Play Book Tag discussion

Spring Flowers, Spring Frost by Ismail Kadare - 3* - My Review

Mark is a moderately successful artist living in a small mountain town near Tirana. The story takes place just after Albania’s transition from Communism to a more open form of government. Mark notices an uptick in violence and the resurgence of old feuds. The narrative alternates between Mark's contemporary story of his love for the beautiful Diana (whose family practices a traditional code of honor) and tales from Albanian folklore.

Kadare explores Albania’s struggles to reconcile its traditional customs with attempts at modernization. It is not a straightforward novel by any stretch. It employs magical realist elements and (intentionally) lacks continuity of flow. My favorites mythic stories include one about a woman who married a snake and another about a sentient iceberg.

This is a somewhat specialized literary work of a well-known Albanian author. One point I took away is that Albania's past cannot be simply forgotten but must be integrated into any vision of the future. There is a great deal of symbolism embedded within the novel, and I’m sure I didn’t catch all of it. It would benefit from re-reading so perhaps I will return to it after doing a bit of research about Albanian history.

PBT November BWF Extra S/K - fits letters not tag