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Title: Dictionary of the Khazars (M)
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Manufacturer: Vintage
List Price: $16.00
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| Dictionary of the Khazars (M) by Vintage Pavic is my favorite | I read this book my first year of college in Serbian language (Pavic's native language)and I was amazed. I re-read it several times and every time it supprised me again. Some details from the book, like the location of the certain grave near Sarajevo, do exist. Several of my friends confirmed it. The way Pavic and his wife write all of their books is very interesting. Sometimes one can not separate facts from the fiction.
I think that anyone with the open mind should read this, even people that do not fancy fiction. Honestly, it is Milorad's best book, and I read them all. | | Dictionary of the Khazars (M) by Vintage A pleasant effort to read: a masterpiece of magickal literature | A pleasant effort to read: a masterpiece of magickal literature
Milorad Pavic, born 1929 in Belgrade, is a noted Serbian poet, prose writer, translator, and historian of literature. "Dictionary of the Khazars: A Lexicon Novel" is his first novel, published in 1988. Originally written in Serbian, the novel has been translated into many languages, including English.
The novel is in the form of three small encyclopedic dictionaries, each compiled from either Christian, Jewish or Moslem sources. The three sections (Christian, Moslem and Jewish) are separated, yet intermingled due to cross references (many of them contradictory). They are color-coded, yet this only provides one aspect of categorization. Each section is set up like an encyclopedia in its own right, with the unifying figure of Princess Ateh "presiding" throughout the book.
Owing to its lexicon format, the novel may be read in any number of ways, rather than simply front to back. Pavic intentionally challenges his readers to shun passivity in reading and become active participants in the novel as they themselves compose the story from often conflicting fragments.
As the author writes (in his introduction to the English translation):
"No chronology will be observed here, nor is one necessary. Hence each reader will put together the book for himself, as in a game of dominoes or cards, and, as with a mirror, he will get out of this dictionary as much as he puts into it, for you...cannot get more out of the truth than what you put into it."
Dictionary of the Khazars ("DOTK") offers a prime example of what is known as ergodic literature (the term is derived from the Greek 'ergon,' meaning "work", and 'hodos,' "path") a literature that requires a "non-trivial effort" to traverse the text. This effort must consist of more than simply reading by moving one's eyes along lines of text, turning pages and mentally interpreting what one reads.
The book comes in two different editions, one "Male" and one "Female", which differ only in seventeen lines of one critical paragraph.
As might be expected, there is no obvious plot in the usual sense, but the book's central theme (the "Khazar Polemic," i.e., the mass religious conversion of the Khazar people) is based on an actual historical event generally dated to the turn of the 8th and 9th centuries. Although DOTK asserts that both the indigenous faith of the Khazars and which of the three Abrahamic faiths they converted to remain unknown, it is certain that the Khazar royalty and nobility converted to Judaism along with a portion of the general population. Pavic, however, is not concerned about the historicity of his depiction of the Khazars, but in the events and processes that led to a melding of cultures of the Balkans, the states of Man and God and their relationships to each other, and in formulating the prospect of peculiar, surreal connections that an informed reader can potentially make between multiple books.
Pavic often veers into his own style of playful fantasy: most (but not all) of the characters and events described in the novel are entirely fictional, as is much of the culture ascribed to the Khazars in the book, which bears little resemblance to any literary or archeological evidence. One critic has called DOTK "a sort of metafictional false document," as the people and events in the novel are presented as factual. Some observers have suggested the novel symbolically addresses the dissolution of Yugoslavia, which at the time DOTK was written had yet to happen, but is nonetheless a distinct possibility.
This book, lacking a plot, is without any single or simple way to read it. I have re-read it several times, and on each reading the experience is a different one. Like skimming through a dictionary or encyclopedia, this book beckons you to read its parts in no particular order or in any order you choose.
"DOTK" is sure to intrigue any sagacious reader; and while the whimsical nature of the book may seem superficial at first, the reader is inexorably drawn deeper into the mystery of "What is this all about?"
Reading "DOTK" opens the door to a magickal world, one well worth visiting and re-visiting. I strongly recommend the book to readers whose tastes are consonant with its themes. | | Dictionary of the Khazars (M) by Vintage one of the best books from east europe ever | | This is truly one of the best books ever about eastern European history. It has a unique style. It's postmodern book and it can be best described as hyperlinked dictionary or encyclopedia. You should read it as a dictionary (you will find reading guide at the beginning) Most of the book is not actually about Khasars but about history and interconnected stories of different nations from Eastern Europe. It is anti nationalism and against all evils that come from religious wars. It's unique style will be problem for some people and it also require some history background. However everyone should read it. | | Dictionary of the Khazars (M) by Vintage No Substance And Little Style | | An unreadable gimmick. Has little to do with the Kingdom of Khazar, a nation in Medieval Russia in which the entire population converted to Judaism. The fact that the authors needed to include a stunt such as releasing "male and female" versions of the book (in which the difference lies in one single word being changed in the editions) should say a lot about the substance of this work. | | Dictionary of the Khazars (M) by Vintage no thanks | | I am a fan of both Borges and Calvino, yet I cannot find a reason to attach either of their names to this surprisingly bad piece of work. This book is a compilation of one inane story after another, progressively getting less interesting no matter where you begin. It tells three stories of the Khazar polemic (one from the point of view of each of the major religions) along with the history of the actual book. All three versions of the story are essentially the same boring tale replete with overwraught metaphors and uninspiring characters. In the introduction (the most interesting part of the book) the author advises the reader to skip around using the index. I would advise skipping the book altogether. | | Dictionary of the Khazars (M) by Vintage Product Description | | A national bestseller, Dictionary of the Khazars was cited by The New York Times Book Review as one of the best books of the year. Written in two versions, male and female (both available in Vintage International), which are identical save for seventeen crucial lines, Dictionary is the imaginary book of knowledge of the Khazars, a people who flourished somewhere beyond Transylvania between the seventh and ninth centuries. Eschewing conventional narrative and plot, this lexicon novel combines the dictionaries of the world's three major religions with entries that leap between past and future, featuring three unruly wise men, a book printed in poison ink, suicide by mirrors, a chimerical princess, a sect of priests who can infiltrate one's dreams, romances between the living and the dead, and much more. |
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