How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone

by Saša Stanišić and Saša Stanišis

Book Overview

The hardcover publication of How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone launched Stanisic as an exciting and important new voice in literary fiction and earned exuberant praise from readers and critics... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802118666
• ISBN13: 9780802118660
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

War is war through anyone's eyes..

This special novel was written in a very unusual style. It was like being in the mind of a young boy as he watchs his world unfold in front of him. The descriptions are all on target with their language and reasoning of what may or may not be going on in the moment. Wonderful once you can think like the narrorator..

A child's perspective

This is the fictional story of a boy, Aleksander, growing up in Visegrad in Bosnia as the war begins in 1992. He and his family escape the violence to live in Germany and 10 years later Aleksander returns to see what has changed, find people from his past and capture his childhood memories. The story is told in an unusual way with flashbacks and imagination. As the story begins, Aleksander's beloved Grandpa dies suddenly and through the book there are references to him and to other characters in the town. As a child it is hard for Aleksander to make sense of the changes in his life as the "ethnic cleansing" begins in his town and he learns that your name determines whether you survive or not. Based around real events, the author has written in a beautiful and innovative manner, (sometimes challenging - but stick with it!), whimsical at times, as the reader understands better than Aleksander (as a child) what is happening. When he returns as an adult, he finds change but his love for his town and the River Drina on which it stands, remains constant.

One of my fav reads of the year

I well remember the frustration I felt when I would sit and listen to the news about the war in Bosnia, about the snipers, the mass killings, the ethnic cleansing (I hate that term), and the destruction of the beautiful city of Sarajevo. I was hoping, young that I was, that the world would set this all straight. Boy was that bubble burst in an instant. This book brings all of that back. With a staccato almost like a machine gun, he lets the memories of the war, and the time before, shoot the reader. Its a heartbreaking book about a heartbreaking war, but it could be about any war, any time, anywhere. Caveat - his writing style is not for everyone. Some people may find the twists, turns and cloverleafs a bit daunting. There were times I had to put it down and read something else for a bit to get my balance. Others might be put off by the stream of consciousness. My suggestion to you is to just read and not worry about the style. I know for me, despite some confusion here and there, the time spend was well worth it!

What a firecracker!

Whether the term "migrant literature" is justified in its existence is a question that is, hm, existential. Sasa Stanisic may not think it is, but whatever the theoretical basis, DO READ this book, please! Even if you think you've read about all the semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tales sparkling with magic realism, pop-culture, wayward tragicomedy and lyrical interludes you can take, read it. In the author's adopted home country of Germany, it's a much publicized fact that he came as a refugee from Visegrad, Bosnia-Hercegovina (engraved in literature by 1961 Nobel Prize Winner Ivo Andric) at age 14 without speaking a word of German but started publishing to great success years ago and pulled off this poetic, inventive masterpiece when he was all of twice that age. Anthea Bell's translation is certainly competent, though occasionally she doesn't quite hit the offbeat tone. But, in fairness, that's tough to do. Even in the original there are chapters where it takes pages to grasp what's going on, and I strongly hope that readers will apply some patience where necessary, because it will be rewarded. The most poignant example is the tour-de-force chapter (too long to quote) between pages 256 and 276 about a soccer game between warring factions turned bloody, which is based on a true event. So why should American readers care about mental pole vaults on a part of the world with rituals, wars and sports they may not understand? Because the book makes a mark. Clever? For sure. Think Jonathan Safran Foer getting drunk with Gary Shteyngart, and I said this before I saw that the latter threw in his praise on the back flap. Biased reviewer? Maybe, though only to the extent that I hold writers whose vita bears any resemblance to mine to a higher standard. But find out for yourself.

awe

I picked up this novel after attempting (and then giving up on) a couple of others that I felt I was wasting my time on. I wanted to read a valuable book...and then I found one. This starts out happy. And then it gets a little bleak. And then it comes together in a manic fit of emotion. This is Aleksandar's documented memory and it provides so much insight to his shattered world. At times, we are as disillusioned as he is-but then he enlightens us with his deft storytelling... His sporadic thoughts... "If I were a magician who could make things possible, I'd have lemonade always tasting as it did on the evening Francesco explained how right it was for the Italian moon to be a feminine moon. If I were a magician who could make things possible, we'd be able to understand all languages every evening between eight and nine. If I were a magician who could make things possible, all dams would keep their promises. If I were a magician who could make things possible, we'd be really brave." Sasa Stanisic is a truly innovative author. This was spectacular.