Short stories
Iverje
Not translated into English
Antun Gustav Matoš · 1899
Opening lines
Joso se Cicvarić danas vratio nješto kasnije kući. Bio je u susjednomu selu na proštenju, pa stoga nije čudo što je nješto teže nego obično našao kvaku na vratima.
Joso Cicvarić came home somewhat later today. He had been at the patron saint's feast in the neighbouring village, so it is no wonder that he found the door handle with somewhat more difficulty than usual.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from lektire.skole.hr
Synopsis
Short tales caught between his native Syrmia, Zagreb, Belgrade and Paris: a man whose conscience keeps him from sleeping, provincials caught in their quirks, scenes that turn fantastic without leaving the street. The writer had been living in exile for five years, having deserted the army, and the oldest of these pages was already seven years old when the collection took shape.
Context
The collection appeared in 1899, five years after its author had deserted the Austro-Hungarian army and crossed the border; he could not return, and the book appeared without him. He was then living on freelance pieces for the newspapers of the country. The material comes from earlier: the first of the pieces had appeared in a journal as early as 1892, and Croatian literary histories begin their modern period there. A second collection followed the next year, under a title that takes up this one. Its author came to verse only late, around 1906, and wrote only eighty poems: these are what is quoted today, but it is through this prose that he began to count.
Who it is for
Stories of a few pages, to be read separately. No French translation, and no English edition.
Prizes and reception
The first book of the man whom Croatia regards as the central figure of its literary modernity, and required reading in its secondary schools.