Novel
Pirey
Пиреј
Petre M. Andreevski · 1980
Synopsis
In a mountain village in southern Macedonia, Jon, brought up harshly by a pitiless father, marries Velika, whom he has chosen for her strength in the fields. He joins the armed bands of the komitadjis, then the war separates them: enlisted in the Serbian army, Jon fights the Bulgarians and takes prisoner, in the other camp, his own brother, while Velika stays alone with the children, hunger, illness and the passing armies. Their voices alternate from one chapter to the next.
Context
The author's first novel, the book was published by Misla in 1980. Its title names couch grass, the weed that is cut, burned or pulled up without dying, an image of the tenacity of his people. A narrator, Duko Vendija, opens and closes the story; between the two, fourteen chapters give the floor in turn to Jon and Velika. It has been translated into Croatian, Russian, English in 2009 and German in 2017, and twice staged, the second time in 2018 in Prilep.
Who it is for
In Macedonian, about two hundred and fifty pages; translated into English. It is worth knowing that the same villages supplied soldiers to enemy armies.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as its author's masterwork and read in schools, it is one of the most widely read books in the country.
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