A Review of Elegy for Kosovo by Ismail Kadare

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Elegy for Kosovo is a short novel written during the Bosnian war in the late 1990s. It does not cover the modern war in the region but rather a battle from 1389 and the aftermath. On the plains of Kosovo in 1389 two armies stood face to face. One being the Ottoman army trying to get a foothold into Europe and spread Islam. The other being an amalgamation of Serbs, Albanians, Romanians, Wallachians, Croats, and Bosniaks defending their home countries. The crescent versus the cross. 

Battle of Kosovo, by Adam Stefanović (1870)

During the battle men are slaughtered on the plains of Kosovo and the leader of the Ottomans, Murad I, is killed in action. He is said to be killed by Serbian soldier Miloš Obilić but it is uncertain. His double may have been killed and then his inner circle seized the opportunity to kill the read Murad I and install his son as the Sultan (his son being the one who wanted to turn the empire's attention toward Europe rather than Asia). Christian banners can be seen from the edge of the battle until one by one they fall.

Miloš Obilić, the alleged assassin of Sultan Murad I.

After the battle we follow a ragtag group of Christian minstrels who flee from the battle making their way north. With them is one Turk who wants to convert to Christianity but still feels his Muslim faith inside of him and one Jew. They make their way north through small villages who often do not help the group and bar them from entering their towns. Eventually they make their way far enough north where a phony trial is held for the Turk. He is burned at the stake for holding on to two faiths simultaneously. His final works while he being engulfed by the flames is a cry for his mother. 

The minstrels finally make their way to a welcoming land where they are told to perform for her.

This woman realizes that Europe must not only protect the castle of Europe (the heartlands) but also the courtyard (the Balkans). 

This region of Europe is still tense with ethnic tensions and death. One day I hope that the plains of Kosovo contain no more spilled blood. 

Richard Eder puts it brilliantly in his review when he says "He has the gift of writing parables of great weight in the lightest of tones." 

Murad I's quote to end the book is also poignant. "O Lord, hear my prayer! Take away all the mud around here, for even a few drops of blood are enough to hold all the memory of the world."

The Plains of Kosovo