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The Book of Revenge: A Blues for Yugoslavia

by Dragan Todorovic

Though it has never really gone away, the once-fusty memoir has recently enjoyed both a revival and a refreshing in the shape of poignant dispatches from troubled lands and poppy chronicles of Western life by the likes of the two Davids – Sedaris and Eggers.

The memoir may be Canadian publishing’s next big saviour, too, though with a de-emphasis on postmodern flourishes and a tightened focus on the immigrant experience. (This is Canada, after all.) If the predictions come true, then Dragan Todorovic’s new memoir of prewar Yugoslavia may be taken as a sign of things to come, though it’s hard to know exactly what this interesting-yet-uncertain book might portend.

Though The Book of Revenge is indeed a memoir, it also has many of the qualities of another old-fashioned genre: the portrait of the young artist. Todorovic, who was born in the Serbian town of Kragujevac in 1958, begins with his childhood in Tito’s Yugoslavia, during a quiet phase when the author’s main activity was the recital of ribald poems to neighbours in exchange for free chocolates. (Todorovic is a dirty capitalist at heart, apparently.) He then moves, in accordance with the formula, through his years as a precocious student and budding poet, and thence to the beginning of his life as a respected man of letters. Finally, we get a recap of Todorovic’s adulthood, up to and including 1995, the year in which the author emigrated to Canada. The focus stays on the personal – on Todorovic’s friendships, love affairs, and family relationships – but as the story progresses, we begin to catch signs of the coming Yugoslav catastrophe.

The book’s tone is familiar, rooted in the Eastern European ironic tradition. The mood is on the one hand nostalgic – Todorovic obviously misses his hometown, his farcical school trips to famous Serbian battlefields, and his assorted ex-girlfriends. At the same time, the author acknowledges with clear-eyed bitterness the material poverty and the frustrations of life in the Communist panopticon. Todorovic uses abundant humour to underscore both moods.

The author’s personal focus yields several powerful scenes. His descriptions of his compulsory military service and life as an up-and-coming intellectual are particularly good. But the book’s structure is haphazard, and some Western readers may feel short-changed in other areas as well. Todorovic presents little in the way of background on Yugoslav society or culture, and although he was an active early critic of the Milosevic regime (and was harassed and fired from jobs as a consequence), he treats this part of his life briefly, almost reluctantly.

The Book of Revenge has many strong moments, which is especially impressive when one considers that it’s the work of an author who was forced to start over from scratch, in a new language, right at the peak of his career. If and when the big boom in Canadian memoirs materializes, however, this work – despite its author’s talent and his eventful life – might seem more a footnote than a benchmark.

 

Reviewer: Nicholas Dinka

Publisher: Random House Canada

DETAILS

Price: $34.95

Page Count: 400 pp

Format: Cloth

ISBN: 0-679-31396-6

Released: March

Issue Date: 2006-1

Categories: Memoir & Biography