Novel
Shkëlqimi dhe rënia e shokut Zylo
Not translated into English
Dritëro Agolli · 1973
Synopsis
Demkë, a once-known writer, drafts the speeches and reports of Comrade Zylo Kamberi, who heads the publications department of the cultural sector, and follows him through his transfers, his trips and his holidays. Zylo, optimistic and incompetent, dreams of promotion and of an ambassadorship in Western Europe. A play by the dramatist Adem Adashi awaits his approval; Zylo's son wrecks a neighbour's flat, and the father wants to settle the matter without the police.
Context
Written in 1972, the novel first appeared in instalments in the satirical weekly Hosteni, then in volume form in 1973; the author revised it in 1981. Its form imitates the report, the minutes and the official biography. The satire of bureaucracy remains mild in it, and the book criticises the system without condemning it. Translated into French in 1990 under the title Splendeur et décadence du camarade Zulo, then into German in 1991, it has no English version.
Who it is for
A short novel in Albanian, in the first person, made up of episodes; translated into French and German.
Prizes and reception
The most famous and most acclaimed of its author's novels, read as a mockery of the regime's petty bosses.