I picked up Croatian writer Miroslav Krleža's 1938 novel On the Edge of Reason (translated by Zora Depolo, published by New Directions) because I read somewhere that it's similar to Herman Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener," a story I love. After finishing Krleža's novel, I can say that it didn't strike me as anything like Melville's short story. Instead, it reminded me of Russian writers, such as Nikolai Gogol, Leo Tolstoy, and, especially Fyodor Dostoevsky, especially Notes From Underground.
As with Dostoevsky's short work, there's not much of a plot here, as it's mainly the narrator explaining how he has found himself in the situation he has, which is isolated and alienated from his society, probably about to return to jail, from which he's recently been released. His crime: he spoke the truth about an important person in society. When the Director-General tells a story about shooting four men who were trespassing on his property (a story that might be more complicated than he originally conveys), he brags about shooting them like dogs. The narrator responds honestly and says that the Director-General is a criminal, that it's a bloody act. From then on, the narrator is hounded by his former friends and colleagues, ultimately leading to his arrest and a trial that is more theater than anything.
Even when he confesses to the supposed crime and serves his time in prison, he can't escape his action. When he takes a vacation to Rome, people talk about his fleeing the country, possibly even running away to America. Rumors abound about his actions and his motives, which ultimately leads to a second trial, which he is awaiting when the novel ends. Though the trials might make one think of Kafka's short novel, the absurdity here is how people react to the narrator's comment, not the act of injustice (though that, too, is absurd, but not the key absurdity).
Krleža wants to expose the absurdity of the Communist Party of Croatia, from which he was expelled in 1939, a year after this novel's publication. It's not that he doesn't support many of their ideas, as he lays out a clear critique of leaders who don't live up to those ideals in On the Edge of Reason; instead, he opposes their hypocrisy, their oppression of writers and thinkers, their limited view of the role of literature, and their fear of questions and those who think outside of their narrow purview. If one enjoys Eastern European fiction, this novel is a great one to add to your list.
Here are a few quotes, just to show you the type of writing and thinking:
“…one and all they became alarmed at the very thought of the existence of one individual flying his own flag.”
“True, I was rather alone, but loneliness is not proof of not being right.”
“Since we are stuck in this confused, chaotic, and unsettled world and have our own outlooks on life, it is easier to sail with a compass, however cheap it may be, than according to the stars, especially when it is cloudy, as it is in our case.”
As with Dostoevsky's short work, there's not much of a plot here, as it's mainly the narrator explaining how he has found himself in the situation he has, which is isolated and alienated from his society, probably about to return to jail, from which he's recently been released. His crime: he spoke the truth about an important person in society. When the Director-General tells a story about shooting four men who were trespassing on his property (a story that might be more complicated than he originally conveys), he brags about shooting them like dogs. The narrator responds honestly and says that the Director-General is a criminal, that it's a bloody act. From then on, the narrator is hounded by his former friends and colleagues, ultimately leading to his arrest and a trial that is more theater than anything.
Even when he confesses to the supposed crime and serves his time in prison, he can't escape his action. When he takes a vacation to Rome, people talk about his fleeing the country, possibly even running away to America. Rumors abound about his actions and his motives, which ultimately leads to a second trial, which he is awaiting when the novel ends. Though the trials might make one think of Kafka's short novel, the absurdity here is how people react to the narrator's comment, not the act of injustice (though that, too, is absurd, but not the key absurdity).
Krleža wants to expose the absurdity of the Communist Party of Croatia, from which he was expelled in 1939, a year after this novel's publication. It's not that he doesn't support many of their ideas, as he lays out a clear critique of leaders who don't live up to those ideals in On the Edge of Reason; instead, he opposes their hypocrisy, their oppression of writers and thinkers, their limited view of the role of literature, and their fear of questions and those who think outside of their narrow purview. If one enjoys Eastern European fiction, this novel is a great one to add to your list.
Here are a few quotes, just to show you the type of writing and thinking:
“…one and all they became alarmed at the very thought of the existence of one individual flying his own flag.”
“True, I was rather alone, but loneliness is not proof of not being right.”
“Since we are stuck in this confused, chaotic, and unsettled world and have our own outlooks on life, it is easier to sail with a compass, however cheap it may be, than according to the stars, especially when it is cloudy, as it is in our case.”