"Knife," by Vuk Draskovic, createda furor when it was published in 1982, long before the beginning of the Balkan Wars of Succession. The novel was condemned by the Communist Part and subsequently banned. "Knife" is the first of his novels to appear in English. Alija Osmanovic, the protagonist of "Knife," was orphaned during WWII as an infant. He was raised as a Bosnian Muslim and came to believe that Serbs killed his family. When, as a young medical student, he goes in search of the identity of his murdered birth parents, a sense of thwarted justice motivates him, and expresses itself as a burning passion for revenge. Alija seeks out Sikter Effendi, an eccentric and reclusive Muslim cleric, to help him interpret the clues pointing to his identity. Through his mentorship, Alija discovers the truth: that his heritage is Serbian; that he was born not far away but in a neighboring village; and that his adoptive family was guilty of murdering his birth-family. A crisis of identity ensues. Each possible course of action open to him is bad. How is he to go on? Alija's story is counterpointed by Milan Vilenjak's. He has been training all his life to exact revenge from Atif Tanovic, an Ustashi who single-handedly murdered Milan's entire family. But once Milan has the opportunity to end his enemy's life, he recoils, having discovered that Atif is a human being, a man who exists apart from his monsterous acts, a man who is troubled by his bad conscience. Tanovic, an avowed war criminal, is a repulsive villain who is to be prosecuted and punished, but Draskovic persuades us to sympathize with him. Who cannot admire the profound transformation that occurs when Atif argues against war and the slaughter of innocents? He embodies Draskovic's underlying theme: each act of revenge is a suicide.

Knife

Literature & Fiction

Draskovic, Vuk

Literary

Serbian Classics Pr

When Alija Osmanovic, a Bosnian war orphan who is the protagonist of Knife, goes in search of the identity of his murdered birth-parents, a sense of thwarted justice motivates him, and expresses itself as burning passion for revenge. This is summed up by the novel's title.  The opening chapter describes the massacre of a Serbian village by Muslim Ustase on Christmas Day (January 7) of 1942. The sole survivor is a newborn male infant, spared at the last moment and given to a Muslim woman who lost her husband in the raid. The boy is named Alija, and is raised as a Muslim, and later comes to believe that his family was killed by Serbs. Twenty-one years later, Alija, now a medical student in Sarajevo, discovers that the newspapers are interested in his story. An article about him is published in a Sarajevo daily, and he begins receiving mail. Most of it is sympathetic but unhelpful, although he does receive an enigmatic letter which reads: You are certainly not what you are, nevertheless, you are what you are not. Alija seeks out Sikter Effendi, an eccentric and reclusive Muslim cleric, to help him interpret the enigma. Sikter Effendi, an irascible outsider, is, nevertheless, considered to be honest, because he has suffered at the hands of each regime: Ustase as well as Communist. He has responded by developing a fine sense of disgust for the human race, and he steeps himself in history, trying to untangle the threads of misfortune. But when Alija enters the Effendi s life, a transformation occurs. Sikter Effendi finds a spiritual heir. Through Sikter Effendi s mentorship, Alija discovers the truth: that his heritage is Serbian; that he was born not far away but in the neighboring village; and that his adoptive family was guilty of murdering his birth-family. A crisis of identity ensues. Each possible course of action open to him is bad. How is he to go on?

Milo Yelesiyevich

Vuk Draskovic

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Books by Serbian Classics Pr

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Knife

Knife