title: A Dictator Calls by: Kadare, Ismail published: 2023-09-19 read: 2023-12 preview

Before you read my text, please read a more comprehensive review, for instance the review from Kirkus reviews.

Now you know what the book is about. So we’re left with the question, what did Stalin discuss with Pasternak? The book highlights many versions, but all of them agree on two facts: Stalin called, and Pasternak reacted inappropriately, failing to defend his arrested colleague Mandelstam.

The book is a prismatic tale reflecting the myriad ways of interpreting a single event, offering 13 perspectives on the conversation’s nuances and implications. The novel delves into themes of censorship, fear, and the artist’s struggle against totalitarianism, illustrating the pervasive and intimidating reach of Stalin’s regime. And in the end touches upon Kadare’s phone call he received from Enver Hoxha, the long-time leader of Albania. During the call, Hoxha congratulated Kadare on a poem recently published in a newspaper. Overwhelmed and cautious, Kadare could only muster repeated thanks in response, signalling to those around him the importance of the call with a mere “thank you” as he was too stunned to engage in further conversation.

So history repeats itself, in a way. Hoxha not as important as Stalin, and Kadare maybe not as well-known as Pasternak. But still.

A nice book, my second Kadare and I like his style, his lucid, straightforward and dry way of telling stories.