A Review of The Fortress by Meša Selimović

A Review of The Fortress by Meša Selimović

Cover

Synopsis from Goodreads: A novel on 18th century Sarajevo under Ottoman rule, featuring a soldier returned from the wars. A Muslim, he marries a Christian girl who supports him while he dabbles in politics, eventually leading a raid to rescue a friend from jail.

My review: Ahmet Shabo is a Bosnian war veteran from Sarajevo. He saw many of his friends killed in the marshes around Chocim in one of the many Russo Turkish wars. He comes back from the war a changed man. He doesn't fit into society. His family has all died while he was away. He finds solace and love in Tiyana, a Christian woman. They live together and shortly she falls pregnant. Meanwhile, Ahmet loses his job for speaking out against the society he lives in. He is blackballed. He is fired from his job as a scribe by a man he saved at Chocim. He can't find a job and suffers great turmoil. He eventally gets involved in a rescue of another man who spoke out and is investigated bya quasi police member.

This is a very intersting book that explores the suffering that man can go through. A theme that I saw often was fatalism. Shabo thinks that his fate is decided and there is nothing he can do (and often times should do) in life. No matter the choice he makes people will suffer. Hard to put my thoughts about this book down in writng. Ahmet Shabo and Prince Myshkin from The Idiot seem to be cut from the same cloth in my opinion.

Also I think I am going to count this book as a Bosnian book. I was thinking of counting it as Serbia but then I thought that I wouldn't count Richard Rodriguez as Mexico so why would I count Mesa Selimovic as Serbia?