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Bolla
Bolla: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
8 posts | 11 read | 3 to read
From the author of Crossing--a National Book Award finalist--comes a dazzling tale full of fury, tenderness, longing, and lust. April 1995. Arsim is a twenty-two-year-old, recently-married student at the University of Pristina, keeping his head down to gain a university degree in a time and place deeply hostile to Albanians. In a caf he meets a young man named Milos, a Serb. Before the day is out, everything has changed for both of them, and within a week two milestones erupt in Arsim's married life: his wife announces her first pregnancy, and he begins a life in secret. After these febrile beginnings, Arsim and Milos's unlikely affair is derailed by the outbreak of war, which sends Arsim's fledgling family abroad and the timid Milos spiraling down a dark path. Years later, deported back to Pristina after a spell in prison, Arsim, alone and hopeless, finds himself in a broken reality that completely questions his past. Entwined with their story is a recreated legend of a demonic serpent, Bolla: an unearthly tale that gives Arsim and Milos a language through which to reflect what they once had. With luminous prose and a delicate eye, Statovci delivers a relentless novel of desire, destruction, intimacy, and the different fronts of war.
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review
Suet624
Bolla: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Panpan

I‘ve read many a book that is grim & have a capacity to appreciate good writing that moves you to despair. I‘ve never read one that made me question whether reading books was something I needed to stop doing. I‘ve debated how to rate this - the story is certainly realistic and the writing kept me reading. Ultimately, I‘m panning it because it requires lots of crime tape around it. (Caution, caution, this will mess you up & think life is hopeless.)

AmyG Yikes. 😬 11mo
Suet624 @AmyG yeah. 11mo
sarahbarnes I‘d had this one on my list and do love a heavy read, but this sounds like it may be too much even for me. 11mo
See All 7 Comments
Suet624 @sarahbarnes the other reviewers seemed to recommend it and were accurate in saying it was hopeless and sad. Maybe it was timing for me, but A Little Life has nothing on this book. This book is a bully. (That last line just popped in my head and I thought, “yup, that‘s so true….) 11mo
sarahbarnes Oof. It took me months to get over A Little Life. A bully - what a great description that I‘m going to keep in my pocket for future use. 11mo
LeeRHarry This was so so heavy - had to finish it for a thing but wouldn‘t recommend it. 11mo
CBee Had to come and check your review - worse than A Little Life? No thank you 🫢😳 11mo
49 likes7 comments
review
LaraReads
Bolla: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Pickpick

I don‘t know if I even have words to describe this one. It sickened me, broke my heart, and is generally overall hopeless. Arsim is one of the most unredeemable characters I‘ve ever read. The story of how he meets, falls in love, and cares for Milos starts so promising. But he is married, has a child on the way, and is Albanian and Milos is a Serb. The war will tear them apart, but they do that on their own. Homophobia, war, ⬇️⬇️

LaraReads and self-loathing lay ahead. The story is intertwined with the Albanian folklore of the Bolla, a demonic serpentine dragon who is only free to roam the world one day a year, when it will devour anyone in its path. And it is what these two men become. 13mo
LaraReads Arsim in the way that he destroys anyone and everyone who has ever cared for him, and Milos in the way that Arsim and his war experiences break his soul and lock him away in his own mind. It is a devastating story that breaks everything in me. 13mo
See All 11 Comments
LeeRHarry I read this one last year - ultimately the sick feeling I had throughout made me struggle to finish it. 13mo
LaraReads @LeeRHarry it was a complete struggle! I alternated listening & reading, and the narrator for Milos broke my heart. The narrator for Arsim made me want to throw up. 13mo
LaraReads @LeeRHarry I stuck with it for the importance of a book that talks about how homophobia and war destroy so much, but it was very tough. 13mo
Librarybelle Great review! 13mo
BarbaraBB What a terrific review 13mo
Cinfhen Sounds really rough 😥 13mo
TheAromaofBooks Great progress! 13mo
28 likes11 comments
review
Abailliekaras
Bolla: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Pickpick

This was excellent. The story of Arden and Milos is beautifully told with clean writing (well translated) & despite being unsentimental it‘s heartbreaking seeing their lives unravel under the pressure of war & repression. The occasional fable extracts add another layer of depth. The tension builds as you see a character losing his mind and there is a bleak undercurrent but it doesn‘t feel heavy. Great sense of place in Kosovo.

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Ellen_C
Bolla: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Pickpick

Disturbing but excellent novel set in the Kosovo War. Arsim is Albanian, Milos a Serb. Their affair unfolds against the backdrop of impending war. These deeply flawed characters embody the Albanian tale of the Bolla, a serpent demon. TW: genocide, rape, domestic abuse. https://cannonballread.com/2022/07/bolla-a-novel-elcicco/

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Simona
Bolla: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Pickpick

In the forefront is a love story, forbidden in every way - love between two men, one Serb, another is a married Albanian from Kosovo … and in the background are nationalistic friction that escalate into war. What this book makes a very good is calm, simple prose in the contrast to the very deep, unsettling characterisation of the main protagonist who is trapped in life, and a sensitive and atmospheric demonstration of life in Kosovo.

BarbaraBB This sounds very good. 2y
Simona @BarbaraBB It is a very good book, but I‘m afraid that if the readers doesn‘t knows about historical tensions between Serbia and Kosovo and how ‘normal‘ patriarchy is/was, than that components in the storyline are lost somehow … 2y
BarbaraBB I understand. Do you think I‘d get it? I learned quite a bit about those countries during the war but am not sure if it‘ll be enough? 2y
Simona @BarbaraBB This conflict has a very long beard and a great deal of ugly and cruel stories, but I think that you‘ll see beyond unpleasant, unlikeable main character. 2y
BarbaraBB Thank you for explaining. I will go and see if I can find a cheap copy or a library one! 2y
46 likes5 comments
blurb
Simona
Bolla: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Lazy weekend is the perfect weekend - reading and snacking (freestyle coated strawberries). My #weekendreading is currently reading two books, and I like both of them.

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Simona
Bolla: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Just started reading this book … #FirstLineFridays

review
Sarahreadstoomuch
Bolla: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Pickpick

I‘d be hard pressed to find a character that made me feel more disgusted by who he is than Arsim. He so selfish and cruel; heartless. This is his story, from the time just before Serbs & Albanians went to war in Kosovo. Newly married, wife pregnant (unplanned) & he has fallen in love with a man. The way he treats his wife, then his lover, is just terrible. Then we see after the war…. Ugh. The writing (and audio) is so good it pissed me off