JFDI BOOK NO. 3 CHRONICLE IN STONE Ismail Kadare

CHRONICLE IN STONE by Ismail Kadare

Looks like it's my turn to pick the book and I'm going with CHRONICLE IN STONE by Ismail Kadare.  Until a month ago I had never heard of the author or any of his works, but I found out about him via a recent Independent review of a novel he has just published.  Turns out he has been a leading literary figure in his home country of Albania since his first book was published in 1963 and has been highly regarded in France for at least two decades.  It appears, though, that he has only recently been translated into English, as CHRONICLE IN STONE was written in 1971 but only translated into English in 2007.

Anyway, for a long time I've been curious about Albania, a country so contrarian even the Soviets didn't want it as a satellite, especially after I saw Randy Newman in concert in 1975 and he said that the song "Wedding in Cherokee County," which appeared on the Southern (US)-themed album GOOD OLD BOYS, was really about Albania. The song is hilarious. Albania is not. 

Date for the next JFDI con-fab is Wednesday 12 December.  Mike is going to arrange the venue.  'Til then... Tom.


Chosen by Tom Wells

1491 MEETING NOTE

1491 by Charles C Mann  (see earlier post for Alistair's written review).

We met at La Bodega Negra, a very good (if you can find it) Mexican Cafe/Restaurant which benefits from two entrances (benefits if you are trying to hide from somebody, that is). But I digress.

In attendance were Sergio, Eric, Tom, Mike, and Joe (eventually) and a few Margaritas and cervezas.

The consensus on the book after a lively two hour discussion was summed up by Mike: Don't believe the Man.

However, after you admit you don't believe the Man (ie. the purveyors of American history as we have been taught in schools), but that you do believe the Mann (the author's name) then he could have said what he had to say in about 100 pages less. We applauded his scholarship, and his writing, especially in the first part of the book when his revelations were fresh, but after a while it lacked narrative (Tom's comment) and was an effort to plough through (acknowledged by all). A book with 100 pages of notes appears more to be like a thesis.

So we learned a lot about a history which is at best asymmetrically taught by our Eurocentric educational system, namely that disease, not military prowess, brought an end to a rich Meso-american culture(s); that pigs are a pretty good weapon; that incest, mummification, and ritual sacrifices are not necessarily a recipe for long term survival, that (as an aside)carbon dating is fascinating and very clever; and that we certainly should maybe think twice before accepting blindly the history as written only by the victors.

One style point. We prefer Kindle books for notation.

Our next book will be suggested by Tom. It is a novel, our first fiction book for consideration. It is about Albania, and according to him, is reminiscent of Kafka. Details to follow.

OTHER COMMENTS ARE V.WELCOME.

FIELD TRIP REPORT-RUSHDIE SPEAKS

The most important things in a person's life are decided by others. So said Salman Rushdie before a packed theatre at UCL. The evening was to hear him discuss his book about living on the run for 12 years. The conclusion after a solid 1 1/2 hours was that far from being a hunted (haunted) man, he is a wry observer of what happens when you get on the wrong side of some stranger's decisions, in his case two Indian Muslim politicians trying to boost their election chances by gratuitously criticising someone else's words, and a dying Ayatollah. At least that is what Salman told us.

Having been informed by a colleague that the ante on the fatwa on Salman's life had been upped the previous week, it was with no small amount of concern that we approached the event after work, making nervous jokes about how we might be walking into an ambush.

No such concern. If anything, the atmosphere was too relaxed. Security? Chris's bike bag had sharp tools and a gas canister. No prob. Beer in the theatre? No prob. Racial profiling? You must be kidding.  

It was nonetheless a bravura performance, variously funny, perceptive, witty, pensive, and more-ish. Much too short a time, even with questions added on. The highlight for me was the story he told of one of his Alpha Squad minders, a man by the name of Fat Jack. While shepherding Salman and his son to a Fun Fair, he overheard Salman's son urging his father to win the biggest prize at the shooting gallery. 'Daddy, I want that one', pointing to the stuffed animal at the top, the one requiring all of the targets to be hit.  Fat Jack intervened. 'What's the problem, Mr. R?' Taking a quick look at the 'adjusted' sights on the air rifle, he slapped down his money, and Bam Bam Bam Bam Bam, they all fell in succession. 'There you are. Sorted.' 

Woebetide any potential assassin.

Made me resolve to read what all the fuss was about (yes, I for one was woefully unprepared, having read NONE of his works).

Which is, after all, the purpose of JFDI. To tread where you haven't before.

And Tom, no mean wry observer of life himself, came up with a slogan for JFDI apropos of any misplaced fear.

NO TREPIDATION.  J.F.D.I.