In our city spring came from the sky, not from the soil, which was ruled by stone that recognizes no seasonal change. The change of the season could be glimpsed in the thinning of clouds, the appearance of the birds… — Ismail Kadaré Copy Share Image
“This is how things come to pass in the world,' one of the princes is supposed to have said. 'Blood flows one way in… — Ismail Kadare Copy Share Image
“Thick smoke like a herd of black horses was rising over the massive building and being blown around by the wind.” — Ismail Kadare Copy Share Image
“Divizije, pukovnije, batoljoni, čete, jedinice svih vrsta pomiješat će se u gomili lijesova. Potom će ih ukrcati u veliki brod koji će tromo isploviti… — Ismail Kadaré Copy Share Image
“At street corners, where walls join, I thought I could see some familiar features, like outlines of human faces, the shadows of cheekbones and… — Ismail Kadaré Copy Share Image
“E ke menduar se po te largohesh kaq shume nga jeta njerezore, nga ajo qe ti me perbuzje e quan "malli i jetes", mund te percudnohesh kaq shume, saqe, po te duash te kthehesh prape, ajo s'ka per te te pranuar me, ashtu sic eshte e papranueshme nje fantazme? Gjepura kishte thene Kramsi, fjaleri mikroborgjeze, kurse tjetri kishte vazhduar: nje… — Ismail Kadaré Copy Share
“The pyramid is the pillar that holds power aloft. If it wavers,everything collapses.” — Ismail Kadare Copy Share Image
“My streets, my cistern. My old house. Its beams, floorboards and staircase creaked slightly, almost imperceptibly, with a dry, uniform, almost constant cracking sound.… — Ismail Kadare Copy Share Image
“Some people,” the Vizier went on, “think it’s the world of anxieties and dreams – your world, in short – that governs this one. I myself think it’s from this world that everything is governed. I think it’s this world that chooses the dreams and anxieties and imaginings that ought to be brought to the surface, as a bucket draws… — Ismail Kadaré Copy Share
Who in the world has not yearned for a loved one, has never said, If only he or she could come back just once, just one more time...? Despite the fact that it can never happen, never ever. Surely this is the saddest thing about our mortal world, and its sadness will go on shrouding human life like a blanket… — Ismail Kadaré Copy Share
“Who can say it’s not what we see with our eyes open that is distorted, and that what’s described here isn’t the true essence… — Ismail Kadaré Copy Share Image
“Sunday had spread all over the city. It looked as if the sun had smacked into the earth and broken into pieces and chunks of wet light were scattered everywhere -- in the streets, on the window panes, on puddles and roofs. I remembered a day long ago when Grandmother had cleaned a big fish. Her forearms were splattered with… — Ismail Kadare Copy Share
