Ismail Kadare Summary

In the following review, Kolsti considers Broken April to be a unique work in Kadare's oeuvre, lauding the novel's effective political commentary. This is a tale simply told about bro... Read more

In the following review, Elsie characterizes La pyramide as a political allegory for the reign of Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha. It would seem to hold true that absolute monarchs have a predilectio... Read more

In the following review, Forster offers a mixed assessment of The Concert, asserting that “in among this baffling farrago of plot, counter-plot and inflated ‘message’ are passages... Read more

In the following review, Elsie notes Kadare's declining critical reputation in Albania and views L'ombre as a largely autobiographical work. After his emigration to France in October ... Read more

In the following essay, Falcoff characterizes Printemps albanais as a narrative reflecting the difficulties of writing under a totalitarian dictatorship. “You cannot imagine what a titanic t... Read more

In the following review, Elsie offers a stylistic and thematic overview of Spiritus: roman me kaos, zblesë dhe çmërs. It has been almost a decade since Ismail Kadare left his h... Read more

In the following review, Elsie commends Kadare's contribution to contemporary Albanian letters with Broken April. When the writer Bessian Vorpsi announced the destination of his honeymoon to... Read more

In the following favorable review of Trois chants funèbres pour le Kosovo, Evans maintains that “the three elegies, like his other fiction, seek to establish not necessarily an exact his... Read more

In the following interview, Kadare discusses Albania politics, his writing career, and his future aspirations. One day during the negotiations in Cheteau de Rambouillet, the leaders of the Kosovan ... Read more

In the following review, Margaronis asserts that Elegy for Kosovo should be read as fiction, rather than historical fact, and offers a biographical and critical overview of Kadare and his work. The... Read more

In the following review, Phillips discusses Elegy for Kosovo in relation to several other narratives concerning the political situation in Kosovo during the late 1990s. At the heart of his masterfu... Read more

In the following review, Mundy lauds The General of the Dead Army as a powerful and evocative parable for Balkan politics. In his famous essay “What Is a Nation?”, the French historia... Read more

In the following review, Brownjohn regards The General of the Dead Army as a “profoundly moving novel” and notes that the narrative remains engaging, despite the ambiguousness of the lea... Read more

In the following essay, Morgan examines the role of ethnicity in The Palace of Dreams, concluding that Kadare utilizes “ethnicity as a central factor of social change in post-communist societie... Read more

In the following essay, Morgan proposes a critical reexamination of The Palace of Dreams, suggesting that scholars have failed to pay attention to the “socio-cultural significance of material r... Read more

In the following review, Elsie lauds Dosja H. as a “delightful satire” about two foreigners exploring Albanian history and culture. In 1953 Milman Parry and Albert Lord caught the att... Read more

In the following review, Elsie offers critical readings of Ftesë në studio, Printemps albanais, and Nga një dhjetor në tjetrin, asserting that the volumes function as Kadar... Read more

In the following review, Elsie evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of Pesha e kryqit, arguing that the volume lacks Kadare's traditional “loftier vision of things.” In no ot... Read more