Mocking Desire (Writings From An Unbound Europe)

Gregor Gradnik, a Slovenian writer, enters the sensual and seething life of New Orleans to teach a creative writing class at a university. In a style both serious and ironic, Jancar observes and comments on the two cultures, illuminating both American and Central European forms of self-obsession. Gregor at first identifies himself as only an observer, yet seductive New Orleans soon draws him into a series of increasingly bizarre erotic, professional, and social relationships. Fracturing and realigning the cultural, psychological, and perceptual boundaries by which Gregor believes he knows the world and his place in it, Jancar reveals a deepening loss of control over our collective knowledge of the divisions between life and art, reality and dream, East and West, man and woman, naivete and cynicism, transcendence and perdition.

Literature & Fiction

Jančar, Drago

Contemporary

Northwestern University Press

The first novel by the preeminent Slovenian author Drago Jancar to be published in English, Mocking Desire is a brilliant exploration of conflicting states of experience and comprehension. Gregor Gradnik, a Slovenian writer, enters the sensual and seething life of New Orleans to teach a creative writing class at a university. Gregor at first acts as only an observer, yet seductive New Orleans soon draws him into a series of bizarre erotic, professional, and social relationships. A profound and entertaining work, Mocking Desire provides the English-speaking world with the perfect introduction to one of Eastern Europe's leading writers.

Northern Lights (Writings From An Unbound Europe)

Josef Erdman arrives in Maribor, Slovenia, on the eve of World War II. Though he claims to be a salesman, it soon becomes apparent that Josef has no purpose in the town--and that a newcomer can expect nothing but distrust from the townspeople. Against this backdrop he witnesses the fiery shimmer of the aurora borealis and imagines the town set aflame--an omen of the coming war.

Josef Erdman arrives in Maribor, Slovenia, on the eve of World War II. Though he claims to be a salesman, it soon becomes apparent that Josef has no purpose in the town--and that a newcomer can expect nothing but distrust from the townspeople. Against this backdrop he witnesses the fiery shimmer of the aurora borealis and imagines the town set aflame--an omen of the coming war.

Literary

These newly collected short stories reveal a master at the top of his game. Drago Jancar possesses an acute understanding of the human psyche, enabling his stories to resonate beyond their particular milieu. This collection features seven pieces, drawn from four different collections, that together present the struggle of individuals against powerful forces. The characters try to make sense of a world of shifting borders and changing names that make the idea of a "homeland"—either literal or figurative—a dream rather than a reality.

The Prophecy and Other Stories (Writings From An Unbound Europe)

Short Stories & Anthologies

The finest short stories of Slovenia's most prominent author. A young man learns English in Trieste in 1914 from James Joyce, who repeatedly describes an oil lamp. Years later, in 1941, this same man must flee his country, and he becomes the Slovenian voice of British radio. On his return to Yugoslavia, he falls foul of the new communist authorities. The characters who populate the stories of Drago Jancar stand at the periphery of tragic histories; they see the ground open under their feet yet remain leaning above the pit. Drago Jancar has been described as ""the seismologist of a chaotic history"". In this exceptional collection Brandon introduces the vision of the leading Slovenian writer of his generation.

Joyce's Pupil

Brandon Books

I Saw Her That Night, a love story in time of war, is a novel about a few years in the life and mysterious disappearance of Veronika Zarnik, a young bourgeois woman from Ljubljana, sucked into the whirlwind of a turbulent period in history. We follow her story from the perspective of five different characters, who also talk about themselves, as well as the troubled Slovenian times before and during World War II; times that swallowed, like a Moloch, not only the people of various beliefs involved in historical events, but also those who lived on the fringes of tumultuous events, which they did not even fully comprehend―they only wanted to live. But “only” to live was an illusion: it was a time when, even under the seemingly safe and idyllic shelter of a manor house in Slovenia, it was impossible to avoid the rushing train of violence. Drago Jančar won both the Best Foreign Book Prize (Prix du meilleur livre etranger) and The Kresnik Award for I Saw Her That Night. Often described as "the seismologist of a chaotic history," the celebrated Slovenian novelist has received a number of other honors, including the European Prize for Literature (Prix Européen de Littérature).

I Saw Her That Night (Slovenian Literature)

Dalkey Archive Press

A diary recounting four decades' worth of sexual exploits, the memoir of a mental institution attendant, and a familiar-looking bicycle dredged out of a river--the discovery of these artifacts sends an archivist on an obsessive quest to discover their owners' identities and fates. Shifting between Slovenia's postcommunist present and its wartime occupation by the Axis, "The Tree with No Name" might well be Drago Jancar's masterpiece: a compelling and universally significant story of an individual confronting the constraints on truth set by his--and every--culture.

The Tree with No Name (Slovenian Literature)

A novel by the Slovenian writer Drago Jančar.

And Love Itself (Slovenian Literature)

Et l'amour aussi a besoin de repos

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Books by Jančar, Drago

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jančar, Drago. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Mocking Desire (Writings From An Unbound Europe)

Mocking Desire (Writings From An Unbound Europe)

Northern Lights (Writings From An Unbound Europe)

Northern Lights (Writings From An Unbound Europe)

The Prophecy and Other Stories (Writings From An Unbound Europe)

Joyce's Pupil

I Saw Her That Night (Slovenian Literature)

The Tree with No Name (Slovenian Literature)

And Love Itself (Slovenian Literature)

Et l'amour aussi a besoin de repos