Alexandros Papadiamantis (Greek: ) was an influential Greek novelist and short-story writer. He was born in Greece, on the island of Skiathos, in the western part of the Aegean Sea. The island would figure prominently in his work. His father was a priest. He moved to Athens as a young man to complete his high school studies, and enrolled in the philosophy faculty of Athens University, but never completed his studies. He returned to his native island in later life, and died there. He supported himself by writing throughout his adult life, anything from journalism and short stories to several serialized novels. From a certain point onwards he had become very popular, and newspapers and magazines vied for his writings, offering him substantial fees. Papadiamantis did not care for money, and would often ask for lower fees if he thought they were unfairly high; furthermore he spent his money carelessly and took no care of his clothing and appearance. He never married, and was known to be a recluse, whose only true cares were observing and writing about the life of the poor, and chanting at church: he was referred to as "kosmokalogeros" (魏慰蟽渭慰魏伪位蠈纬蔚蟻慰蟼, "a monk in the world"). He died of pneumonia.
India, my country, is notoriously known for many number of social evils among which the worst ones are meted out to women. The birth of a girl child is still considered to be a curse in many parts of India. The principal reason behind is the infamous dowry system. A girl when given in marriage has to be accompanied by lot of gifts - in gold, kind and money. If the dowry was not paid rightly, the bride might end up dead in the bridegrooms's house under doubtful circumstances. If one could not pay enough dowry the girl remains unmarried in the house of the parents and it is a bad curse for the family. To avoid future troubles, a girl child was/is killed as soon as it was born. (Just check in Google - Dowry deaths in India or Female infanticide in India and see the number of links that you get).
About the Novella:
........................THERE MAY BE SPOILERS.................................... It is set in Greece and the time frame is 1903. The practice of dowry was widely present in the then Greek society. The story is set in this context. We have a lady (widow) in her fifties who has three daughters and out of which she had managed to marry off only the first with enough dowry. The married daughter after marriage gives birth to two daughters and a boy. The old lady attending her daughter after the birth of the third child (a girl) keeps reflecting about her life and about the life of girls in general.
She asks within herself a question: What are girls for? This is the answer she gets: "She's there to be tortured and to torture us." What can be done to remedy the situation? She asks once again her own self the question and out of her reflection the answer stumbling out is: Kill them when they are young. The grief is short and the killed infants in their turn never grow up to bring forth many more girls.
This idea takes hold of her whole being and transforms her into an Angel of Death. She takes it as God's will to kill whenever and wherever possible the girl children that she could find. The narration is chilly at at times.
What happens to her? Is she haunted by guilt? Is her crime go unpunished? Where is human and divine justice in it? These questions are answered in a racy narration, that is filled with some Greek folk tales, regional proverbs and local beliefs.
The solution for the social evil is never offered. The greatness of Papadiamantis is in presenting the human solution (infanticide) and its consequences for the persons.
Final Note:
In Greece, by then infanticide was at least considered to be a crime and police were sent after the murderess. But in some parts of India, the family is fully involved in killing the new born girl child. The issue is thus suppressed.
We are NYRB Classics and we have perfect taste. For our supremely elegant distinctive and well-beloved book covers we take a gorgeous painting and we cut a big box out of the middle. That鈥檚 where the title and the author goes. Right in the middle.
You might say 鈥� Hey, NYRB, why don鈥檛 you put your box in a corner, so we can better appreciate the cool paintings and photos you have chosen with such lapidary care? But we say Faugh! Begone with your pettifogging cavilling, we are NYRB and we have perfect taste.
As to the book itself鈥�
A plunge into the brutal world of Greek peasants, early 20th century : a sharp cry of agony, a strange bitter style, a short, uneasy read.
Edit: Now that a new movie adaptation, has come out, I can see that 90% of the people who engaged with it, have zero media literacy. And, it's even funnier when they unironically label the movie as "feminazi propaganda" because, to their eyes, Papadiamantis' original work "takes place in a matriarchical society" or "barely makes mention of women being opressed" and the director, added a lot of "misandric" things to it.
I haven't watched the movie yet, but I am willing to bet that the people who think this way, didn't actually read the book. At most, they checked some of the cliff notes, when they had to study it for high school, but even that, is highly unlikely.
We can't let ignorance, incompetence and misogyny win, so, read this, look up how women lived during that time, ask people who lived during hard times how life was and pick up a history book.
This book's plot, revolves around a middle aged woman, called Hadoula, who lives in an isolated island of Greece in the late 1800's.
And what does this woman do? Well, if the title isn't any indicator, she kills children. Little girls to be more precise. But this book's job isn't only to make the reader despise her.
Papadiamantis, uses his storytelling skills to craft a really fleshed out character and paint a well rounded portrait of an isolated society, where women are viewed as property and subjects of the men in their lives, which is 100% accurate of what Greece was like (and to some extent, still is).
As the story progresses, we keep on finding out more and more about her life. About how her parents considered her a burden, how her husband was very gullible and if it wasn't for her, she and her family wouldn't even have a home and many other things.
We see her transition from stern mother/grandmother to a child killer, which in her mind is justified, because girls are actually a burden to their families.
She goes from feeling guilty, to thinking that she is actually helping the parents, to her not really being able to stop because it somewhat excites her.
And while the author doesn't only want us to hate her, he also doesn't try to turn her into the good guy. Hadoula is an unlikeable character who, even though has gone through a lot, her actions aren't justified - Papadiamantis even mentions that after her first victim, her mind isn't as sane anymore.
But what comes after all those murders and all those changes her character goes through? Well, of course, it is time for Hadoula to pay for what she has done.
Her guiltiness is suspected by the police which chases her, and in another attempt to escape, she dies by accidentally drowning into the sea, which is ironically the way she was killing her victims as well (well, she was using both drowning and choking, but you get my point.) Her death, brings the reader a sense of catharsis and closes the circle of violence.
If you enjoy a short crime story with a complicated protagonist, then you will probably enjoy this, even with Papadiamantis' use of katharevousa.
If you made it this far, congratulations! 'Til next time, take care :) :)
When I learned that C.P. Cavafy and Odysseus Elytis both admired the prose of Alexandros Papadiamantis (1851-1911), I knew I had to read some of his work. Advised that his shorter pieces are much better than his novels, I read the collection Tales From a Greek Island and then the novella The Murderess, held to be his best work.
In light of Elytis' leftist leanings, I was more than a little surprised to find that Papadiamantis was a religious reactionary, who objected to the emancipation of women and bewailed democracy and other European habits as unsuitable for the Greeks. In one of his stories he appears to regret that Greek women no longer wore veils, which they had been obliged to do under the Ottoman occupation. Nonetheless, he was no misogynist; he was well aware of the complete lack of freedom of women in 19th century Greece, and he portrayed this fact in many of his stories with complete sympathy for the women, who quite often are the main characters.(*) And he was no elitist - his stories are generally set in the lowest economic strata.
Since he was so conservative, it was not surprising to find that he wrote much of his work in the antiquarian katharevousa Greek, which harkens back to the Greek spoken in Athens in the 4th century BCE, though apparently he leavened it with his own idiosyncratic diction. In his dialogues, however, he used contemporary colloquial speech, even dialect when appropriate. The translator, Elizabeth Constantinides, of Tales From a Greek Island assures us that his diction is completely unique and that a page of his prose can be immediately identified. Unfortunately, there is nothing linguistically notable about her translations, just a very few half-hearted gestures towards slang in some of the dialogue. Nonetheless, something else does come through - a combination of empathy, watchfulness, and relaxed patience - which I have not encountered before.
The short stories in Tales are set on the island of Skiathos, where Papadiamantis was born and raised, and with empathetic, if sometimes sardonic humor provide a rather grim picture of 19th century Greek island life. Though Papadiamantis never married, nearly all of these stories revolve around marriage, one way or another.(**) If not about marriage in the offing - the dream of a marriage - or about a marriage being lived, then about the onerous dowries families needed to pay to marry off their daughters(***) and the extremes to which this custom forced them to go, such as marrying their daughters to extremely unsuitable men in order to reduce the dowry, or waiting 20 years for a son to return from America with enough money to allow his younger sister to marry. Just two of many.
Inevitable consequences of this custom are the regret and resentment parents experienced when a daughter was born. Needless to say, in some parents this found rather extreme expression - murder; or, if not murder, then murder just barely averted, stayed in the last moment, as evidenced in this collection.
But in The Murderess (1903), one strides directly to multiple murder. With such a title I am hardly spoiling the story if I reveal that a grandmother, a herbalist and healer by trade, again on the isle of Skiathos, reviews her harsh life and the prospects of her daughter and newly born, sickly granddaughter and decides that girls would be better off dead.(****) Remarkably, Papadiamantis is able to make this most unappealing premise into a powerful little book by combining Raskolnikovian self-laceration with a touch of Medean madness in the idyllic setting of an Aegean island and using finely judged flashbacks to fill in background and change the pace and mood. Very nicely done all around.
I share now Cavafy's and Elytis' admiration for Papadiamantis' work, but it is high time to leave behind the sad and claustrophobic society of 19th century Skiathos. A蟺慰蠂伪喂蟻蔚蟿喂蟽蟿萎蟻喂慰蟼 !
(*) In The Murderess all the main characters are women, while the men are jokes or monsters.
(**) At this time, in this place - a small island where everyone knew everybody's business - marriage was the only possibility for a man and woman to ease their passion. With all of the narrow minded busybodies poring over other people's lives, even the innocent were in trouble...
(***) In one story the parents of the bride signed over to the groom their house and furnishings and paid cash! In another, the family signed over half their property and mortgaged the rest to provide cash.
(****) Her parents solved the dowry problem by marrying her off to a simpleton who was satisfied with a perfectly worthless dowry...
I was introduced to Papadiamantis by my Greek Professor, who called him "the Dostoevsky of Greece." Though a lot of his earlier work is more influenced by French Romanticism, his later work (like The Murderess) is clearly more of a Russian-influenced animal.
The Murderess is like a mini version of Crime and Punishment, but rural-Greek style from a woman's perspective. Substitute Raskolnikov with a 60+ year-old Greek grandmother and you'll be close to having an impression of this little novella.
This is a charming little tale of a mother smothering and drowning babies, a mad brother stabbing his sister, and Harrison Ford-style adventures on Greek cliff-faces looking onto crashing death-waves below. Mr. Papadiamantis serves us a moral fable with oodles of suspense and terror, weaving a folky classical Greek yarn around a desperate on-the-run action narrative, told slowly and elegantly, with vitality and astonishment. Sublime little 19thC novella.
Kitap hen眉z bitti ve ben Yunanistan'谋n Dostoyevski'si olarak adland谋r谋lan Papadiamantis'in 1903 y谋l谋nda, Katharevusa leh莽esiyle (Yunan halk dilini "temizlemek" amac谋yla 18., 19. ve 20. y眉z y谋llarda daha 莽ok yazarlar, gazeteler ve resmi makamlar taraf谋ndan resmi dil olarak kullan谋lan leh莽e) kaleme ald谋臒谋 bu harikulade k谋sa roman谋n谋 T眉rk莽e okuyabilmek i莽in 112 (yaz谋yla: y眉z on iki) y谋l ge莽mesi gerekti臒i ger莽e臒ine inanam谋yorum! (陌lk bask谋 ve 莽eviri 艦ubat 2015)
Bu 艧oku atlat谋rsam belki daha sonra size Papadiamantis'in d枚nemin -ve asl谋nda t眉m zamanlar谋n- cinsiyet rolleri ve toplum normlar谋 hakk谋nda ne kadar g眉zel tespitler yapt谋臒谋ndan, ilk kitab谋 Muhacir'i 1878'de 陌stanbul'da 莽谋kan Neologos'ta yay谋nlam谋艧 olmas谋 ironisinden, insanl谋k su莽lar谋 ve insan谋n i莽 hesapla艧mas谋n谋 ada k眉lt眉r眉yle ve Yunan mitolojisiyle nas谋l da g眉zel harmanlad谋臒谋ndan, sonra da 莽evirinin inan谋lmaz g眉zelli臒inden, kitab谋n 枚n s枚z眉nde okudu臒um m眉thi艧 detaylardan, bu 莽eviriye verilen emekten falan bahsedebilirim, belki, dedi臒im gibi, 艧oku atlatabilirsem!
Kitab谋n hemen ba艧谋nda 鈥楬adula hasta k眉莽眉k torununun be艧i臒inin dibinde uykusundan feragat ediyordu.鈥� c眉mlesine tak谋l谋 kald谋m ve bu kitab谋 uyan谋k bir 艧ekilde okumam gerekti臒ini fark ettim.
Ana karakterimiz bir katil. 陌lk cinayetinden itibaren, bir莽ok hareket noktas谋 bunu do臒ruluyor. Ayn谋 zamanda da yaln谋z, ya艧l谋 bir kad谋n. Tek yapt谋臒谋 temizlik yapmak, torunlar谋na bakmak ve dua etmek. Damad谋 s眉rekli i莽iyor, o臒ullar谋 bir gemide i艧 bulup onu terk ediyor ve asla Yunanistan鈥檃 ayak basm谋yorlar. B眉t眉n bunlar谋n sonucunda i莽erisinde bir k枚t眉l眉k ruhu olu艧tu臒unu benimsiyor yazar. Asl谋nda cinayetleri i艧lerken kendinde de臒ilmi艧 gibi i艧liyor, sonradan pi艧man oluyor ve bu su莽luluk duygusu ile sahile ula艧ana kadar ka莽谋yor. Finaliyle de bir taraftan kendini ba臒谋艧latmak, Tanr谋 taraf谋ndan da ba臒谋艧lanmak istiyor.
Okurken Dostoyevski havas谋 ald谋m biraz. Kahraman谋 ne yaparsa yaps谋n onunla s眉rekli empati kurmaya 莽al谋艧谋yor. 陌nan谋lmaz bir kurgu. 陌yi ki dilimize 莽evrilmi艧!
I love this book. I always will. I can't remember how many times I've read it. Though it's been a while.... It was a great companion throughout my schoolyears.
Set on the Aegian island of Skiathos, The 螠urderess tells the spine-chilling and sad tale of an old woman who commits an unforgivable crime. The worst of all. Through Papadiamandis' impeccable narration we get a glance at a dark patriarchal society where being born a female was a curse.
G眉zel bir fikirle yola 莽谋km谋艧, devam谋 g眉zel getirilememi艧 bir kitap maalesef. Giri艧i insana umut vadediyor ancak ilerleyen sayfalarda olay 枚rg眉s眉 hep ayn谋 ikilem etraf谋nda d枚n眉p duruyor. B枚yle olunca da karakteri anlamak ve ona sempati beslemek olanaks谋z oluyor. Kitab谋n sonundaki hesapla艧ma g眉zellik katsa da b眉t眉n眉 kurtarmaya yetmiyor. Belki arka fonda 莽alan g眉zel bir mandolin gibi okuma zevkini artt谋r谋c谋 fakt枚rlerle beslenirse daha g眉zel bir okuma olabilir ancak iddia edildi臒i gibi Papadiamantis bir Dostoyevski olamad谋臒谋 gibi Hadula da bir Raskolnikov olam谋yor ve o duyguyu okuyucuya ge莽iremiyor.
This is the beauty of Greek-Cypriot public schools: they make you read a book about a psycho lady in an island who flips out and starts murdering young girls (including her own grandaughters!) while you are trying to finish your last hellish trimester in high school, prepare for eniaies, prepare for proeisagwgikes, and figure what to do with the rest of your life. NIIIICEEEEE!!!!