How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone

This is a great book. It is also a very heavy one and frequently disorganized. It tells about horrible things that seemingly friendly and neighborly people could do to each other. It is also an emotional testimonial to what preceded and has happened in Bosnian towns during the war in the early 1990s (in this case Visegrad) from the viewpoint of someone who grew up there and witnessed most, and certainly not all, that has been going on. Some of the events he missed while being in refuge in Germany the author deftly describes from testimonies of survivors who told about it and some of it he leaves to readers to guess. The complexity of emotional dilemmas and everyday horrors confronting people is incapacitating, yet they have to carry on. The leitmotif of the book is the river Drina which was eternalized in the same surroundings by Ivo Andric some 40 years before. Ivo Andric was the only Yugoslavian recipient of Noble prize for literature and it was for the book "Bridge over Drina" depicting Visegrad bridge building during Ottoman times. History seems to repeat itself as cohabitance of Christians and Muslims produces same unthinkables all over again. The river Drina seems to provide the focal childhood point of grace, beauty and solace for the author and an almost Begninian "la Vita e Bella" effect even after the realization that his own family member may be implicated in the worst way.The book is easier to follow with some previous knowledge about ethnic names and relationships they dictate. Without that knowledge it may be hard at times to follow and understand what is going on. But, nevertheless, this is a strongly poetic book. Sasa Stanisic is good at visualizing and writes with ease and grace. I enjoyed this book.

My wife and I are posted to the Balkans for one year and have spent time in Bosnia. For this reason, the novel has a special resonance for us. Both of us have read it and admire the humor (one of the funniest I've read) and the craziness of life in war-time. It is unlike anything you will read this year. Give it, and the author, a chance.

This special novel was written in a very unusual style. It was like being in the mind of a young boy as he watchs his world unfold in front of him. The descriptions are all on target with their language and reasoning of what may or may not be going on in the moment. Wonderful once you can think like the narrorator..

Didn't enjoy. Too much fantasy? Didn't have the patience. Wanted more immediate character development and info about the 90s war.

thank you

There's something to be said for the linear story, a tale that has a clear beginning, middle, and end, and progesses from one to the next with certainty. However, some stories don't fit into the linear format; rather, they can be understood only in circular form. Sasa Stanisic's "How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone" is of the latter variety. It's only in its disorganization that its true meaning can be found.The book revolves around Aleksandar Krsmanovic, a young boy living in Visegrad, Yugoslavia. He is close to his grandfather, Slavko, and delights in all the things that engage a young child - being with friends, playing soccer, fishing, enjyoing stories. After his grandfather dies of a heart attack, he promises that he will continue Slavko's storytelling. Unfortunately, Aleksandar's stories quickly go from the innocence of childhood to the reality of war that soon strikes Visegrad, a town caught up in the Yugoslav civil war.However, this book isn't about any particular battle. It's not about soldiers or troops or which side stood for what. Rather, it's the story of one child, caught up in a world he doesn't understand. Told from Aleksandar's viewpoint as a young man ten years after Slavko's death, it's an attempt to comprehend what happened to the town he called home, the people he called friends. It's his trying to make sense of what it means when neighbor turns against neighbor, family member against family member. It's about trying to reconcile the past with the present, the world as it was and the world as it is now.Throughout the book, we are drawn into Aleksandar's storytelling, as he reflects on the distant past, the war, and the present. The novel often changes from one time period to the next without warning, which initially irked me. But when you accept that this isn't a linear tale, it's okay. In some ways, it reminded me of Markus Zusak's "The Book Thief" in its abstract-ness, but the World War II work has much more of a concrete tale than this one. "How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone" is more about impressions, feelings, emotions, than it is about a series of specific events. It's not the type of book I imagined liking, but it's one I'm so glad I read.

This is the fictional story of a boy, Aleksander, growing up in Visegrad in Bosnia as the war begins in 1992. He and his family escape the violence to live in Germany and 10 years later Aleksander returns to see what has changed, find people from his past and capture his childhood memories. The story is told in an unusual way with flashbacks and imagination. As the story begins, Aleksander's beloved Grandpa dies suddenly and through the book there are references to him and to other characters in the town. As a child it is hard for Aleksander to make sense of the changes in his life as the "ethnic cleansing" begins in his town and he learns that your name determines whether you survive or not. Based around real events, the author has written in a beautiful and innovative manner, (sometimes challenging - but stick with it!), whimsical at times, as the reader understands better than Aleksander (as a child) what is happening. When he returns as an adult, he finds change but his love for his town and the River Drina on which it stands, remains constant.

Amusing anecdotes about life a few years ago, but I found the style of writing became tedious after a while. Maybe something is lost in translation.

Gift

This is a beautifully written empathetic and humorous depiction of the destruction of people's lives in the former Yugoslavia through Western intervention.

Me interesaba saber una opinión de mi primera línea sobre el conflicto de BosniaEs interesante en parte, habla de esa guerra entre vecinos y como lo ve un niñoPor el contrario lo complica con multitud de personajes, poco trabajados, que vienen y van perdiéndose la ilación, al final aburrido y costaba acabarlo