Every Pavic I pick up seems more inventive than the last. This is a much more straightforward story than the extremely experimental Dictionary of the Khazars, but it still has some playfulness in its second half which is arranged as a crossword and invites the reader to choose to read "down" or "across". Of course the exact explanation for how to do this doesn't come until 80-odd pages later, but the challenge of interpreting a solution will likely be a fun challenge for some readers.

With works like these I tend to let the language and imagery just wash over me and Pavic does not disappoint in that regard either: there is a lot of clever wordplay, fairy and folktales which seem too delightfully playful to be real (or are maybe just presented that way expertly by Pavic), wise women making hauntingly mysterious speeches to the men in their life, and anything else you might want in a surrealist novel by an accomplished poet. ( )

Milorad Pavić was a masterful weaver of stories. This novel is a surreal patchwork of allusions, history, religion, conflicts between generations, magical realism... Diving into any of his books is a literary adventure unlike any other. ( )

Un ingenioso y frustrado arquitecto de Belgrado, Atanas Svilar, emprende la búsqueda de su padre, un oficial desaparecido en Grecia durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. La verdad de este destino, parte del cual se inició dos mil años atrás, tal vez se encuentre en la historia y los secretos de un antiquísimo monasterio situado en las cumbres del Monte Athos, una inaccesible montaña a orillas del mar Egeo. Sin embargo, esta búsqueda no es más que el punto de partida de un brillante mosaico que depara consecuencias inesperadas: Atanas Svilar se hace rico y célebre bajo el nombre de Atanas Razin, triunfa en California y, a orillas del río Potomac, dirige la construcción de una réplica exacta de la palaciega residencia del mariscal Tito. Mientras tanto, su esposa, la cantante Vitacha Milut, se enamora perdidamente del lector.

Only made it about 20 pages into this.

If you like reading, just to read words on a page, then I would suggest this book. I mean it does have some value, if you like words these are some pretty neat words and phrases and sentences you probably have never heard before. Each line seems to be mystery, or maybe every other line. You read it and then think, "I wonder what that means?" or "Wow, that is a very strange thing to say." It almost seems like some kind of Buddhist exercise. You could read this book for months, analyzing each line and maybe coming up with a couple of theories about what it means and then move on to the next line. It's a different kind of reading experience.

Basically, when I was in college in the early 90's I went through a post modern phase and this book was on a list of post modern books, so I picked it up. It's been sitting on my shelf for more than 20 years and I finally picked it up. ( )

This is the first time I have abandoned a book since 1961 when I gave up on Finnegan's Wake. It is too clever by half for me. In my quest for the perfect quirky dreamy novel, this one exceeds even my patience.

It is ironic. I bought this book because I was taken in by the title and the cover. Has the lesson been learned? Let us hope.

Don't judge a book by its cover! Alone. It needs to have additional known redeeming qualities.

This is so sad. I have been hauling this book around since 1990 when it was shiny and new. It should have been read (and abandoned) long ago, and now I have given up at page 18. Not a happy day. Alas.

A moment of silence, please.