Ismail Kadare

Ismail Kadare (http://scriptor.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/ismail_kadare_pres.jpg)

I spent a whole month thinking of who I should write my hero report on. The problem wasn't that I didn't have a hero, but it was that I had many and I could not decide about which one to write. I took hundred of pictures because I thought that maybe when I look at them I might decide who to write about. I took my decision during a family trip. I was looking at the marvelous nature that my country has and as soon as I saw those beautiful mountains filled with green shiny trees I thought of an author I like; Ismail Kadare. What made me think of him was the mountains themselves, because I remembered how he described them in a novel by him that I read. He has written so many novels about Albania and that is the exact reason why I consider him a hero of mine.

Kadare was born in the ancient city of Gjirokastra on January 28, 1936. After finishing high school he attended the Faculty of History and Philology in Tirana. He continued his education at the Gorky Institute of World Literature in Moscow. Unfortunately he was forced to leave the institute when the relationship between Albania and the Soviet Union became tense. However, this did not prevent Kadare from becoming a very successful and a world renowned poet and writer.

Ismail Kadare started to write poetry in 1950s and soon after that he published his poetry book "Frymezimet Djaloshare" (Youthful Inspirations). Albanians liked his way of writing because it entered their heart easily. After focusing on poetry for a decade or so, he started to write prose. His first famous novel, Gjenerai i Ushtrise se Vdekur, (The General of the Dead Army) depicted the post-war Albania. Because Kadare witnessed the occupation of his home country he felt so much about it and wrote a lot about it as well. Another very interesting novel written by Kadare is Keshtjella, (The Castle) written in 1970. This novel talks about the Ottoman invasion and all that they did in order to invade Albania. These two novels are just a couple of the great works that he published.

It is not just the themes that he treats that make his novels famous and intriguing; it is his style of writing and depicting events that makes them so. He writes with such passion that the reader can feel it. When I read his novel on Albanian blood-feud, Prilli I Thyer (Broken April) I felt like I was experiencing the events myself and when I feel that way I know that I am reading the work of a great author. When New York Times reviewed the novel in English they said that it was "written with masterly simplicity in a bardic style," while Wall Street Journal said that Kadare was "one of the most compelling novelists now writing in any language." The reviews themselves show that Kadare in now an international writer who took his basic teachings in Albania.

Kadare was a Nobel Nominee for the Literature Prize in 2005 and a winner of many prizes. One of these awards was the Man Booker International Prize which he received for the English Translation of Broken April. Beside the awards that he got in Albania he got many more when he moved to France. He was forced to move to France because of the Communist regime in Albania. He moved there in 1990 and it was then when he had the freedom of writing without being threatened by the politics. Even during Enver Hoxha's regime Kadare wrote novels like Perse Mendohen Keto Male, (Why These Mountains Brood) which depicted Albania's situation during Hoxha's regime. Even though many writers were killed during Hoxha's regime, Kadare survived due to his wisdom. Kadare had ambiguous feelings towards this regime but he never said it in a direct way; he always found a metaphor or something alike to represent what he felt. He did this with many of his novels and that is why people liked them.

Because Kadare wrote so much about his country I consider him a hero. Furthermore Kadare provided help when Kosovo needed it the most. He was ready to advise Kosova's politicians to take the best decision when they were in the Rambuje Conference. He was never scared to show what his country was going through. I consider him a hero also because with determination he achieved to get his novels translated in many languages and also become a worldwide famous writer. Though I adore many other writers, Kadare stands out because he writes in a very intriguing way which invites the reader to enter the story. I would recommend all of his novels to people who will have the time and will to read them. I promise that it wouldn't be a waste of time. It wasn't for me.