Publication
Northwestern University Press (1996), Edition: Translated, 473 pages
Original publication date
1966
Collections
Subjects
Awards
NIN Prize (Winner — 1966)
Description
Death and the Dervish is an acclaimed novel by Bosnian writer Mesa Selimovic. It recounts the story of Sheikh Nuruddin, a dervish residing in an Islamic monastery in Sarajevo in the eighteenth century during the Ottoman Turk hegemony over the Balkans. When his brother is arrested, he must descend into the Kafkaesque world of the Ottoman authorities in his search to discover what happened to him. He narrates his story in the form of an elaborate suicide note, regularly misquoting the Koran. In time, he begins to question his relations with society as a whole and, eventually, his life choices in general. Hugely successful when published in the 1960s, Death and the Dervish is an enduring classic made into a feature length film in 1974.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member DieFledermaus
This is an undoubtedly great book. It is not an easy read but is very rewarding. The main plot is simple – Sheikh Ahmed Nuruddin, the dervish of the title, deals with the fact that his brother has been unjustly arrested. In the first half, he attempts to learn about the arrest and the reasons
Nuruddin is Hamlet-esque in that he learns of the crime committed against his brother but dithers and equivocates endlessly. While describing a conversation, he analyzes it so thoroughly that the actual dialogue is dominated by his nuanced, conflicted interpretations. Some of his inaction is pragmatic – he is aware that the normal actions that he takes will do nothing for his brother. His puzzling of moral and logistic concerns can seem sympathetic – who has not worried over the right thing to do? – but gradually he starts to alienate the reader. He cannot work himself up to take one or the other side and his actions – or lack of action – turn him into a hypocrite. He’s unable to float above worldly concerns like Hafiz-Muhammed or shamefully conform, like Mullah-Yusuf. He can’t advocate cheerful civil disobedience like Hadji-Sinanuddin or smoothly bribe his way and play the game like Ali-aga. The madman who tells the truth, as embodied by the beggar Ali-hodja, certainly isn’t a role he can occupy. The other important character is Hassan, the disobedient scion of a wealthy family, who is open, friendly and willing to break the law to help his friends. The narrator looks up to him but is unable to imitate him. In the spirit of the book, however, these characters also have their faults, hypocrisies or admirable qualities. Religion is a crutch and a comfort for Nuruddin but not much of either. His act of rebellion at the end is violent, hypocritical and ends up being a Pyrrhic victory.
The book feels timeless and also like an unending nightmare. There’s something of a flat, grey atmosphere (which can make it a bit slow at times) which is occasionally relieved by stories from the past - Nuruddin previously fought in the war, Hassan’s adventures show up and the history of Mullah-Yusuf becomes important. The authorities who jailed the narrator’s brother are remote and impersonal but also embodied in various minor officials who can’t do anything or talk in circles. We are stuck in Nuruddin’s head and his constant questioning and dithering contributes to the claustrophobic atmosphere. The synopsis says that the book takes place in Sarajevo in the 17th century, based on some geographic clues and historical references, but this is only established indirectly (though there are some nice thoughts on the divided nature of Bosnia which relate to Nuruddin as well). This vagueness contributes to the impression that nothing can be known and that the grounds are constantly shifting. I was extremely impressed with this well-written, thoughtful, wonderfully atmospheric book but would recommend it with the caveat that some may find it slow or frustrating.
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behind it, coming up against a slothful, corrupt bureaucracy. In the second half, he deals with the fallout of his brother’s imprisonment, alternating between hatred and forgetting. There are numerous side plots, ambling tangents and stories from the past. These stories serve as a comment on the narrator’s situation and give insight into some of the characters. Selimovic’s writing is complex and beautiful, wonderfully conveying the narrator’s doubts and inertia.Nuruddin is Hamlet-esque in that he learns of the crime committed against his brother but dithers and equivocates endlessly. While describing a conversation, he analyzes it so thoroughly that the actual dialogue is dominated by his nuanced, conflicted interpretations. Some of his inaction is pragmatic – he is aware that the normal actions that he takes will do nothing for his brother. His puzzling of moral and logistic concerns can seem sympathetic – who has not worried over the right thing to do? – but gradually he starts to alienate the reader. He cannot work himself up to take one or the other side and his actions – or lack of action – turn him into a hypocrite. He’s unable to float above worldly concerns like Hafiz-Muhammed or shamefully conform, like Mullah-Yusuf. He can’t advocate cheerful civil disobedience like Hadji-Sinanuddin or smoothly bribe his way and play the game like Ali-aga. The madman who tells the truth, as embodied by the beggar Ali-hodja, certainly isn’t a role he can occupy. The other important character is Hassan, the disobedient scion of a wealthy family, who is open, friendly and willing to break the law to help his friends. The narrator looks up to him but is unable to imitate him. In the spirit of the book, however, these characters also have their faults, hypocrisies or admirable qualities. Religion is a crutch and a comfort for Nuruddin but not much of either. His act of rebellion at the end is violent, hypocritical and ends up being a Pyrrhic victory.
The book feels timeless and also like an unending nightmare. There’s something of a flat, grey atmosphere (which can make it a bit slow at times) which is occasionally relieved by stories from the past - Nuruddin previously fought in the war, Hassan’s adventures show up and the history of Mullah-Yusuf becomes important. The authorities who jailed the narrator’s brother are remote and impersonal but also embodied in various minor officials who can’t do anything or talk in circles. We are stuck in Nuruddin’s head and his constant questioning and dithering contributes to the claustrophobic atmosphere. The synopsis says that the book takes place in Sarajevo in the 17th century, based on some geographic clues and historical references, but this is only established indirectly (though there are some nice thoughts on the divided nature of Bosnia which relate to Nuruddin as well). This vagueness contributes to the impression that nothing can be known and that the grounds are constantly shifting. I was extremely impressed with this well-written, thoughtful, wonderfully atmospheric book but would recommend it with the caveat that some may find it slow or frustrating.
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LibraryThing member puabi
A powerful novel that I would recommend highly to anyone. Some knowledge of Bosnia and the Ottoman empire might enhance the reading experience, but you can get that pretty easily.
LibraryThing member q_and_a
This luminous, philosophical novel can only be described as a masterpiece, and one of the best works to emerge from the former Yugoslavia. Ivo Andrić, the first and only Nobel laureate writer from Bosnia, is the most well-known Bosnian writer in the West. However, Meša Selimović is a writer
This novel is by no means an easy read, but it is not difficult in a pretentious way. It's demanding, but absolutely rewards the reader's attention and effort. The story is not really driven by plot - much of it is instead focused on the psychology of the characters and on their philosophical and spiritual concerns. These concerns, though, aren't presented as philosophizing - instead, these internal monologues are striking in their dignity and subtlety.
As if this wasn't enough, "Death and the Dervish" has significant historical and cultural resonance. One of the best books not only of Yugoslav literature, but of the entire world.
(A)
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absolutely on the same level as Andrić.This novel is by no means an easy read, but it is not difficult in a pretentious way. It's demanding, but absolutely rewards the reader's attention and effort. The story is not really driven by plot - much of it is instead focused on the psychology of the characters and on their philosophical and spiritual concerns. These concerns, though, aren't presented as philosophizing - instead, these internal monologues are striking in their dignity and subtlety.
As if this wasn't enough, "Death and the Dervish" has significant historical and cultural resonance. One of the best books not only of Yugoslav literature, but of the entire world.
(A)
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LibraryThing member atom_box
Dense and therefore, a life project for me. I read 80 pages around 1999, another 100 pages in 2004. I find it tough going because it is mostly a man's thoughts. It's worthwhile and I hope to finish it someday. It's lived in 6 different apartments with me.
LibraryThing member palaverofbirds
Bosnian Muslim take on existentialist fiction, but much better than Sartre.
LibraryThing member larryerick
This was a difficult book to read. Not because the author has no skills. Not because the storyline is boring or confusing. At it's best, which is a great deal of the time, the book is lucid, interesting, compelling even, and easily relatable for the reader. Written almost entirely in the first
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person of the main character, it is often like walking around inside someone's head, listening to them sharing their thoughts with you, and occasionally just slipping off to talk only to themselves. And that is when the problems with the narrative develop. We, as humans, sometimes have quite chaotic thoughts as we sort through what we are absorbing. Ideas bounce around seeking some clarity. In this book's case, the character's search for clarity seems to derive directly from the author's own search for clarity, making the chaos real, not manufactured by the author. There is even a rare portion of the book where the author gets so imbedded into the character describing another character that the narrative shifts fully from first person to third person. Then, as though the author comes out of his own lost thoughts, the narrative returns as before. There is a great deal of insight to human behavior in this book, both personal and societal behavior, making it a solid candidate for a repeat reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member richardderus
Rating: 3.5* of five
An intense read. Beautiful translated words confronting and comforting the human fear of love by the means of examining the easier-to-grasp fear of death.
I've chosen some favorite phrases and liked them from the quotes. They appear below the review. (This describes a wonderful
Make no mistake: Ahmed Nuruddin is you, reader, a man whose loves and One True Love don't mark him out from the herd but place him in the center of it. He doesn't do a single thing that any one of us couldn't do, be it generous or cowardly or divinely inspired. It is simply that we wouldn't tread in his footsteps, wouldn't elect to give ourselves to an ideal in a world without respect for them.
I give the book a paltry rating, based on those comments; I found it necessary to break my reading into smaller bites than I would have liked to do. The feast is so rich, satisfying my word-lust in such short order, that I ended up feeling disconnected by the enforced consumption of many amuse-bouche reads between this book's courses.
I suspect many readers will be defeated by that very need. This is a book that, due to its own delights, ends up unfinished, bookmark poking the piles of paperbacks athwart its spine, a guilty glance sliding past it as the New Year's Resolution cry "I WILL FINISH THIS SHELF!" rings its falsely sincere echoes into our shared shame.
An intense read. Beautiful translated words confronting and comforting the human fear of love by the means of examining the easier-to-grasp fear of death.
I've chosen some favorite phrases and liked them from the quotes. They appear below the review. (This describes a wonderful
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and useful function available on Goodreads.) I think the patience required to read a footnoted and glossary'd read won't allow its subtleties and tremendous pleasures to spread widely among US English-speaking readers.Make no mistake: Ahmed Nuruddin is you, reader, a man whose loves and One True Love don't mark him out from the herd but place him in the center of it. He doesn't do a single thing that any one of us couldn't do, be it generous or cowardly or divinely inspired. It is simply that we wouldn't tread in his footsteps, wouldn't elect to give ourselves to an ideal in a world without respect for them.
I give the book a paltry rating, based on those comments; I found it necessary to break my reading into smaller bites than I would have liked to do. The feast is so rich, satisfying my word-lust in such short order, that I ended up feeling disconnected by the enforced consumption of many amuse-bouche reads between this book's courses.
I suspect many readers will be defeated by that very need. This is a book that, due to its own delights, ends up unfinished, bookmark poking the piles of paperbacks athwart its spine, a guilty glance sliding past it as the New Year's Resolution cry "I WILL FINISH THIS SHELF!" rings its falsely sincere echoes into our shared shame.
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LibraryThing member stillatim
Kafka meets Dostoevsky in Ottoman-era Bosnia; I say this not to diminish the book's originality, because I've never read anything quite like it, but just to give it a tradition. Unfortunately, the second half is nowhere near as interesting or gripping as the first, and the flurry of events suggests
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that Selimovic either couldn't be bothered making it as long as it needed to be, or just didn't have it in him to follow the meditations to their conclusion without having some ACTION. Part I, taken on its own, might be the best novel I've read this year. Show Less
Language
Original language
Bosnian
ISBN
0810112973 / 9780810112971
Physical description
473 p.; 4.75 inches
Pages
473