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<\/a><\/p>\nABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/p>\n
SLOBODAN \u0160NAJDER<\/span> (Zagreb, 1948) graduated in Philosophy and English Language and Literature from the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb. He was a co-founder and editor of the theatre magazine Prolog (Prologue)<\/em> for a number of years. He has spent some time living in Germany, Austria and France.<\/p>\n Active in different genres, \u0160najder started publishing his fiction in 1996, and since 1969 he has been active as a dramatist, continually writing dramas whose staging has been less continual.<\/p>\n He has published four books of fiction: Knjiga o sitnom<\/strong> <\/em>(The Book about Small Things<\/em>, Konzor, Zagreb, 1996), 505 with a Line <\/strong><\/em>(Profil Internacional, Zagreb, 2007) and Morendo <\/em><\/strong>(Profil Internacional, Zagreb, 2011).<\/p>\n His works have been translated and staged abroad. Some of the productions include: Mini golf<\/em><\/strong>, 1968, Kamov, smrtopis<\/strong> (Kamov, the Necrography)<\/em>, 1978, Hrvatski Faust<\/strong> (Croatian Faustus<\/em>), 1982, Confiteor<\/strong><\/em>, 1984, Bauhaus<\/strong><\/em>, 1990, Zmijin svlak<\/strong> (The Snakeskin)<\/em>, 1994, Utjeha sjevernih mora<\/strong> (Consolation <\/em>of the Northern Seas<\/em>), 1997, Kod Bijelog labuda<\/strong> (At White Swan\u2019s<\/em>), 1999, Peto evan\u0111elje<\/strong> (The Fifth Gospel)<\/em>, 2004, Kosti u kamenu \/\u0422\u0438\u0442\u043e\/<\/strong> (Bones in the Rock \/Tito\/)<\/em>, 2007, Moja draga Tila (lutke)<\/em><\/strong> (My Dear Tila (Dolls)<\/em>), 2010, Enciklopedija izgubljenog vremena<\/strong> (An Encyclopaedia of the Lost Time)<\/em>, 2011, Kako je Dunda spasila domovinu (How Dunda Saved the Homeland)<\/em>, 2012.<\/p>\n From 1994 to 2014 \u0160najder was active as a columnist for the Rijeka-based daily Novi list<\/em> (Dangerous Connections). A selection of the texts from his column was published in two books: Kardinalna gre\u0161ka<\/strong> (A Cardinal Mistake<\/em>), Novi list-Adami\u0107, Rijeka 1999 and Umrijeti pod zvijezdom<\/strong> (To Die under the Star<\/em>), Novi list-Adami\u0107, Rijeka 2005.<\/p>\n Selected Works in nine books were published by Prometej, Zagreb 2005-2007.<\/p>\n The latest dramatic text: Svjetlucanje kome<\/strong> (The Sparkling of Coma<\/em>), magazine Forum, vol. 1-3, Zagreb 2015.<\/p>\n The second edition of the novel Doba mjedi<\/strong> (The Age of Brass<\/em>), which has been awarded five prizes (Me\u0161a Selimovi\u0107, Mirko Kova\u010d, Radomir Konstantinovi\u0107, Petar Ko\u010di\u0107, and the Novel of the Year Award of roman@tportal.hr<\/em>), was published by TIM press in November 2016.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n About the novel Doba mjedi (The Age of Brass)<\/strong><\/p>\n By writing this great novel, definitely one of the best in the recent history of Croatian literature, he tried to get rid of the layers of a heavy and burdening heritage, but through this experience, he made us richer for some new insights, which are not pleasant. However, if we give it a try and read it, they can (perhaps) make us better people.<\/p>\n Jaroslav Pe\u010dnik, Novi list<\/em><\/p>\n \n His novel emerges from legend and a legendary past, a multiply interpreted and overinterpreted family story, only to suddenly turn into a very real, hard and cruel truth of the 20th century. This is undoubtedly the most significant novel of Croatian literature in the last couple of years.<\/p>\n Miljenko Jergovi\u0107, Jutarnji list<\/em><\/p>\n \n Doba mjedi<\/strong><\/em> is a powerful book that requires a focused reader; a reader ready to stop at narrative sentences that are actually philosophical thoughts, original author\u2019s phrases; a reader who will recognise poetic moments and who accepts the impossibility of a simple and one-way interpretation. In short, Doba mjedi<\/em> <\/strong>is a serious, firm and very sensitive book. (…) For readers who, willingly or unwillingly, recognise the 20th century as the age of extremes, \u0160najder\u2019s Doba mjedi<\/em><\/strong> is both the time of brass and more lasting than brass. It is a literary testimony of how it is possible to write after Auschwitz. Strenuously and uncertainly. But unavoidably and always personally.<\/p>\n Andrea Zlatar Violi\u0107, Booksa.hr<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Doba mjedi<\/em><\/strong>, the age of the serpent that Moses made according to God\u2019s dictate, is an age of an absent God; an age of the idea one must believe in and a time of worshiping brass idols. And this is the age when the worst attrocities are committed. (…) It took a \u201cwhole life\u201d to \u0160najder for Doba mjedi<\/em><\/strong>. Not because a volksdeutcher\u2019s destiny is a politically sensitive topic. On the contrary, it has long ceased to be. But, because Doba mjedi<\/em><\/strong> is a kind of book that is usually called a testament, a testimonial novel.<\/p>\n Draga Jurak, Moderna vremena<\/em><\/p>\n \nA novel of dense, gloomy, and heavy, yet not at least impervious sentences, for a long and slow savouring, powerful as the force of the Danube under the shadow of the Fortress, akin to the best of Ti\u0161ma\u2019s books or Lebovi\u0107\u2019 Semper idem<\/em><\/strong>, with a pinch of Ki\u0161\u2019 Porodi\u010dni ciklus<\/strong> (Family Cycle)<\/em>; all in all: a great narrative of \u0160najder\u2019s and our 20th century.<\/p>\n Teofil Pan\u010di\u0107, Vreme<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"