WHEN PUMPKINS BLOSSOMED

by Dragoslav Mihailovic ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 7, 1971

It's the time when tuberculars die, according to a Yugoslavian proverb, but in this brutally pessimistic little novel (and in the Dusanovac suburb of Belgrade where most of it takes place) not even that small term can be assured. Ljuban Sretenovich is a boxer whose world consists of the ring, the army, his family, and the street; and even at that bis interests are restricted to being the champ and proving it, chiefly by provoking the neighborhood toughs. When Stole, their leader and Ljuban's long-time rival, drives Ljuban's sister to suicide he sets out for revenge. No matter that Stole has since contracted tuberculosis after a savage beating: this is a world without extenuations, for Stole or anyone else. This applies to readers as well, since Ljuban's coarse narration does nothing to mitigate the violence or the deadening fatalism.

Pub Date: April 7, 1971

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1971

Categories: FICTION