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David Albahari Biography

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“Mogu da pokažem to mesto na kojem je stajao. Stan se ubrzo ispunio ljudima: žene su spremale u kuhinji, muškarci pili u trpezariji. Ništa nije trebalo govoriti: svi su već sve znali. Tada je neko zazvonio, a kada sam otvorio, devojka pred vratima upitala me je da li želim da osiguram život. Imala je svetlu kosu i svetle oči; zapazio sam i oblinu kolena. Odmahnuo sam glavom i zatvorio vrata. Anđeli uvek dolaze prekasno.”

SilenceDeath And DyingRemembranceAngelsLife Insurance
Book:Cink
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“One speaks the languages one speaks and everyone will always speak the language they speak, and the language of the victors will always be on top, and so it goes. Besides, it would be funny if the victor were to speak the language of the loser, just as it was entirely natural for the loser to speak the language of the victor. But what about when the victor and loser speak the same language? What then?... 'Then quick, think up a new language. That, at least, is easy!”

WarEthnicity
Book:Checkpoint
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“Ultimately, said the colonel, the checkpoint is a two-way street, somebody is always crossing from one side to the other, meaning, added the colonel, that there would always be work for those charged with its maintenance. But, the commander dared interject, does that mean our position in the conflict will change, or that we'll turn our backs on old alliances and form new ones? The colonel's face fell, and he said the commander couldn't have heard any such thing from him. He, meaning the colonel, had merely served as a bearer of tidings, a courier, a screw in an intricate mechanism, no more. If the colonel was nothing but a screw, thought the commander, then what could he--meaning the commander--say for himself? He wasn't a screw or even a tack, smaller yet, or as thin as a straight pin...”

War
Book:Checkpoint
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“And while he mused over the last few weeks, the thought kept bothering him that, without his knowledge, of course, the whole company had been part of a cruel experiment, and they were sacrificed so insights on the structure of warfare could be gathered, which, in other words, meant that no one was to blame for what happened to the soldiers and commander... an army bureaucrat had had the bright idea that the time was ripe for a study of the impact on soldiers of a sudden shift in the enemy's standing (in other words, when friend becomes foe, or vice versa). What happened presumed not a reality-based result--the outcome of earlier events in this same reality--but instead a faux reality, .a strategy game like Battleship...”

WarYugoslavia
Book:Checkpoint
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“Neke reči nikada dobro ne naučimo, pomislio sam, i ma koliko nas dobronamerno upozoravali, nikada ne razumemo njihovo pravo značenje. Nikada, na primer, nisam bio siguran da stvarno razumem daljinu. Ranije sam mislio da je „daljina" samo druga reč za „putovanje", posle sam shvatio da se putuje iznutra, u sebi, i da spoljašnji prostor nema nikakve veze s tim. Jedno vreme nisam verovao u daljinu, kao što neki ljudi ne veruju u boga; ništa me nije moglo ubediti. Potom sam „daljinu" počeo da zamišljam kao „bekstvo", a pošto sam o „bekstvu" uvek mislio kao o „utočištu", „daljina" se pretvorila u neku vrstu „utočišta", koje sam, s druge strane, uvek zamenjivao rečju „gost", ali ne u smislu „radost u kući", nego u smislu „tuđinac" ili, još bolje, „čovek pod nepoznatim krovom". To me je zbunjivalo, ta povezanost krova sa daljinom, krova koji bi trebalo pre svega da označava blizinu, zaštitu, prisnost, san. Možda postoji krov koji otkriva, pomislio sam, možda se njihova svrha ne iscrpljuje uvek u pokrivanju i bdenju? Nisam znao da li na to može da se odgovori, kao što nisam znao kako sam „daljinu" počeo da povezujem sa „samoćom" a „samoću" sa dolaskom u ovo mesto.”

PutovanjeSamoćaBijegDaljina
Book:Snow Man
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