Whoever in this case was Ivo Andric, and The Bridge over the River Drina
was a great book that had much more than sadness in it, as I recall.
It's been
years since I read it.
Hal
"The true danger is when liberty is nibbled away,
for expedients, and by parts."
--Edmund Burke
Halvard Johnson
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On Apr 26, 2007, at 5:18 PM, Jennifer Compton wrote:
> That Bridge OverThe River Drina book - by whoever - that I simply
> stopped reading when the mother tried to breastfeed her doomed
> chiold immured in the bridge - that is a pretty sad book.
> apparently ex yugo kids had to read it at school
> when they tell me this i always ask - how? how did you read it?
>
> ----Original Message Follows----
> From: Frederick Pollack <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: "Poetryetc: poetry and poetics" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Abrupt Snap - What is the saddest book ever written?
> Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 17:39:59 -0400
>
> Funniest novel I ever read, apart from Tristram Shandy, was Snow
> White, by Donald Barthelme. Runners-up: The Ginger Man, by J. P.
> Donleavy. Chapel Road, by Louis Paul Boon (Flemish); mordantly
> funny, deeply melancholy, sharply critical.
>
> Since we're talking about novels, I recommend in the strongest
> possible terms a short novel from around 1900 by Hjalmar Soderberg
> (umlaut over the o) called Doctor Glas. One of the great classics
> of Swedish literature. Definitely falls into the "sad" category,
> but goes way beyond it. Recently translated and published here,
> with a good intro by Susan Sontag.
>
> Most profoundly sad (and moving) modern novel I know is also
> Swedish - Finno-Swedish: Axel, by Bo Carpelan. Who is also a noted
> poet. Sort of book that, once you've finish it, makes it hard to
> get your life started again.
>
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