Review of Branko Mikasinovich, ed., Great Serbian Short Stories (New Avenue Books, 2019)
Reviewed by Dr. Martin Dean, Historical Consultant, Bethesda MD
With this excellent collection of short stories, Branko Mikasinovich has dug into the literary jewels of his native Serbia and granted us this glistening gift. These 27 stories span almost two centuries of the eventful history of Serbia, reflecting both its multi-faceted culture and entwined relations with its European neighbors. Here I will not discuss all of the stories, but instead examine three of my favorites, to offer a taste of what can be found between the pages of this powerful anthology.
The collection opens with “Kanjos Macedonovich,” which retells the adventures of a hero of the Pastrovichi from the fifteenth century. Faced with a difficult situation, Kanjos tries to salvage the honor and future of his people by ingratiating himself to the economically powerful Doge of Venice with a bold act of courage. Despite its format as a folk tale, the story is replete with diplomatic wisdom and almost incredulous descriptions of the decadent machinations of the Venetian court. It is a mythical history, which still retains the capacity to instill practical political lessons today.
In his story “Thirst,” Nobel laureate, Ivo Andrich, describes the harsh realities of Austrian rule in the Serb provinces it controlled in the decades before World War I. In particular, Andrich contrasts the refined sensibilities of the refined wife of an Austrian gendarme with the harsh fate of a local highwayman, who is captured by her husband. In order to extract information from the captive, he is subjected to torture. Yet Andrich cleverly describes this mainly from the perspective of the Viennese noblewoman, who is haunted by the man’s cries and feels pity for him. In this way Andrich humanizes the everyday cruelty that accompanied Austrian attempts to subjugate this lawless region.
Most exquisite for those fascinated by history is Borislav Pekich’s “The Man Who Ate Death.” The story recounts the actions and motives of a heroic anti-hero within the ranks of the French Revolution’s bureaucracy; seizing the mantle of history, he intervenes to save individuals from the guillotine by consuming their death warrants for lunch right under the noses of the Revolution’s infamous Committee of Public Safety. It is above all the insouciant way the story is told that elevates it to a high level of art. It is an alternate history that still pays careful respect to the actual historic events and characters that provide the backdrop for this fascinating tale. Thus it is designed to both delight and horrify true historians at one and the same time – a masterpiece.
Among other highlights is Milorad Pavich’s intricate “The Glass Snail,” which comes to varying denouements, depending on which order you choose to read the discrete sections of the story. Perhaps most symbolic for the entire collection is Momcilo Kapor’s “The Gift,” in which an estranged wife returns to a Belgrade flea market, only to have some property surprisingly restored to her by her ex-husband. Branko Mikasinovich’s gift of this anthology shares this same principle by restoring to us great treasures of Serbian literature, which indeed had always belonged in our bookcase anyway.