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Danilo Kiš Books

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Garden, Ashes

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Rani jadi

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Hourglass

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“At first my father's job was clearing ruins. He had filed a sharp protest, however, justifying his disability over ten pages of closely spaced handwriting, buttressed by statements from witnesses and discharge papers from clinics for nervous diseases. His arguments were irrefutable, particularly if we take into consideration--aside from the actual facts--his polemical tone and his brilliant style. 'I hereby state for the attention of the esteemed Commissarist,' he wrote in his appeal, 'in connection with Item A-2, in which I took the liberty of citing the causes of my total incapacity and proving--if in a very sensible fashion--my abnormality as well as my complete mental and physical worthlessness, the worthlessness of a neurotic and alcoholic incapable of taking care of his family or himself, I hereby state, therefore, with a view to the most specific information possible on this matter, although each and every one of the aforementioned matters is in itself a physical amputation, I am stating that I am also flat-footed, a certificate to which effect I am appending from the draft board at Zalaegerszeg, by which I am exempt from military service by virtue of 100 percent flat-footedness. . .”

WorkProtestDisabilityFlat Feet
Book:Garden, Ashes
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“But my father had already removed his hand from his pocket, and everyone could see the scrap of newspaper into which he proceeded to blow his nose. Any kind of excitement provoked powerful disturbances in his metabolism and ample secretions of fluids. If he got out of that scramble alive, the first thing he would do would be to go behind a bush and urinate, breaking wind vigorously, I was sure of that.”

FathersDisturbancesFluids
Book:Garden, Ashes
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“S jeseni, kad počnu vetrovi, lišće divljeg kestena pada strmoglavce, s peteljkom naniže. Onda se čuje zvuk: kao da je ptica udarila kljunom o zemlju. A divlji kesten pada i bez najmanjeg vetra, sam od sebe, kao što padaju zvezde - vrtoglavo. Onda udari o tle s tupim krikom. Ne rađa se kao ptica iz jajeta, postepeno, nego se odjednom rasprsne dlakava ljuštura, iznutra beličastoplava, a iz nije iskaču vragolasti, tamni melezi, zacakljenih obraza, kao jagodice nasmejanog crnca. U nekoj se mahuni nalaze blizanci; ipak bi ih ljudi mogli razlikovati: jedan ima na čelu belegu, kao konj. Majka će, dakle, uvek moći da ih da ga prepozna - po zvezdi na čelu.”

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Book:Rani jadi
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“The local Red Cross chapter volunteered to publish his book. It came out in a deluxe, gold-embossed, Japanese-paper edition to remind the reader of human artistry, which can be a refuge from evil and a source of new, platonic stirrings. One copy was reserved for His Imperial Majesty Nicholas II. (The Tsar fairly devoured mystical works, believing that hell could be avoided by a combination of education and deceit.) "The Book of Kings and Fools," p. 136.”

ArtHistoryRussiaNationalismConspiracyJews And Judaism In Europe
Book:The Encyclopedia of the Dead
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