver Hodja. Dar mă rog, în '81 și pentru asta era nevoie de curaj.
March 23, 2025
Una novela escalofriante y divertida a partes iguales, gracias tanto a su revelación minuciosa de la vida durante las dictaduras como por su estructura compleja donde todas las voces, hasta la de un Mao digno de una novela de dictadura latinoamericana, tienen su momento para brillar.
October 12, 2013
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Kadaré is an Albanian writer who splits his time between Tirana, Albania and Paris. The Concert was first published in 1989 in French and this new English edition was released by Arcade Publishing on October 8th.
The book involves the relations between China and Albania during the 1970s, near the end of Mao Zedong's life. It follows several protagonists with intertwined lives and who all have some investment in the politics between the two countries. The author grew up under Communism in Albania, and it's obvious in his writing. His depiction of Mao as a villain is almost cartoonish: the evil Chinaman plotting to use marijuana to soften the brains of mankind in order to take over the world. I almost gave up on the book after the first 70 or so pages, but kept going because of the good reviews it got and the fact that it won the Man Booker Prize in 2005.
I found it slow-moving and dull, to be perfectly honest. The bias I saw in the beginning of the book made me skeptical of the rest, and probably ruined it for me. It took me some time to finish it, and won't linger on this review as I don't want to spend any more time on the book.
Kadaré is an Albanian writer who splits his time between Tirana, Albania and Paris. The Concert was first published in 1989 in French and this new English edition was released by Arcade Publishing on October 8th.
The book involves the relations between China and Albania during the 1970s, near the end of Mao Zedong's life. It follows several protagonists with intertwined lives and who all have some investment in the politics between the two countries. The author grew up under Communism in Albania, and it's obvious in his writing. His depiction of Mao as a villain is almost cartoonish: the evil Chinaman plotting to use marijuana to soften the brains of mankind in order to take over the world. I almost gave up on the book after the first 70 or so pages, but kept going because of the good reviews it got and the fact that it won the Man Booker Prize in 2005.
I found it slow-moving and dull, to be perfectly honest. The bias I saw in the beginning of the book made me skeptical of the rest, and probably ruined it for me. It took me some time to finish it, and won't linger on this review as I don't want to spend any more time on the book.
December 17, 2024
Atmosfera cărții lui Kadare pare ca am mai regasit-o în memoriile unor români care au trăit pe pielea lor comunismul. Mult mai asemănător decât m-am asteptat- același gri, aceeași dezumanizare, aceleași frici, aceleași suspiciuni printre care își face loc viata umană cu trivialitatile și clipele sale de exaltare. Un malaxor al conștiințelor, al individualitățor, prin care mai scapă, sporadic, speranța. Realist, ironic, dar nu lipseit de fantezie si simboluri: asa cum m-am obișnuit în toate cărțile lui Kadare.
Repetitiviatea dramelor istoriei, tendinta de a o uita, de a nu invata din ea pare sa ne arunce in absurd. "Chinezii?! Nu,nu,nu, chinezii au fost pe vremea mea. De o sută de ani nu mai sunt. Nimeni nu-i mai ține minte. Acum ne războim cu turcu'. Chinezi? Voi nu-i știți pe chinezi. Doar dacă nu i-oți fi văzut în vis"
Repetitiviatea dramelor istoriei, tendinta de a o uita, de a nu invata din ea pare sa ne arunce in absurd. "Chinezii?! Nu,nu,nu, chinezii au fost pe vremea mea. De o sută de ani nu mai sunt. Nimeni nu-i mai ține minte. Acum ne războim cu turcu'. Chinezi? Voi nu-i știți pe chinezi. Doar dacă nu i-oți fi văzut în vis"
November 22, 2019
I've read a couple of Ismail Kadare's books before -- see -- but the others were set in the time before Albania was ruled by Enver Hoxha, who famously made it, for 27 years, the world's only truly atheist county.
Albania was almost unique among communist countries in becoming increasingly isolated from the world, including other communist countries. It broke first from the USSR, but for a while maintained friendship with China, but eventually even that friendship dissolved, and during the 1970s Albania's ties with China loosened and Hoxha came to regard the Chinese, like the Soviets, as "revisionists".
This novel is set in that period, and shows the effects of the changing relationship with China on families that were mostly fairly close to the centres of power in Albania. Relations between the two countries cooled when Albania crtiticised the Chinese decision to invite US President Nixon to visit China in 1972, and by the time of Chairman Mao's death in 1976 the break was almost complete. And now, 40 years later, we see China treating African countries in the same way as it treated Albania in the 1970s.
The "concert" of the title took place towards the end of this period, where the audience was far more important than the performers, and Albania, like the rest of the world, was watching to see who was invited and who was not, who turned up and who did not.
At the centre of the story is Silva Dibra, a civil servant like her husband Gjergj (whose job takes him on visits to China), their schoolgirl daughter Brikena, Silva's brother Arian, an officer in a tank regiment who was expelled from the Party for disobeying an order, and her dead sister Ana. It also features several of her work colleagues and friends and associates of Ana. One of her sister's associates was a writer, who also visited China, The life and work of Albanian writers and artists was restricted. As Kadare puts it:
In China, however, the Writers and Artist's Union had been abolished altogether in the Great Cultural Revolutuon of 1966/67. According to the thought of Chairman Mao, the "new man" did not need art and literature, which were bourgeois by their very nature. Rather than painting autumnal themes, they should be planting and harvesting rice.
Nevertheless I'm in two minds about the book. Kadare's descriptions of the Albanian characters grabs me, perhaps because, having lived there for a month, I can picture the streets of Tirana, the beaches of Durres, and the steel factory at Elbasan, which he mentions. But I'm put off by the bits where he tries to describe the thoughts of Chairman Mao. They are racist thoughts, and I wonder if they are the thoughts of a white racist imagining the thoughts of a Chinese racist, or whether Chairman Mao ever did have any thoughts like that. But there is too much that suggests that they are what a white racist imagines a Chinese racist might think.
And in the book the Albanian characters express racist thoughts about the Chinese, as the Chinese do about the Albanians. Of course an author does not necessarily share the sentiments expressed by his characters. But when Kadare is describing the thoughts of Mao while alone in a cave, these are not mediated through a character in the story, but are descibed directly.
Albania was almost unique among communist countries in becoming increasingly isolated from the world, including other communist countries. It broke first from the USSR, but for a while maintained friendship with China, but eventually even that friendship dissolved, and during the 1970s Albania's ties with China loosened and Hoxha came to regard the Chinese, like the Soviets, as "revisionists".
This novel is set in that period, and shows the effects of the changing relationship with China on families that were mostly fairly close to the centres of power in Albania. Relations between the two countries cooled when Albania crtiticised the Chinese decision to invite US President Nixon to visit China in 1972, and by the time of Chairman Mao's death in 1976 the break was almost complete. And now, 40 years later, we see China treating African countries in the same way as it treated Albania in the 1970s.
... everyone talked of how work had slowed down on many big construction sites, especially those building hydro-electric plants in the north. This was because of hold-ups in supplies of equipment from China. Freighters now took and unconscionably long time to reach their destination, and when they did arrive they might be carrying the wrong cargo. On two occasions ships had turned back without even entering Durres harbour. All this was said to be part of China's famous "turn of the screw". Cafes in Tirana were full of stories about this tactic: no one realized that one day the whole country would be its victim.
The "concert" of the title took place towards the end of this period, where the audience was far more important than the performers, and Albania, like the rest of the world, was watching to see who was invited and who was not, who turned up and who did not.
At the centre of the story is Silva Dibra, a civil servant like her husband Gjergj (whose job takes him on visits to China), their schoolgirl daughter Brikena, Silva's brother Arian, an officer in a tank regiment who was expelled from the Party for disobeying an order, and her dead sister Ana. It also features several of her work colleagues and friends and associates of Ana. One of her sister's associates was a writer, who also visited China, The life and work of Albanian writers and artists was restricted. As Kadare puts it:
...people reconciled themselves to the idea that it was going to be a dry autumn. Meanwhile all the other seasonal changes took place as usual: the leaves turned colour, the temperature dropped, the birds migrated. As usual too, painters flocked to headquarters of the Writers' and Artists' Union to get their annual permits to concentrate on autumnal themes.
In China, however, the Writers and Artist's Union had been abolished altogether in the Great Cultural Revolutuon of 1966/67. According to the thought of Chairman Mao, the "new man" did not need art and literature, which were bourgeois by their very nature. Rather than painting autumnal themes, they should be planting and harvesting rice.
Nevertheless I'm in two minds about the book. Kadare's descriptions of the Albanian characters grabs me, perhaps because, having lived there for a month, I can picture the streets of Tirana, the beaches of Durres, and the steel factory at Elbasan, which he mentions. But I'm put off by the bits where he tries to describe the thoughts of Chairman Mao. They are racist thoughts, and I wonder if they are the thoughts of a white racist imagining the thoughts of a Chinese racist, or whether Chairman Mao ever did have any thoughts like that. But there is too much that suggests that they are what a white racist imagines a Chinese racist might think.
And in the book the Albanian characters express racist thoughts about the Chinese, as the Chinese do about the Albanians. Of course an author does not necessarily share the sentiments expressed by his characters. But when Kadare is describing the thoughts of Mao while alone in a cave, these are not mediated through a character in the story, but are descibed directly.
January 12, 2018
Novela de largo aliento, de largo recorrido, un recorrido de 522 páginas fascinantes, El concierto tal vez sea la obra maestra de Kadaré, por lo que nos cuenta (la ruptura de relaciones entre China y Albania en 1978, catorce años después del traumático cisma con la URSS), por cómo nos lo cuenta (con una estructura circular, plena de personajes, en clave coral, con varias novelas cortas intercaladas) y por quienes nos lo cuentan (los propios personajes históricos como Mao, Hoxha, Lin Biao, y los anónimos, quienes reflejan esa vida cotidiana durante el comunismo que ya era la columna vertebral de El gran invierno).
Quizás, El concierto deba entenderse dentro del trabajo de Kadaré como una segunda parte o una continuación de El gran invierno. Algunos personajes son comunes a las dos novelas, y se retoman sus vidas tras los años pasados entre la ruptura con la URSS y la quiebra con China. Ambos textos componen, así, un díptico monumental sobre la intrahistoria que soportaron los albaneses, pero El concierto se muestra más profunda, inquisitiva, observadora, cautivadora, que El gran invierno. Si aquella podía considerarse como una capilla Sixtina del comunismo, esta sería toda una Ciudad del Vaticano, hirviente de personajes, por centenas, y de tramas entrelazadas. Y juntas, ambas novelas, conforman uno de los documentos más demoledores sobre los sufrimientos de los ciudadanos bajo las tiranías, así como un estudio de la psicología de los dictadores y de toda esa maldad que parece inherente al ser humano y asociada al poder.
El concierto es una novela mayúscula. Repleta de simbología, las cosas no quieren decir lo que parecen. Un traje azul de funcionario, un teléfono, un limonero, un cartel de neón, unos fuegos artificiales, sirven para que el autor ahonde, una y otra vez, en las raíces y los sufrimientos de quienes se han visto obligados a soportar las conductas mesiánicas de sus gobernantes. En ese sentido, si por El gran invierno algunas voces se alzaron poniendo en duda, molestas, por los retratos humanos que de Hoxha o Jruschev elaboraba Kadaré (sólo hay que leer entre líneas para ser consciente de lo demoledores que resultan), en El concierto no existe ni un solo resquicio a la duda: Mao es un recital de iniquidades, y los ministros y adláteres, conmilitones y chupatintas, tanto chinos como albaneses, que acompañan a los tiranos, aparecen representados como unos miserables criminales, cuando no son asesinos.
Mucho hay que decir de esta novela que, como una corriente marítima, guía al lector con una lectura de seda por sucesos que muy bien podrían resultarle lejanos y poco atractivos (su localismo era, tal vez, un problema para el lector medio de El gran invierno). Sin embargo, Kadaré hace atractivas las reuniones de comités, las sesiones de autocrítica y las reflexiones del propio Mao o de Hoxha. Se eleva de las páginas un mundo fascinante que se contiene a sí mismo y que contiene otros muchos.
Parte de culpa de ello, de esos mundos que se contienen en el texto, la tienen las narraciones insertadas (hasta cinco) a modo de –paradójicamente- cajas chinas. Una de ellas aporta una nueva reflexión de poder y el crimen con la reescritura de los sucesos de Macbeth y el asesinato del rey Duncan, otra es el prototexto de la futura novela Spiritus, un afortunadísimo ensayo general de la misma� y también hay algo de El expediente H.
El concierto es, así, también, cigoto de otros libros de Kadaré, quizás de algunos de los más brillantes, como si esta novela fuera principio o big-bang literario, destinada a conformar toda una constelación de futuros textos.
A retazos, pero siempre siguiendo la línea argumental general, con insertos de documentos oficiales, de conversaciones, de escuchas, de actas, de informes, de pensamientos de los propios líderes, se erige la estructura de El concierto, cuya lectura, una vez finalizada, provoca ganas de gritar la vieja consigna de Skanderbeg: la hora da Albania ha sonado.
En efecto, es la hora de la novela albanesa.
Quizás, El concierto deba entenderse dentro del trabajo de Kadaré como una segunda parte o una continuación de El gran invierno. Algunos personajes son comunes a las dos novelas, y se retoman sus vidas tras los años pasados entre la ruptura con la URSS y la quiebra con China. Ambos textos componen, así, un díptico monumental sobre la intrahistoria que soportaron los albaneses, pero El concierto se muestra más profunda, inquisitiva, observadora, cautivadora, que El gran invierno. Si aquella podía considerarse como una capilla Sixtina del comunismo, esta sería toda una Ciudad del Vaticano, hirviente de personajes, por centenas, y de tramas entrelazadas. Y juntas, ambas novelas, conforman uno de los documentos más demoledores sobre los sufrimientos de los ciudadanos bajo las tiranías, así como un estudio de la psicología de los dictadores y de toda esa maldad que parece inherente al ser humano y asociada al poder.
El concierto es una novela mayúscula. Repleta de simbología, las cosas no quieren decir lo que parecen. Un traje azul de funcionario, un teléfono, un limonero, un cartel de neón, unos fuegos artificiales, sirven para que el autor ahonde, una y otra vez, en las raíces y los sufrimientos de quienes se han visto obligados a soportar las conductas mesiánicas de sus gobernantes. En ese sentido, si por El gran invierno algunas voces se alzaron poniendo en duda, molestas, por los retratos humanos que de Hoxha o Jruschev elaboraba Kadaré (sólo hay que leer entre líneas para ser consciente de lo demoledores que resultan), en El concierto no existe ni un solo resquicio a la duda: Mao es un recital de iniquidades, y los ministros y adláteres, conmilitones y chupatintas, tanto chinos como albaneses, que acompañan a los tiranos, aparecen representados como unos miserables criminales, cuando no son asesinos.
Mucho hay que decir de esta novela que, como una corriente marítima, guía al lector con una lectura de seda por sucesos que muy bien podrían resultarle lejanos y poco atractivos (su localismo era, tal vez, un problema para el lector medio de El gran invierno). Sin embargo, Kadaré hace atractivas las reuniones de comités, las sesiones de autocrítica y las reflexiones del propio Mao o de Hoxha. Se eleva de las páginas un mundo fascinante que se contiene a sí mismo y que contiene otros muchos.
Parte de culpa de ello, de esos mundos que se contienen en el texto, la tienen las narraciones insertadas (hasta cinco) a modo de –paradójicamente- cajas chinas. Una de ellas aporta una nueva reflexión de poder y el crimen con la reescritura de los sucesos de Macbeth y el asesinato del rey Duncan, otra es el prototexto de la futura novela Spiritus, un afortunadísimo ensayo general de la misma� y también hay algo de El expediente H.
El concierto es, así, también, cigoto de otros libros de Kadaré, quizás de algunos de los más brillantes, como si esta novela fuera principio o big-bang literario, destinada a conformar toda una constelación de futuros textos.
A retazos, pero siempre siguiendo la línea argumental general, con insertos de documentos oficiales, de conversaciones, de escuchas, de actas, de informes, de pensamientos de los propios líderes, se erige la estructura de El concierto, cuya lectura, una vez finalizada, provoca ganas de gritar la vieja consigna de Skanderbeg: la hora da Albania ha sonado.
En efecto, es la hora de la novela albanesa.
April 3, 2017
It is an unique and overall a disturbing book. The chapters from Mao's voice (Particularly the very first one) are pure stroke of genius and fills you with a kind of dread that is very hard to shrug off. The subtle sarcasm hidden in the book is delightful too.
There is this feeling of insignificance that pervades the book which I found particularly special. Superficially it can be defined as Kafkaesque but it is more than that. The self-created hells of Simon, Ekrem and Minister D for example are something more than getting lost in the gears of the state.
I found the translation I read it from very weak; most probably it is much stronger in Albanian or even in French. I found the part about Lin Biao assasination superfluous and the characters had some very sweeping views about Chinese which was also a bit annoying.
I bought the book I read in Tirana as my Albanian friends told me that Kadare is someone definitely was worth reading; it was interesting to see the building I bought the book in as a part of the book :) I will read more books of Kadare, that's for sure.
There is this feeling of insignificance that pervades the book which I found particularly special. Superficially it can be defined as Kafkaesque but it is more than that. The self-created hells of Simon, Ekrem and Minister D for example are something more than getting lost in the gears of the state.
I found the translation I read it from very weak; most probably it is much stronger in Albanian or even in French. I found the part about Lin Biao assasination superfluous and the characters had some very sweeping views about Chinese which was also a bit annoying.
I bought the book I read in Tirana as my Albanian friends told me that Kadare is someone definitely was worth reading; it was interesting to see the building I bought the book in as a part of the book :) I will read more books of Kadare, that's for sure.
November 19, 2009
Replete with the intricacies of the lives of ordinary Albanians and contrasting them with the dynamics of the political relations with China at a time when a breaking off of alliance is imminent, The Concert weaves the intimate aspects of personal relationships with those on a grander scale, signifying and invoking a metaphoric refrain in which the personal and the political necessarily incline upon each other for understanding and meaning. The wayward ineptness of political officials-both in China and Albania-is drawn against the backdrop of the personal fortunes of "ordinary people"; and the gaming and calculatingly maneuvers play directly into the mores (and lack thereof) of the protagonists and antagonists who inhabit the pages.
December 10, 2013
Magnificent... the triumph of a storyteller's craft as Mr Kadare evokes - in almost surrealistic terms - the inanities and absurdities of life and politics in communist states. Tells you more about Albania and China and their relations that any factual history can... Some characters are a delight - Krams for one, and the minister of course
March 2, 2024
Vond hem echt helemaal niets. Geen plot, niet te volgen karakters en zeer matig geschreven. Ik weet niet of het de vertaling was, maar het was allemaal gewoon lastig te volgen. De setting (Albanië in de jaren 70) zou interessant geweest kunnen zijn, maar ik heb niet het gevoel dat ik het ook maar een steek beter begrijp. Met heel veel moeite doorheen geploeterd, maar dat was absoluut niet voor herhaling vatbaar.
August 31, 2022
A fascinating book to read while in Tirana on the relationship between communist Albania and China. Symbolic and deep on communism, culture and history, while also providing personal portraits of everyday life. At times too detailed and slow.
August 19, 2023
Wie Albanië zegt denkt natuurlijk aan grootheden als Dua Lipa en moeder Theresa. Aan dit lijstje kan Ismael Kadare wat mij betreft prima worden toegevoegd!
October 30, 2013
I enjoyed this wonderful satire on Communism in Albania during the Chinese Cultural Revolution after Albania, spurned by the Soviet Union, had turned to support China. Mao and Zhou Enlai appear in cameo roles. For example from Mao: 'He'd come to believe that a head of state's most useful actions were those which remained incomprehensible not only to others but also to himself'.
When the central character Gjorgj is sent on a secret mission to China, he bears a locked briefcase with a letter from the Albanian dictator, Enver Hoxha that has the temerity to ask Mao to cancel the coming secret visit of President Nixon. Mao, in the midst of the Cultural Revolution is furious and vows to take revenge on Albania by wrecking the trade and projects that the Chinese are engaged in there. Of his various plans, the drugging of Europe through increasing the marihuana trade is surpassed by his wife Jiang Qing who, inspired by the Cambodian revolution will defeminise European culture, thus controlling art, music and literature, starting with Albania. There the Communist Party secretary has already made the helpful suggestion that books be published without the writers� names ‘because the glory belongs to the masses rather than to us�.
The reaction of the Albanians to the rejection by the Chinese encapsulates Kadare’s central opinion that for 600 years, Albanians have lived the delusion that their hour had come, a slogan much repeated and equally applicable to either triumph or disaster but mostly disaster. The satire is reinforced by the almost equal emphasis placed by diplomatic activity following an argument between Victor Hila, an Albanian translator and a minor Chinese diplomat which results in Hila losing his temper and deliberately stamping on the diplomat’s foot. I was reminded of the 19th century British War of Jenkins� Ear.
Meanwhile in Tirana, the capital, Gjorgj’s wife Silva works in the department of construction where Kadare entertains me with the ludicrous attempts of the characters to interpret the strange gatherings of Chinese in the city, at the airport and best of all at what was to become the last exhibition of Chinese porcelain: did the positioning of the pots have significant meaning? These speculations and rumour mongering parallel the interpretations that the Albanian translators in Peking attempt to make of which Chinese leaders appear and in what order at various events and finally at the concert that brings the title to the novel. Zhou Enlai attends but looks like he is dying. Was Lin Bao murdered by a plane crash? If Mao is also dying, who will succeed him?
The novel commences with a Dickensian gathering of the wide range of characters at the birthday dinner for Gjorgj and Silva’s daughter and ends with a similar gathering for a funeral. Amid the political events, the domestic details and worries of the protagonists centre on Silva’s brother Arian, a tank commander who has been suspended and facing a disastrous expulsion from the party for disobeying an order. Here in the land of no curtains because ‘privacy is the beginning of trouble�, the personal really is political. The unravelment of this other secret event provides much of the comedy as the relevant minister ducks and weaves and the politburo investigation gets hopelessly entangled with the China question. The self criticisms (translated as ‘autocritiques� here) are very funny and the spying through Mao’s ears (thousands of hidden microphones) are sadly very relevant to today. The events leading to the funeral ending bring the essential seriousness to the satire.
Apart from some overly long quotations from the novel that one of the translators is preparing, Kadare shows a Dickensian control of his numerous characters and the pace of his story telling. The novel, written in Albanian has been translated into French and again into English but it is the power of Kadare’s vision and the truth of his characters that impressed me. He truly is one of the great writers of our time.
When the central character Gjorgj is sent on a secret mission to China, he bears a locked briefcase with a letter from the Albanian dictator, Enver Hoxha that has the temerity to ask Mao to cancel the coming secret visit of President Nixon. Mao, in the midst of the Cultural Revolution is furious and vows to take revenge on Albania by wrecking the trade and projects that the Chinese are engaged in there. Of his various plans, the drugging of Europe through increasing the marihuana trade is surpassed by his wife Jiang Qing who, inspired by the Cambodian revolution will defeminise European culture, thus controlling art, music and literature, starting with Albania. There the Communist Party secretary has already made the helpful suggestion that books be published without the writers� names ‘because the glory belongs to the masses rather than to us�.
The reaction of the Albanians to the rejection by the Chinese encapsulates Kadare’s central opinion that for 600 years, Albanians have lived the delusion that their hour had come, a slogan much repeated and equally applicable to either triumph or disaster but mostly disaster. The satire is reinforced by the almost equal emphasis placed by diplomatic activity following an argument between Victor Hila, an Albanian translator and a minor Chinese diplomat which results in Hila losing his temper and deliberately stamping on the diplomat’s foot. I was reminded of the 19th century British War of Jenkins� Ear.
Meanwhile in Tirana, the capital, Gjorgj’s wife Silva works in the department of construction where Kadare entertains me with the ludicrous attempts of the characters to interpret the strange gatherings of Chinese in the city, at the airport and best of all at what was to become the last exhibition of Chinese porcelain: did the positioning of the pots have significant meaning? These speculations and rumour mongering parallel the interpretations that the Albanian translators in Peking attempt to make of which Chinese leaders appear and in what order at various events and finally at the concert that brings the title to the novel. Zhou Enlai attends but looks like he is dying. Was Lin Bao murdered by a plane crash? If Mao is also dying, who will succeed him?
The novel commences with a Dickensian gathering of the wide range of characters at the birthday dinner for Gjorgj and Silva’s daughter and ends with a similar gathering for a funeral. Amid the political events, the domestic details and worries of the protagonists centre on Silva’s brother Arian, a tank commander who has been suspended and facing a disastrous expulsion from the party for disobeying an order. Here in the land of no curtains because ‘privacy is the beginning of trouble�, the personal really is political. The unravelment of this other secret event provides much of the comedy as the relevant minister ducks and weaves and the politburo investigation gets hopelessly entangled with the China question. The self criticisms (translated as ‘autocritiques� here) are very funny and the spying through Mao’s ears (thousands of hidden microphones) are sadly very relevant to today. The events leading to the funeral ending bring the essential seriousness to the satire.
Apart from some overly long quotations from the novel that one of the translators is preparing, Kadare shows a Dickensian control of his numerous characters and the pace of his story telling. The novel, written in Albanian has been translated into French and again into English but it is the power of Kadare’s vision and the truth of his characters that impressed me. He truly is one of the great writers of our time.
September 3, 2023
Perhaps his novel is a little too discursive, even over-padded for many readers, but Kadare nevertheless manages to bring it together for a neat ending.
June 12, 2015
Written in the 1980s but set in the 1970s, Ismail Kadare's The Concert is a black comedy about the breakdown in Sino-Albanian relationships, especially following the death of Mao Zedong.
The concert, which provides the title of the novel, plays only a very small part of this book about political machinations in both China and Albania. But it does signify the critical point at which Mao's death first becomes known.
The parts of the book set in Albania deal mostly with the lives of ordinary people, although there are plenty of political and military connections.
The husband of Silva, a key character, is Gjergi, a diplomat of sorts, who travels frequently between Albania and China on various delegations.
There are numerous scenes set in the government office where Silva works, which provides some insights into the workings of the Albanian government. There are also numerous references to Silva's dead sister, Ana, and the complex network of relationships between some of the characters.
The parts of the novel set in China are mostly to do with the political activities of its senior officials, including Mao, Zhou Enlai and other members of the Politburo. There are plots aplenty amongst Mao's potential rivals, which leads ultimately to the death of Lin Biao in bizarre circumstances. But it is clear that Mao is losing his mind and his life.
Meanwhile, in Albania, encouraged by Zhou Enlai, an Albanian Minister orders a tank unit on manouvres to surround a Party Committee, but the order is refused by the tanks commanders, one of whom is Silva's brother.
This leads to a strange series of events, where initially the officers are expelled from the Party and jailed. They are soon released and an enquiry is held into the Minister's actions.
Following the death of Mao Zedong, there is significant political turmoil in China as rivals jostle for power, and the deterioration of the Sino-Chinese relationship is accelerated to total breakdown, just as the Albanian relationship with Russia was expunged several years earlier.
This is a complex but darkly humorous novel, about a series of event I had little previous knowledge of, but I found it just a little dull at times.
Perhaps only just 4 stars.
The concert, which provides the title of the novel, plays only a very small part of this book about political machinations in both China and Albania. But it does signify the critical point at which Mao's death first becomes known.
The parts of the book set in Albania deal mostly with the lives of ordinary people, although there are plenty of political and military connections.
The husband of Silva, a key character, is Gjergi, a diplomat of sorts, who travels frequently between Albania and China on various delegations.
There are numerous scenes set in the government office where Silva works, which provides some insights into the workings of the Albanian government. There are also numerous references to Silva's dead sister, Ana, and the complex network of relationships between some of the characters.
The parts of the novel set in China are mostly to do with the political activities of its senior officials, including Mao, Zhou Enlai and other members of the Politburo. There are plots aplenty amongst Mao's potential rivals, which leads ultimately to the death of Lin Biao in bizarre circumstances. But it is clear that Mao is losing his mind and his life.
Meanwhile, in Albania, encouraged by Zhou Enlai, an Albanian Minister orders a tank unit on manouvres to surround a Party Committee, but the order is refused by the tanks commanders, one of whom is Silva's brother.
This leads to a strange series of events, where initially the officers are expelled from the Party and jailed. They are soon released and an enquiry is held into the Minister's actions.
Following the death of Mao Zedong, there is significant political turmoil in China as rivals jostle for power, and the deterioration of the Sino-Chinese relationship is accelerated to total breakdown, just as the Albanian relationship with Russia was expunged several years earlier.
This is a complex but darkly humorous novel, about a series of event I had little previous knowledge of, but I found it just a little dull at times.
Perhaps only just 4 stars.
November 9, 2021
A very Kafkaesque tale of life in the very isolated country of Albania during the reign of the dictator Enver Hoxha. Albania's only friend in the world was Mao's China and that relationship was deteriorating. The book went back and forth between various happenings in Albania and China and, often, went into the thought processes of the participants who had to straddle a very fine line of what was currently acceptable and what was not. The pressure was especially greatest in the highest ministries of government where one deviation from the current acceptable dictates could be disastrous. Although the two countries were supposed to be friends it was very apparent that neither thought very highly of the other in their private conversations. It was an excellent expose of the bizarre period that the world was in at the time leading up to the death of Mao.
September 23, 2017
Opnieuw een aangrijpend en op historische feiten gebaseerde roman waarin Kadare het tragische lot van de Albanese bevolking beschrijft. April 1981: het Joegoslavische leger slaat in het autonome Kosovo een opstand van Albanese studenten neer. De autoriteiten doen onderzoek naar behandeling van slachtoffers in het ziekenhuis. Hoewel op de achtergrond, sprongen voor mij de onmogelijke liefde tussen een Albanese en een Servische student en de oude Slavische heldenepos dichtkunst eruit. Prachtig verwerkt in dit beklemmende verhaal over eeuwige haat op een klein stukje aarde.
July 20, 2020
As usual, Ismail Kadare writes about totalitarianism and its effects on people's lives. It isn't his usual translator, and it's a bit clunky, so you have to be alert to recognise some of the humour and the satire - but some passages are laugh-out-loud funny, and some are very sad. And always, in the background, but often not in the background, is the totalitarian machine (in this novel in China as well as in Albania), manipulating the thoughts and the actions of ordinary citizens.
February 22, 2021
Having now read nineteen of Kadare,s novels this is the best. Its main theme is the break up of Albanian and Chinese relations in the mid 1970,s but there are so many interesting characters and diversions and plots to always maintain interest. A long book but one where I am sure you will enjoy every page.
Has Kadare ever comented on Milan Kadare as are a number of similiarities?
Has Kadare ever comented on Milan Kadare as are a number of similiarities?
October 6, 2007
albania. a country i know nothing about. i thought it was a muslim country but people go to bars a lot in this book. the point of view shifts are nice so far. including one making mao zedong the narrator.
Read
March 29, 2016کارهای بزرگ هیچ گاه از نزدیک خوب دیده نمی شوند. باید سال ها به عقب برگشت، و حتی قرن ها تا وسعت و عمق مسئله را دریافت...!
... هچ چیز ناخوشایندتر از این نیست که انسان با آشنایی در خیابان برخورد کند که از روبه رو نمی آید ، بلکه از پشت سرتان می آید و همان مسیر شما را طی می کند...!
... هچ چیز ناخوشایندتر از این نیست که انسان با آشنایی در خیابان برخورد کند که از روبه رو نمی آید ، بلکه از پشت سرتان می آید و همان مسیر شما را طی می کند...!
April 25, 2007
baratoon pish oomade ke nevisandeyi bashe ke ziad az khodesh khoshetoon naiad ,vali injoor pish biad ke kolli az ketabasho bekhoonin.dastane mano kadare ham inoor shode.che mishe kard;)
August 26, 2012
Hard to know how to contextualize this rather alien book, but I am glad to have read it.
January 3, 2018
From Kadare's novels I have read so far, this book is the best one. A masterpiece! Dear
Stockholm guys, please give him that damn nobel prize!
Stockholm guys, please give him that damn nobel prize!
October 31, 2017
Clásica novela de Ismail Kadare, en la que mezcla historia, sucesos reales y novela. La ambientación se sitúa en la Albania comunista de Enver Hoxha y las relaciones políticas, culturales y económicas con la China de Mao Zedong, en los últimos años de la vida de este.
Kadare muestra cómo es la sociedad albanesa de esa época, cómo se relacionan con los chinos que están en Albania como parte de la cooperación entre ambos países socialistas y cómo se relacionan entre ellos. Pone de manifiesto las diferencias entre ellos, cómo ven los chinos a los albaneses cuando éstos tienen que ir a Beijing a asistir a reuniones, conferencias o eventos. Además, los rumores de la tensión y ruptura entre China y Albania hacen de hilo conductor y mantiene esa incertidumbre en toda la obra.
Todo ello aderezado con las tramas particulares de los personajes que inventa Kadare, casi siempre personajes solitarios, mundanos y atormentados, pero nunca cayendo en tópicos ni en tramas amorosas previsibles, sino con el retrato de la sociedad albanesa de fondo, sus usos y costumbres. El triángulo entre el escritor Skënder Bermema, Besnik Struga y la fallecida Ana, su hermana Silva, atormentada por los problemas de su hermano Arian y los viajes de su marido Gjergj.
Muy bueno el relato de cómo Mao Zedong se entera de que Albania le manda una carta en la que se molestan de que este vaya a recibir al presidente de Estados Unidos y cómo se indigna y piensa en urdir un plan para castigar a ese pequeño y atrevido estado europeo. El pasaje en el que aparece un relato sobre Macbeth se hace extraño y no comprendo muy bien su inclusión. Por lo demás, una interesante novela histórica del siempre grande Kadare.
Kadare muestra cómo es la sociedad albanesa de esa época, cómo se relacionan con los chinos que están en Albania como parte de la cooperación entre ambos países socialistas y cómo se relacionan entre ellos. Pone de manifiesto las diferencias entre ellos, cómo ven los chinos a los albaneses cuando éstos tienen que ir a Beijing a asistir a reuniones, conferencias o eventos. Además, los rumores de la tensión y ruptura entre China y Albania hacen de hilo conductor y mantiene esa incertidumbre en toda la obra.
Todo ello aderezado con las tramas particulares de los personajes que inventa Kadare, casi siempre personajes solitarios, mundanos y atormentados, pero nunca cayendo en tópicos ni en tramas amorosas previsibles, sino con el retrato de la sociedad albanesa de fondo, sus usos y costumbres. El triángulo entre el escritor Skënder Bermema, Besnik Struga y la fallecida Ana, su hermana Silva, atormentada por los problemas de su hermano Arian y los viajes de su marido Gjergj.
Muy bueno el relato de cómo Mao Zedong se entera de que Albania le manda una carta en la que se molestan de que este vaya a recibir al presidente de Estados Unidos y cómo se indigna y piensa en urdir un plan para castigar a ese pequeño y atrevido estado europeo. El pasaje en el que aparece un relato sobre Macbeth se hace extraño y no comprendo muy bien su inclusión. Por lo demás, una interesante novela histórica del siempre grande Kadare.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 19, 2020
The Concert is the first novel I've read by Kadare that I didn't completely like. The novel is set about 1978, when relations between Albania and China were essentially broken off. The novel alternates between Albania and China. The scenes set in Albania were as excellent as in his other books, but the scenes set in China, and especially the sections in which we see Mao's own private thoughts, were totally bizarre. The novel is satiric rather than strictly realistic, but the Albanian parts merely exaggerate actual tendencies, and cast real light on the situation and the attitudes and economic consequences of the cooling of relations, while the Chinese sections are too lacking in connection to reality to be credible. I realized part of the way through what he was doing; he is essentially transposing the fantasy Ottoman Empire of The Palace of Dreams into the Chinese regime, but where this works with an unidentified Sultan in a vague timeframe, Mao's politics, as "byzantine" as they were, are too well known for this to work. By not satirizing the real fauits of the Maoist regime, he misses his target. To be fair, some sections taken in isolation are very good, such as the rewriting of MacBeth to comment on the fate of Lin Biao, and these make the book worth reading despite its problems.
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