Ismaïl Kadaré (1936–2024)
Author of Broken April
About the Author
Ismail Kadare is the most prominent of contemporary Albanian writers. He has written poetry, short stories, literary criticism, and seven novels. His works have been translated and published in more than two dozen countries. An internationally known figure, he has visited and lectured in many show more countries. He was also a representative to Albania's People's Assembly. In 1990 Kadare left Albania for Paris where he became openly dissident. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: wikimedia commons
Series
Works by Ismaïl Kadaré
Onenigheid aan de top een mysterieus telefoongesprek tussen Stalin en Pasternak (2022) 30 copies, 3 reviews
L'Année noire, suivi de "Le cortège dans la noce s'est figé dans la glace" (1987) 8 copies, 2 reviews
Dante, l'incontournable, ou brève histoire de l'Albanie avec Dante Alighieri : essai (2006) — Author — 6 copies
MOSMARRËVESHJA 2 copies
ESKILI, KY HUMBËS I MADH 2 copies
Mauvaise saison sur l'Olympe: tragédie de Prométhée et d'un groupe de divinités en quatorze tableaux (1998) 2 copies
CA PIKA SHIU RANË MBI QELQ 1 copy
KËSHTJELLA 1 copy
ËNDËRR MASHTRUESE 1 copy
Cetatea 1 copy
KRISTAL 1 copy
Breznitë e Hankonatëve 1 copy
La menace du soleil 1 copy
Cuestión de Locura 1 copy
El ocaso de los dioses 1 copy
Um jantar a mais 1 copy
On the Lay of the Knights 1 copy
O Palácio dos Sonhos 1 copy
2002 1 copy
La Bambola 1 copy
Concert La Sfarsit De Iarna 1 copy
Vepra Poetike 1 copy
KOHE BARBARE 1 copy
Ëndërrime 1 copy
Coffeehouse Days. 1 copy
Stinë e mërzitshme në Olymp : tragjedia e Prometheut dhe e një grupi hyjnish në 14 dukje (2002) 1 copy
KALORESI LAKURIQ 1 copy
Mengjeset ne kafe Rostand 1 copy
Vjedhja e gjumit mbreteror 1 copy
IKJA E SHTERGUT 1 copy
MJEGULLAT E TIRANES 1 copy
BISEDE PERMES HEKURAVE 1 copy
Umbra 1 copy
ŞENLİK KURULU 1 copy
Associated Works
Description of a Struggle: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Eastern European Writing (1994) — Contributor — 79 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Kadaré, Ismaïl
- Legal name
- Kadaré, Ismaïl
- Birthdate
- 1936-01-28
- Date of death
- 2024-07-01
- Gender
- male
- Education
- University of Tirane (Languages and Literature)
Gorky Institute of World Literature (Moscow) - Occupations
- novelist
poet
journalist
Member of Parliament - Awards and honors
- Prince of Asturias Prize (2009)
Ovid Prize (2003)
Académie des sciences morales et politiques (1996)
The Order of Legion of Honour (2016)
Jerusalem Prize (2015) - Agent
- Bujar Hudhri (editor)
- Relationships
- Kadare, Helena (wife)
- Short biography
- In the fall of 1990 Ismail Kadare left Albania in a gesture of protest against the actions and policies of the Albanian government and was granted asylum in France.
- Cause of death
- heart attack
- Nationality
- Albania
- Birthplace
- Gjirokastër, Albania
- Places of residence
- Gjirokastër, Albania (birth)
Paris, France - Place of death
- Tirana, Albania
- Associated Place (for map)
- Albania
Members
Discussions
March 2026: Ismail Kadare in Monthly Author Reads (April 2)
Reviews
Despite its title, The Concert requires no real knowledge of music. What it does require is an interest in Sino-Albanian politics and a fascination with the final hours of Lin Biao. Certainly not a novel for everyone, but definitely one for me.
As negotiations for the Sino American rapprochement were going on, Gjerj Dibra flew to Beijing to deliver a letter from the Albanians, asking that the meeting with the American president be cancelled. Who was little Albania to demand such a thing? show more China's only ally, a tiny country cut off from the Europe which should have been its natural home dared defy Chairman Mao. Back in Tirana, Chinese diplomats, engineers, scientists, workers and trade delegations were disappearing from Albania as if they had never arrived, abandoning engineering projects, construction sites and trade missions.
This wouldn't be a Kadare book though without elements of the surreal. One nameless man, high in the Arctic, constantly sifts through transmissions in the ether, reading the tea leaves of changes in the rankings of the Chinese Politbureau. Mao Zedong wanders in and out of lucidity in his favourite cave retreat. The x-ray of the broken foot of a Chinese diplomat causes a rift between the two countries.
All these elements are essentially shadows, glimpses of greater realities. It is in this contrast between the world of conjecture and the harsh reality of Enver Hoxha's Albania that Kadare excels, setting up a real and justified paranoia. There are repeated references to [MacBeth] (was it because Mao and Lin Biao "were both hatching a plot based on treachery at a banquet?"), ghosts and isolation. Alone in China, Albanian Party member Skënder Berema repeatedly works out scenarios for Lin Biao's flight and death.
Finally there is the concert itself. Zhou Enlai had said the way to understand Chinese politics was to study Chinese theatre. Eleven hundred people, including Berema, received invitations on the very day of the concert.
Zhou Enlai, the man who knew all and controlled all, was contemplating his masks.
As the high level audience assembled, speculation ran rife.What was the plot of the performance? Were the movements of the second female dancer going to signify anything? Where and with whom was everyone seated? Hua Guofeng was working on his best imitation of Mao's hair to impress the audience. Finally all were assembled. Tensions built throughout the concert. The end of the performance brought a completely unexpected panic.
Kadare shifts events somewhat and timelines are unclear. Mao may die before Zhou, or the deaths may be the same day. The magic realism he employs, the varying iterations of the same story be it the massacre of Albanians in Kosovo, the war in Cambodia, or the leitmotif of the death of Lin Biao, illustrate the many forms history can take, and the impossibility of knowing the truth. This is classic Kadare. show less
As negotiations for the Sino American rapprochement were going on, Gjerj Dibra flew to Beijing to deliver a letter from the Albanians, asking that the meeting with the American president be cancelled. Who was little Albania to demand such a thing? show more China's only ally, a tiny country cut off from the Europe which should have been its natural home dared defy Chairman Mao. Back in Tirana, Chinese diplomats, engineers, scientists, workers and trade delegations were disappearing from Albania as if they had never arrived, abandoning engineering projects, construction sites and trade missions.
This wouldn't be a Kadare book though without elements of the surreal. One nameless man, high in the Arctic, constantly sifts through transmissions in the ether, reading the tea leaves of changes in the rankings of the Chinese Politbureau. Mao Zedong wanders in and out of lucidity in his favourite cave retreat. The x-ray of the broken foot of a Chinese diplomat causes a rift between the two countries.
All these elements are essentially shadows, glimpses of greater realities. It is in this contrast between the world of conjecture and the harsh reality of Enver Hoxha's Albania that Kadare excels, setting up a real and justified paranoia. There are repeated references to [MacBeth] (was it because Mao and Lin Biao "were both hatching a plot based on treachery at a banquet?"), ghosts and isolation. Alone in China, Albanian Party member Skënder Berema repeatedly works out scenarios for Lin Biao's flight and death.
Finally there is the concert itself. Zhou Enlai had said the way to understand Chinese politics was to study Chinese theatre. Eleven hundred people, including Berema, received invitations on the very day of the concert.
Zhou Enlai, the man who knew all and controlled all, was contemplating his masks.
He had three masks: the mask of a leader, the mask of one who obeys, and the mask as cold as ice. The first two he usually wore to government and Politbureau meetings or committees. The third he kept for occasions when he had to appear in public.
The clock on the wall behind him struck six. This was the first time he had gone out without one of his three masks. They were all out of date now. Instead he now wore a fourth. A death mask.
As the high level audience assembled, speculation ran rife.What was the plot of the performance? Were the movements of the second female dancer going to signify anything? Where and with whom was everyone seated? Hua Guofeng was working on his best imitation of Mao's hair to impress the audience. Finally all were assembled. Tensions built throughout the concert. The end of the performance brought a completely unexpected panic.
Kadare shifts events somewhat and timelines are unclear. Mao may die before Zhou, or the deaths may be the same day. The magic realism he employs, the varying iterations of the same story be it the massacre of Albanians in Kosovo, the war in Cambodia, or the leitmotif of the death of Lin Biao, illustrate the many forms history can take, and the impossibility of knowing the truth. This is classic Kadare. show less
In the niche of a square in Constantinople is displayed an ever-changing series of decapitated heads. Observed by the crowds- a kind of chorus as they discuss current eventss - guarded by a young constable; ministered to by the doctor charged with its preservation; and transported by the Royal Courier, covering huge distances to bring the various heads home...
Kadare's story concerns Albanian Ali Pasha, a rebel leader, dismissive of his Turkish overlords and due for removal...and the two show more ill-fated Turks sent in two separate missions to bring him down. He describes a fictional, comic- yet entirely believable state strategy of returning a renegade nation back to compliance...
My second read by Kadare; sobering yet quite brilliant. show less
Kadare's story concerns Albanian Ali Pasha, a rebel leader, dismissive of his Turkish overlords and due for removal...and the two show more ill-fated Turks sent in two separate missions to bring him down. He describes a fictional, comic- yet entirely believable state strategy of returning a renegade nation back to compliance...
My second read by Kadare; sobering yet quite brilliant. show less
The Pyramid is ostensibly the story of how the great pyramid of Cheops came to be built - but at the same time, it is an allegory of terror and tyranny everywhere.
The grand project of building the pyramid, perhaps, can be seen as the grand project of building socialism, or year zero, or any of those projects which took over a generation, which demanded total belief and support, and for which blood had to be spilt.
There are conspiracies and purges, and abrupt changes of policy which bring show more bloody consequences for those who can't keep up: at one point, a popular line of argument is that it doesn't matter if the pyramid is progressing very slowly, because it is certain that the Pharaoh will live a very long time - but one 'unfortunate member of the government' who suggests, as a logical consequence, that work should be suspended completely to show that the Pharaoh is immortal, is executed by mutilation.
Those lower down try and keep up with the latest winds. People did not know what to do: to expedite their work at a time when intemperate zeal could be seen as supporting the rumour {that the Pharaoh is ill}, or to slacken off, even though their bodies were striped with welts from whippings and other punishments meted out for just such slackness.
All this is very interesting and intellectually this book was a rewarding read. But for me, the impersonality of it undermined its impact. I recognise that as an allegory, it is meant to be a timeless tale of something which repeated itself again and again through history - but even so, I find something like the gulag memoir Into The Whirlwind much better at expressing the universal horror, by taking you into one person's individual experience.
My favourite part of this book was the two chapters which were supposed to be the bureaucratic records of the construction, stone by stone by stone. I think that's because through these details, I could get a better glimpse of the bigger picture, and imagine the impact on individual people's lives.
Forty-seventh stone. From Aswan quarry. Double check carried out as per latest instructions. Swearing heard during haulage: "You should burst like my heart!" "You should be smashed to smithereens!" "You should fall into the abyss!" Blessings heard: "Thank fate to have placed you on this peak!" "I wish you a long life of stone!" SALS in order. Magician's authorization ditto. No problem in hoisting. No graffiti. Forty-sixth stone. From Karnak quarry. A reliable seam. Cursing and praising in roughly equal measure. One of the latter kind of expressions - I sacrificed my son to the pyramid with joy - alludes to an accident that occurred during unloading of the stone. No graffiti. They have disappeared as a result of improved surveillance, a very successful measure. show less
The grand project of building the pyramid, perhaps, can be seen as the grand project of building socialism, or year zero, or any of those projects which took over a generation, which demanded total belief and support, and for which blood had to be spilt.
There are conspiracies and purges, and abrupt changes of policy which bring show more bloody consequences for those who can't keep up: at one point, a popular line of argument is that it doesn't matter if the pyramid is progressing very slowly, because it is certain that the Pharaoh will live a very long time - but one 'unfortunate member of the government' who suggests, as a logical consequence, that work should be suspended completely to show that the Pharaoh is immortal, is executed by mutilation.
Those lower down try and keep up with the latest winds. People did not know what to do: to expedite their work at a time when intemperate zeal could be seen as supporting the rumour {that the Pharaoh is ill}, or to slacken off, even though their bodies were striped with welts from whippings and other punishments meted out for just such slackness.
All this is very interesting and intellectually this book was a rewarding read. But for me, the impersonality of it undermined its impact. I recognise that as an allegory, it is meant to be a timeless tale of something which repeated itself again and again through history - but even so, I find something like the gulag memoir Into The Whirlwind much better at expressing the universal horror, by taking you into one person's individual experience.
My favourite part of this book was the two chapters which were supposed to be the bureaucratic records of the construction, stone by stone by stone. I think that's because through these details, I could get a better glimpse of the bigger picture, and imagine the impact on individual people's lives.
Forty-seventh stone. From Aswan quarry. Double check carried out as per latest instructions. Swearing heard during haulage: "You should burst like my heart!" "You should be smashed to smithereens!" "You should fall into the abyss!" Blessings heard: "Thank fate to have placed you on this peak!" "I wish you a long life of stone!" SALS in order. Magician's authorization ditto. No problem in hoisting. No graffiti. Forty-sixth stone. From Karnak quarry. A reliable seam. Cursing and praising in roughly equal measure. One of the latter kind of expressions - I sacrificed my son to the pyramid with joy - alludes to an accident that occurred during unloading of the stone. No graffiti. They have disappeared as a result of improved surveillance, a very successful measure. show less
The ancient imperial capital in the heart of the most powerful Empire had a famous square. High above this square was a niche sited in the wall. The niche did not display religious icons, or sculptures, or coats of arms. It was reserved for the heads of traitors, those who had displeased the Sultan. It was not hard to imagine why this location had been chosen.
Perhaps nowhere else could the eyes of passersby so easily grasp the interdependency between the imposing solidity of the ancient show more square and the human heads that had dared to show it disrespect. It was clear at once that the niche had been sited in the wall to convey the impression that the head’s lifeless eyes surveilled every corner of the square. In this way, even the feeblest and least imaginative passerby could visualize, at least for a moment, his own head displayed at the unnatural height.
The heads were not just abandoned to the elements, however. Each morning and afternoon Abdulla would climb a ladder and inspect the current head. He would report on its condition to the doctor, who was guided by the Regulations for the Care of Heads.
Times were changing. “Independence” was an idea heard in the wind. There was always at least one of the empire’s twenty-nine countries making trouble. Right now it was the one out on the very edges of empire: Albania. Lessons must be taught. Ali Pasha lost his head.
So begins an allegorical treatment of minority repression under autocratic regimes. How do you erase a national identity? The technique was well researched, finely tuned, and proven. The answer was in the Central Archive in a five stage secret doctrine:
Meanwhile factions live in fear. Who will survive and who will be the next head to be transported to the capital? When will it happen? Even the lowly Abdulla back in the capital, the representative of Everyman, had dreams and fears. Kadare manages all this with humour, poking fun both at the “head” being the central administration and its functionaries, and the people themselves.
This novel was completed in 1976. It was published in Albania in 1978, but was almost immediately withdrawn by the authorities. A French copyright was issued in 1984. It took just over forty years for it to be translated into English, years during which Albania was once again part of a larger dominant body. However, it’s well worth the wait. show less
Perhaps nowhere else could the eyes of passersby so easily grasp the interdependency between the imposing solidity of the ancient show more square and the human heads that had dared to show it disrespect. It was clear at once that the niche had been sited in the wall to convey the impression that the head’s lifeless eyes surveilled every corner of the square. In this way, even the feeblest and least imaginative passerby could visualize, at least for a moment, his own head displayed at the unnatural height.
The heads were not just abandoned to the elements, however. Each morning and afternoon Abdulla would climb a ladder and inspect the current head. He would report on its condition to the doctor, who was guided by the Regulations for the Care of Heads.
Times were changing. “Independence” was an idea heard in the wind. There was always at least one of the empire’s twenty-nine countries making trouble. Right now it was the one out on the very edges of empire: Albania. Lessons must be taught. Ali Pasha lost his head.
So begins an allegorical treatment of minority repression under autocratic regimes. How do you erase a national identity? The technique was well researched, finely tuned, and proven. The answer was in the Central Archive in a five stage secret doctrine:
first, the physical crushing of rebellion; second, the extirpation of any idea of rebellion; third, the destruction of culture, art, and tradition; fourth, the eradication or impoverishment of the language; and fifth, the extinction or enfeeblement of the national memory.
Meanwhile factions live in fear. Who will survive and who will be the next head to be transported to the capital? When will it happen? Even the lowly Abdulla back in the capital, the representative of Everyman, had dreams and fears. Kadare manages all this with humour, poking fun both at the “head” being the central administration and its functionaries, and the people themselves.
This novel was completed in 1976. It was published in Albania in 1978, but was almost immediately withdrawn by the authorities. A French copyright was issued in 1984. It took just over forty years for it to be translated into English, years during which Albania was once again part of a larger dominant body. However, it’s well worth the wait. show less
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Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 188
- Also by
- 6
- Members
- 7,829
- Popularity
- #3,109
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 311
- ISBNs
- 784
- Languages
- 30
- Favorited
- 32