Mr.'s Updates

"CRO/ENG
Kada sam prvi put čitao ovu knjigu prije 11 godina, dojam mi je bio razočaravajuć, zbog opsega romana, upropaštenog sažecima iz priručnika za lektiru (nap. nisam imao ovaj roman za lektiru), uz prenaglašenu svakodnevicu glavnog lika i konfuziju između unutarnjih misli i njegova razgovora sa drugim ljudima. Sada, 11 godina kasnije, kada sam ponovno pročitao ''Kiklopa'' i pogledao filmsku adaptaciju Antuna Vrdoljaka, dojam mi se promjenio u pozitivnom smislu, premda i dalje imam problema sa opsegom knjige. Međutim, što je djelo gubilo u sadržaju i njegovoj širini, nadomjestilo je dubinom čovjekove duše, ispunjene grozotom i strahom, kojega se ne bi postidjeli ni Joseph Conrad sa ''Srcem tame'' ni William Golding sa ''Gospodarem muha''. Iako je tematikom bliži Hemingway-u, motivi i atmosfera u knjizi su zastrašujući i prije bih ovo djelo uspoređivao sa prvom dvojicom autora, premda mi sam lik Polifema nikada nije bio aluzija na nešto globalnog karaktera (ništa više od drugih bića iz Homerova epa, ali, jasno, riječ je o slobodnom izražavanju), koliko pojedinca, izoliranog od društva i bez ikakva morala, osim vlastitog ega. Filmska verzija je vjerna originalu, ali joj nedostaje unutarnjih monologa jer se riječi ''kiklop'' i ''Polifem'' ne spominju ni jednom u trajanju od otprilike 2 sata, čime sam naslov gubi smisao, osim ako osoba nije čitala knjigu, da bi shvatila Melkiorovo čudno ponašanje. Za kraj bih samo naveo kako ne smatram ovo djelo teško čitljivim, koliko zahtjevnim, kada je u pitanju strpljivost, a ne čitateljeva izdržljivost (ja sam čitao jedno poglavlje po danu kroz dva tjedna radi boljeg razumijevanja tijeka radnje) i najbolje bih ga usporedio sa ''Idiotom'' od Dostojevskog, u smislu da bi se, s vremenom, dojam mogao promijeniti prema višoj ocjeni.

WhenI've first read this book 11 years ago, my opinion about it was disappointing, because of it's lenght, which was ruined by synopsis from a guide book (it wasn't part of homework during school), with a too much of a focus on everyday life of a lead protagonist and confusion between his inner thought and conversations with other people. Now, 11 years later, when I read again ''The Cyclop'' and watched a film adaptation by Antun Vrdoljak, my thought has changed towards the better, although I still have issues with it's length. However, what this work has lost in it's content and it's width, it compensated with a depth of a human's soul, filled with terror and fear, which Joseph Conrad with his ''Heart of Darkness'' nor William Golding with his ''The Lord of the Flies'' wouldn't be ashamed of. Although thematically closer to Hemingway, the motives and surrounding are terrifying and much more comparable with the first two mentioned authors, although the character of Polyphemus never seemed to me like something on a global scale (when compared with other creatures from Homer's poem, but, of course, it's the free interpretation), as much as individual, isolated from society and without morals, except his own ego. The film version is faithful to the original, but it lacks inner monologues, because the words ''cyclop'' and Polyphemus aren't mentioned at all during it's 2 hour length, which makes the title losing it's meaning, unless a person hasn't read the book already, to understand Melkior's behavior. I would just mention at the end that I don't think that this work is so hard to read, as much as it's challenging, when patience is concerned, rather than reader's stamina (I've read one chapter per day during two weeks for the better understanding of a plot) and I would best compared it with ''The Idiot'' by Dostoyevsky, in a sense that, with time, my thought might change for a higher rate."