In Globetrotter, David Albahari explores the consciousness of emigres from the former Yugoslavia, Croatia and Serbia, showing that while abroad, many of us are even more intensely preoccupied with our histories than we were while living in Yugoslavia. His narrative… — Josip Novakovich Copy Share Image
“Strangely enough, I am beginning to feel like an exile when I go to a polling station in PA and people hold placards approving attacking Middle Eastern countries, supporting the troops. Imagine if in Nazi Germany people said, Look, we know the war is wrong, but we love our boys and we support them. It’s the wrong time to withhold… — Josip Novakovich Copy Share
“MY FATHER TRIED IT. In Daruvar, Croatia, he bought a piano, sat my oldest brother at it, and hired a teacher. Whenever Vlado made a mistake, the teacher caned his fingers. After a few such lessons, Vlado skipped one; the teacher complained and wanted his money. Vlado said he was beaten; the teacher denied it. Father believed the teacher, and… — Josip Novakovich Copy Share
“It was clear that people were not rushing to the shelves. In fact, I’d never seen anybody in a library pick up a small… — Josip Novakovich Copy Share Image
“I was taught not to distinguish between patriotism and nationalism; the word patriotism was an attempt to present the same ugly nationalist phenomenon of… — Josip Novakovich Copy Share Image
“In the train, I read a special issue of Der Spiegel, about the Germans who had been driven out in ethnic cleansing campaigns at the end of World War One. Almost three million from Sudetenland. The Czechs, who offered hardly any resistance to the Germans, celebrated the victory given them by Russians in such a manner. Poland, Yugoslavia, Germans were… — Josip Novakovich Copy Share
“He must have given up on image making because his eyes had failed to see something they had yearned for; his mind had failed… — Josip Novakovich Copy Share Image
“But that did not make Mirko happy - the world was melting away; what was a grade compared with the world? He gazed through… — Josip Novakovich Copy Share Image
“You don't need to wait for inspiration to write. It's easier to be inspired while writing than while not writing...” — Josip Novakovich Copy Share Image
“Enemies keep you alert, competitive, and friendships lull you into mediocrity, and through peer pressure, keep you back and down, and eventually, down and… — Josip Novakovich Copy Share Image
“Describing men, of course, I run into the same problems—aquiline nose, chiseled features, bullish neck, leonine hair, steely gaze, bronze tan—but somehow the arsenal… — Josip Novakovich Copy Share Image
“Diogenes heard a young man playing on the lute. The otherwise stoical philosopher seemed to be touched by the emotional music and he fought… — Josip Novakovich Copy Share Image
