Zoli (HORS COLLECTION) (French Edition)

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Random House

The very biggest difference is that in real life Papsuza was interned in a mental institution and spent the end of her life, the last 34 years, all alone. McCann has changed that ending view spoiler [and has her marry a wonderful Italian man with whom she has a daughter hide spoiler ].

I am glad he changed it. This is not a book about one woman. It is about Eastern European Romani people and it is a book that poses philosophical questions. In the lines of the book you will find the statement: Life is a constant struggle to understand, and so is the book. This is a central theme. Listen to what is said about Henri: But then humor is thrown in: I say that river is life. You may interpret this differently. In any case the writing is pure poetry — albeit free verse and unrhymed. Zoli speaks of gullible non-Romani: They will lick the tears and sugar and make of them a paste called sympathy.

Then I was guilty of thinking they would never happen again. Now I wait and make no judgment. You ask me what I love Now I must mention what has bothered me. When I was stuck in the mode of trying to learn about the life of Papsuza, I was extremely annoyed about the confusion and lack of clear facts concerning the transition from the Fascist to Communist powers in Slovakia.

I thought the sentences were not clear. I wanted more dates and clear facts. I thought I would not understand history! But the message of how the Romani people suffered and how their lives were lived does become clear without excessive dates and precise historical facts. You do get some. If you want more, look at this link: Look at her photo.

Another complaint I had was how the narration switched from third person to first and back and forth. Zoli is spoken of in third person and also in the first person. I very much preferred when she spoke in the first person. I disliked when I read that she did that and she did this, when I wanted to get inside her head. Later, when she does speak in first person, that the narrator of the audiobook Nigel Carrington was a man, was disturbing.

This really threw me off I panicked and thought: This is some man! Oh gosh, I am totally lost. There is a beginning section by a journalist that is further confusing. You do end up understanding. Originally I thought there was a conflict between the theme of the book and the writing style. But then when I got over my need to have full control and understanding of every sentence, when I let myself enjoy the words and philosophical questions, when I stopped demanding that I must learn some historical facts, that is when I realized I was totally enjoying myself.

And I did learn a lot about Romani culture and suffering. I do highly recommend this book. The difficulty was choosing. This or Dancer or another?

About ZoLi

I might be annoyed by the mixture of fact and fiction. View all 6 comments. What would possess a white Irish male writer to write a novel about a Romani woman from s Czechoslovakia? Darned if I know, but this is a rich tale of Romani life, racism, literary awakening-cum-appropriation, and most of all human grit. Colum McCann did tons of research, but more importantly he has shaped his protagonist, Zoli, with trademark sensitivity and masterful prose.

After her parents and several other members of their Romani caravan were murdered by the secret police in fascist Czec What would possess a white Irish male writer to write a novel about a Romani woman from s Czechoslovakia? After her parents and several other members of their Romani caravan were murdered by the secret police in fascist Czechoslovakia, young Zoli is cared for by her grandfather; he joins them up to another caravan and sends her to school, despite literacy being a big taboo in the culture.

The relationship between Zoli and her granddad is as endearing as all get-out: Thereafter, "Go ahead, horse, and shit" was their private joke, a way of protesting, of reclaiming their dignity in a world that despised them. The grandfather's bequest of literacy is double-edged. Zoli not only sings the old Roma songs, but begins composing her own: I dunked them in water, dried them out, and filled the emptiness with ink.

I dried them out until the bloodstains were faint, It was still a secret, my writing. I pretended to most that I could not read, but, I thought, then, surely it could do no harm? I said to myself that writing was no more nor less than song. My pencil was busy and almost down to a nubbin. Her celebrity and safety are short-lived. And that's all I'm going to say about the plot.

McCann is a gifted writer, and he certainly made me care about Zoli. I know almost nothing about Romani culture and history other than what's here. Is what's here accurate? I'd be curious to hear a Romani reader's thoughts. And now I want to read fiction by Romani writers themselves. I get nervous about mainstream writers imagining minority protagonists, but this great novel whets my appetite for Romani-authored stories. My response to the "don't appropriate my culture's voice" crowd is to seek out and read their writers, too.

That's the fence on which my "book politics" sits. Jan 30, Irene rated it really liked it. This is the story of Zoli, a Romany woman of the 20th century. But, Zoli is also a gifted poet and singer who tries to exist in both worlds, Roma and European and can find a home in neither. The voice of Zoli is magnificently simple, broken yet full of dignity, intimate and unknowable. I loved thi This is the story of Zoli, a Romany woman of the 20th century. I loved this novel. McCann's novel is loosely based on the life of Romani poet Papsuza , with the titular character Zoli as the Romani singer, turned poet, set in Slovakia, either side of World War II.

McCann weaves a character with enough complexity and certainly enough interesting quirks. We jump around in time, there is a middle section of the book written in the view of Swann - an Englishman with a Slovakian father, who falls in love with Zoli. Then the Communists decide to use her as a postergirl for McCann's novel is loosely based on the life of Romani poet Papsuza , with the titular character Zoli as the Romani singer, turned poet, set in Slovakia, either side of World War II. Then the Communists decide to use her as a postergirl for their resettlement policy. The best parts of this novel are the descriptions of Romany culture and their interactions.

It was not a surprise to read in the acknowledgements that McCann was heavily influenced by a book which iI read and enjoyed - Bury Me Standing by Isabel Fonseca. Between 3 and 4 stars, but ultimately short of 4. Nov 14, Richard Derus rated it really liked it.

What a daring idea McCann's up to the task. It's a very well-built book, and Zoli a boy's name in her culture, given by her grandfather to help protect her is a fully realized person. She lives an exciting life. She writes amazing poetry so we're What a daring idea She writes amazing poetry so we're told.

She has a daughter who, true to life, turns out to be very little like her amazing mummy. My kick is that, like most extraordinary women, she falls in love with the damnedest collection of creeps and yutzes imaginable. There's this one Brit who is just about the most Babbitty little snot imaginable. Her response to him when they meet up later in life is pretty amusing. But, and here's the kick part, why is she bothering with these guys? Why is it no one writes about these women with actual worthy partners? Nov 16, Martina Keller rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: I loved this book.

I started reading it on the airplane journey home from Vienna after a long weekend and a previous novel by Josef Roth immersed in the Hapsburg empire. It felt very appropriate. The book creates a rich atmosphere of the nomadic lifestyle of gypsies during and after World War II in the areas of what once was the Austro-Hungarian empire. The book also takes place in part during the transition years of communism in what is today Slovakia.

I learned much about the Romani lifestyl I loved this book. I learned much about the Romani lifestyle and their "old world" mores. The book makes me want to go out and find a nonfiction book about the Romani people, just so that I can have more of the blanks filled in. The world described in the book felt very real to me. This is the second book I have read by Colum McCann. I definitely want to read more of his work. He's a great writer. I read this book because it is primarily set in Slovakia, and it was a drag. Its title character is a Romani singer, turned into a poet by Communist authorities after WWII, and based on a real-life poet named Papusza.

Zoli is about 20 years younger though, conveniently allowing her to be a sexy lover for the Englishman who narrates one of the middle sections of the book. The characters have no personality, just life circumstances; they seemed more like ideas of people than actual humans. Even by the end, Zoli was still a cipher to me; I was never clear on what she wanted out of life, what was behind her often strange or inconsistent decisions, or why I should care what happened to her. Speaking of tragedy, this is not exactly a fun book to read; the setting for the majority of the novel is drab and gray and hopeless, punctuated by occasional brutality.

Later on it becomes less dark, but more tedious, as its opaque protagonist wanders about with no discernible objective. Dec 18, Gwenn rated it really liked it. Apr 30, Kalen rated it really liked it Shelves: The research that must have gone in to this for an Irishman to recreate the world of a Gypsy in eastern Europe during the middle part of the last century is incomprehensible to me.

The book bogged down a bit somewhere in the middle, but the last quarter or so was so strong. I've got two more novels of his left to read before I run out, and I'll spread them out so I don't find myself doing what I have to do with Paul Auster. Sunset Park has been sitting on my shelf, unopened, for more than six months because I can't bear to read it until I know another one will soon be available. McCann is very quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Oct 17, Liza Perrat rated it it was amazing. A book you want to start again as soon as you finish it McCann, a novelist so good that both Ireland and America claim him as their own, is the author most recently of Let the Great World Spin.

Despite that difference in nationalities: McCann is an inspired researcher; he reportedly knew little or nothing about Romani culture when he began working on the book. He read, he interviewed, he traveled and observed and he convincingly constructs to someone as blank a slate as the author was off the start a unique insular world as it intersects and is overwhelmed by a larger one.

His zealous research carries him and the reader a long way but perhaps not all the way it needs to. I loved this book. I started reading it on the airplane journey home from Vienna after a long weekend and a previous novel by Josef Roth immersed in the Hapsburg empire. It felt very appropriate.

The book creates a rich atmosphere of the nomadic lifestyle of gypsies during and after World War II in the areas of what once was the Austro-Hungarian empire. The book also takes place in part during the transition years of communism in what is today Slovakia. I learned much about the Romani lifestyl I loved this book. I learned much about the Romani lifestyle and their "old world" mores. The book makes me want to go out and find a nonfiction book about the Romani people, just so that I can have more of the blanks filled in.

The world described in the book felt very real to me. This is the second book I have read by Colum McCann. I definitely want to read more of his work. He's a great writer. I read this book because it is primarily set in Slovakia, and it was a drag. Its title character is a Romani singer, turned into a poet by Communist authorities after WWII, and based on a real-life poet named Papusza. Zoli is about 20 years younger though, conveniently allowing her to be a sexy lover for the Englishman who narrates one of the middle sections of the book. The characters have no personality, just life circumstances; they seemed more like ideas of people than actual humans.

Even by the end, Zoli was still a cipher to me; I was never clear on what she wanted out of life, what was behind her often strange or inconsistent decisions, or why I should care what happened to her. Speaking of tragedy, this is not exactly a fun book to read; the setting for the majority of the novel is drab and gray and hopeless, punctuated by occasional brutality. Later on it becomes less dark, but more tedious, as its opaque protagonist wanders about with no discernible objective. Dec 18, Gwenn rated it really liked it.

Apr 30, Kalen rated it really liked it Shelves: The research that must have gone in to this for an Irishman to recreate the world of a Gypsy in eastern Europe during the middle part of the last century is incomprehensible to me. The book bogged down a bit somewhere in the middle, but the last quarter or so was so strong.

Zoli by Colum McCann

I've got two more novels of his left to read before I run out, and I'll spread them out so I don't find myself doing what I have to do with Paul Auster. Sunset Park has been sitting on my shelf, unopened, for more than six months because I can't bear to read it until I know another one will soon be available. McCann is very quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Oct 17, Liza Perrat rated it it was amazing. A book you want to start again as soon as you finish it McCann, a novelist so good that both Ireland and America claim him as their own, is the author most recently of Let the Great World Spin.

Despite that difference in nationalities: McCann is an inspired researcher; he reportedly knew little or nothing about Romani culture when he began working on the book. He read, he interviewed, he traveled and observed and he convincingly constructs to someone as blank a slate as the author was off the start a unique insular world as it intersects and is overwhelmed by a larger one. His zealous research carries him and the reader a long way but perhaps not all the way it needs to. The story, though, is compelling on a personal Zoli and ethnic level. In the end the larger world with its international politics and near universal social values and its own cultural and ethnic prejudices refuses the Gypsies any escape.

Under the Cover

Nazi racism, Soviet social control, and the societal norms of modern Europe all have little tolerance for a way of life that resists a national adjective on a culture whose tradition is timeless and transcends conventions like national borders. Granted these forces of compulsion are different in their intent and imposition—Nazi concentration camps versus insistent social service agencies—but all are unwilling to allow Gypsy traditions to continue unchanged. The novel spans a period from the s into the early s, jump cutting between its past and present, shifting narrators between first person Zoli and Stephen Swann, an Irish-Anglo of Slovakian origin who moves to Czechoslovakia for political reasons and falls in love with Zoli and third person.

We begin with a young Zoli traveling with her grandfather and end with the widowed Zoli visiting her daughter in Paris in , encountering at a conference celebrating Romani culture her former lover and the recognition that this once mobile and restless wanderer and performer had for some decades become rooted and is now satisfied with anonymity. There is sufficient and convincing detail to tell the tale, not to make a culture come fully to life. How they strive and struggle for meaning, success, comfort, identity, notice and how despite the turmoil and loss there is dignity and hope, compassion and resilience.

Sep 27, Tony rated it liked it Shelves: Colum McCann, a very gifted writer, must have sought out or stumbled upon the story of a Romani Gypsy woman who, against convention, learns to read and write and sings her own poems to wide acclaim. McCann turns this into a novel, good enough despite the feel that it came from library research; such is his talent. A book will be more than worth the effort, however, if the author: Sep 29, Kristin added it.

Perhaps one day I'll finish this book--if I somehow stop having access to other books, am holed up in my house, and have an ample supply of happiness and comfort to get me through the last tiny bit I have left. I'm perhaps one chapter from the end, but the thing got so unimaginably depressing in the last half that I think I'm finally making the decision to call it quits. Reading it has become like slogging through a field with no foliage except densely packed stinging nettles. It's painful and t Perhaps one day I'll finish this book--if I somehow stop having access to other books, am holed up in my house, and have an ample supply of happiness and comfort to get me through the last tiny bit I have left.

It's painful and terrible. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, like infernal fennel toothpaste.

See a Problem?

It's sad because this is a book I revered at first because of how well-written it is, its beautiful language and unique tale; I highly recommended it to people, and bought it, and loved it. But then, perversely, after all the buying and recommending and loving, I reached the part where it becomes unbearable and realized that the whole rest of the story was going to be utterly, entirely miserable. Nov 17, Joseph rated it it was ok Shelves: Oct 22, Heather rated it liked it.

Colum McCann finds the world to be a dark, seedy place where nothing good can last. At least, that's what I think he feels after reading or trying to read two of his books. Last year I read Let the Great World Spin, as a part of my effort to read more male authors, and more literary fiction. Reading that review now, I can see that my feelings on McCann's writing are very similar now, having tried unsuccessfully to read his novel Zoli.

Here is what Amazon has to say about the plot of Zoli, A uniqu Colum McCann finds the world to be a dark, seedy place where nothing good can last. Here is what Amazon has to say about the plot of Zoli, A unique love story, a tale of loss, a parable of Europe, this haunting novel is an examination of intimacy and betrayal in a community rarely captured so vibrantly in contemporary literature. Sounds like a sweeping tale of love and transcendence, doesn't it? Instead, reading it felt like being sunk into a dark, bleak world where even the most beautiful, innocent things were tainted by something cold and dreary.

At first I was drawn into the world of the Roma in eastern Europe during the early 20th century. I knew that they had been persecuted, but I didn't know a lot about their traditions or culture. But eventually I began to feel weighted down with all of the misery of the place. I suppose that was probably purposeful on McCann's part.

After all, the Roma were persecuted, and we are talking about the start of the Soviet Union and the cruel grip of communism here. But nothing, and I mean nothing, that I read seemed to speak to the transcendence of the human spirit. Even the love story was bleak, and felt strangely unemotional. It is not that I am adverse to reading melancholy, haunting, tragic books.

I read and loved The Road, and found the triumph of the father's love despite the complete destruction of the world to be meaningful, even if the events of the novel themselves were bleak. A Thousand Splendid Suns is one of my favorite books, and it is undoubtedly tragic and heart-wrenching. But even within the horror of living as a widow or a battered wife in Taliban Afghanistan, there were moments of tenderness, or beauty, or light. Not so with McCann's books. Maybe I am being slightly unfair, since I didn't finish the book.

Maybe the page after I finally gave up started a trend showing something, anything positive in the human experience. Sadly, I couldn't take the unending dreariness long enough to find out. Jun 27, Tom Mayer rated it liked it Recommends it for: I had heard my roommate talk about Papusza, the Gypsy poet whom inspired this novel, after he returned from a trip to the Balkans last summer.

Something or other brought the novel back to my attention and I ordered a copy from Amazon. After about two weeks I sat down and read the introduction. I was transfixed -- a man drives into a gypsy village in the present day, plies them with cigarettes, liquor, money, etc. When he asks I had heard my roommate talk about Papusza, the Gypsy poet whom inspired this novel, after he returned from a trip to the Balkans last summer.

When he asks about Papusza they immediately stonewall him: He's chased out of town and then coerced into getting more money from an ATM by father with a deformed child. The father uses the money for glue. McCann does all this much better than I can. This novel is extraordinary. There's this scene when the young gypsy poet comes home from a trip with her grandfather and they've taken the entire gypsy caravan out to the middle of a frozen lake and built fires around the edges, melting the surface until the weight of the wagons I finished the book at 3: Dec 27, Jane rated it really liked it Shelves: Couldn't put this one down.

Fascinating story of the Roma [gypsies] encapsulated through the story of a Roma woman, Zoli, with a gift for song and poetry. The story is very loosely based on that of Papusza, a famous Roma singer and poet. The story begins in s Czechoslovakia where Zoli's family are drowned by the fascists' driving them onto ice, which then breaks beneath their weight.

Zoli and her grandfather escape and find refuge with another kumpanija --musicians all. She is ostracized by her tribe. Most of the novel tells of her journey and contending with gadzhe [non-Gypsy] prejudice. The author's writing style was crisp, incisive, with deep sympathy for the Roma and their plight. The novel was an easy way to learn something of Roma culture.

From a poem of Zoli's: My land, we are your children, Shore up the ice and make it freeze! The snow fell large and white And buried our wheels center deep" What an accessible and interesting read about Slovakia in the ss. We follow her for a while as her life changes. Then we meet other characters how have a profound impact on her life post-war as they put her forward as a poster girl for Socialist Slovakia, which no one realises at the time only afterwards we can see it's so obvious was just a dream.

Zoli is put up as the perfect socia What an accessible and interesting read about Slovakia in the ss. Zoli is put up as the perfect socialist ideal. However, I think that that sentence sums it up much better than the book does. My understanding of socialism and communism allowed me to make this book make sense. I think that if you didn't have this information, you would be wondering why Zoli was chosen to be the poster girl.

I did like the idea of these "Western" capitalists who were disillusioned with their own countries who came to these new "socialist" republics and expected them to be some sort of utopia. Overall though, an interesting insight to a time and place of history I know little about. And nicely told, so I will look into more of his writing. For more reviews visit http: Apr 30, Alena rated it really liked it. In his acknowledgements, McCann writes that "We get our voices from the voices of others. Zoli is remarkable because of her voice, her stories of Gypsy culture and history.

In the s, when the novel begins, it's unheard of for a Gypsy woman to read, much less write and, only because of the tumultuous times she's living through is she celebrated for sharing her voice. But at what price? Similarly the rise of communism i In his acknowledgements, McCann writes that "We get our voices from the voices of others. Similarly the rise of communism in Czechoslovakia can be read as the voice of the people.

How can the Czechs capture this voice? Importantly, at what price? It's beautiful and heartbreaking. As I continue to make my way through all of his books, I treasure the brilliant way he evokes setting and mood. He's just a brilliant writer. Really had trouble caring about the characters despite caring deeply for story.

The prose is, of course, beautiful given how McCann narrates but something is lost. Dust Jacket has light edge wear. Dust Jacket un-clipped, not ex-library, not a remainder. Text is clean and without markings. Boards have some wear along edges and at spine ends. Book is currently being protected in and ships in a clear archival sleeve. Poor Professor Books Published: Very Good Condition Edition: Random House, first american editon is tight with no markings, mild soiling to page edges, dj has mylar cover taped to boards, customary library markings.

Gene The Book Peddler Published: City Lights Bookstore Condition: Russell Books Ltd Condition: This item is brand new unopened, never used and still in its original manufacturer condition.

Used book in very good condition. Some cover wear, may contain a few marks. Martin's Lane, London First Edition First edition hard back binding in publisher's original raspberry paper covers, metallic sea green title and author lettering to the spine, decorated end papers.

Number string to the copyright page 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2. Contains printed pages of text. Fine condition book in Fine condition dust wrapper, not price clipped. Dust wrapper supplied in archive acetate film protection, this preserves and prolongs the life of the paper, it is not adhered to the book or to the dust wrapper. Member of the P. First edition hard back binding in publisher's original raspberry paper covered boards, metallic sea green title and author lettering to the spine, green decorated end papers.

Twice Sold Tales Condition: Used book in good condition. Has wear to the cover and pages. Contains some markings such as highlighting and writing. Ex-library with the usual stamps. Mega Buzz Inc Condition: Advanced Book Search Browse by Subject.

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