Early Sorrows: For Children and Sensitive Readers [Hardcover]

Danilo Kis (Author), Michael Heim (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1998

linked stories, tr from Serbian by Michael H. Heim

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Never before translated into English, this collection of interconnected stories, originally published in Belgrade in 1969, form the poignant, lightly fictionalized account of the acclaimed late novelist's boyhood in Yugoslavia. With a remarkable combination of affection, whimsy and wretchedness, these 19 lyrical, very short stories tell a recurring tale of spiritual innocence tainted by shame and the terror of life in hiding. In addition to his finesse with language and sensory detail, Kis succeeds at rendering a precocious child's struggle to comprehend the world. In the characteristic "The Game," a father hiding his Jewish origins is proud but unnerved when he catches his fair-haired son pretending to be a Jewish feather merchant, like the grandfather whom the boy has never seen. Frightened by the uncanny spectacle, the boy's gentile mother spins a bedtime tale that subtly informs the boy of racism and its mortal consequences. In each brief vignette, the boy contemplates his own disappearance and death, which he sees foreshadowed in his father's deportation to Auschwitz. Though its subtitle pitches the book to a relatively limited audience, Kis's slim work will touch vestigial nerves in most readers.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From The New Yorker

[A] subtle, heroic collection of connected stories...The coming horror [of World War II] is just beneath Kis's gently swelling prose.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 118 pages
• Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation; 1ST edition (October 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811213900
• ISBN-13: 978-0811213905
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,095,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #74 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Eastern European

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Meaning of time, August 4, 2000

By 

Mirjana Vukovic (Yugoslavia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Early Sorrows: For Children and Sensitive Readers (Hardcover)

Kis was born in my country. This book is the most beautifool story about growing and knowing what life is. He learned very early that there is no justice in the warld, even in cats warld. It is significant story of meaning of time.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For children and mature adults, May 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Early Sorrows: For Children and Sensitive Readers (Hardcover)

This fascinating book is reading material for all ages andgenders. Kis has managed to bring topics we have long forgotten to ourmind. Is this book for children only? No. This book provides intriguing material for thought especially for adults who have figured out what life is all about.