An ermine in Chernobyl
An ermine in Chernobyl
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The Great War is over, and Chernobyl has passed from the defeated Austria-Hungary to the Kingdom of Romania. In the streets of this Babel, where History has washed away languages, races, and religions, the only value is survival, and the only art is mockery. In Chernobyl, everything is permitted — everything, except seriousness.
How long can such a city withstand the rigid honor of Sergeant Tildy, "The German," as he is mockingly called in Chernobyl? A tragicomic remnant of a world that doesn't know it's dead, Tildy and his wounded dignity will become the cause of a conflict between everyone.
Through the eyes of a child who grows and changes with his place and time, Retsori recreates with thoughtful cheerfulness a "Balkan" world, fluid and anarchic, where life seethes in all its triviality.
"A masterpiece"
The New York Times
"Incredibly intelligent, with a humor that reaches deep into the darkness of things"
Daniel Kehlmann
"A wonderful book—literally, a book full of wonders. The An ermine in Chernobyl can now take its place on the shelf next to the Tin drum and the "One Hundred Years of Solitude"
John Banville
"Any reader of European literature who has not read Rezzori has committed the unthinkable. Here we have the rare author who writes with unparalleled beauty and craftsmanship, while glorifying the joys of life"
Gary Shteyngart
"Rezzori is the precursor of what the Western world is transforming into and is only now beginning to experience"
Claudio Magris
