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Ismaîl Kadaré

Author of Broken April

189+ Works 6,533 Members 268 Reviews 30 Favorited

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 Ismaîl Kadaré

Broken April (1982) 668 copies
The Palace of Dreams (1993) 598 copies
Chronicle in Stone (1971) 537 copies
The General of the Dead Army (1970) 493 copies
The Siege (1981) 427 copies
The Successor (2003) 425 copies
The Three-Arched Bridge (1993) 347 copies
The File on H. (1981) 325 copies
Spring Flowers, Spring Frost (2002) 313 copies
The Pyramid (1992) 236 copies
The Accident (2008) 206 copies
The Ghost Rider (1980) 199 copies
Three Elegies for Kosovo (1998) 171 copies
The Fall of the Stone City (2009) 158 copies
The Concert (1988) 152 copies
The Traitor's Niche (1978) 139 copies
Twilight of the Eastern Gods (1978) 133 copies
The Doll (2015) 44 copies
Het monster (1991) 43 copies
Le Grand Hiver (1973) 39 copies
De versteende bruidsstoet (1981) 38 copies
Het donkere jaar (1980) 36 copies
L'Aigle (1995) 26 copies
Clair de lune (1993) 24 copies
Spiritus (1996) 24 copies
Novembre d'une capitale (1991) 16 copies
A Dictator Calls (2023) 13 copies
El firmán de la ceguera (1994) 12 copies
La provocación (2012) 10 copies
Die Schleierkarawane (1987) 10 copies
The Wedding (1968) 9 copies
The Shadow (1994) 9 copies
Princesha Argjiro (2001) 4 copies
Œuvres. Tome premier (1993) 3 copies
Œuvres. Tome huitième (1999) 3 copies
Œuvres. Tome douzième (2004) 3 copies
Œuvres. Tome septième (1999) 3 copies
Vepra (2002) 3 copies
Œuvres. Tome cinquième (1993) 3 copies
Legend of the Legends (1996) 3 copies
Le spiagge d'inverno (1996) 2 copies
Œuvres. Tome onzième (2002) 2 copies
MOSMARREVESHJA 2 copies
Vepra 14 (2013) 2 copies
Kadare, Ura Me Tri Harqe (2004) 2 copies
Œuvres. Tome deuxième (2014) — Author — 2 copies
Œuvres. Tome troisième (2014) 2 copies
Œuvres. Tome neuvième (2000) 2 copies
Qyteti pa reklama: Roman (2001) 2 copies
Œuvres. Tome quatrième (1996) 2 copies
Ibret Tasi (2013) 2 copies
Œuvres. Tome sixième (2014) — Author — 2 copies
Œuvres. Tome dixième (2001) 2 copies
Następca (2008) 2 copies
DIALOG ME ALAIN BOSQUET (2002) 2 copies
VEPRA 8 1 copy
VEPRA 7 1 copy
VEPRA 6 1 copy
VEPRA 5 1 copy
VEPRA 3 1 copy
VEPRA 2 1 copy
VEPRA 1 1 copy
VEPRA 10 1 copy
UNAZA NE KTHETRA (2001) 1 copy
VEPRA 9 1 copy
VEPRA 11 1 copy
La città di pietra (2021) 1 copy
KRISTAL 1 copy
DOSJA H 1 copy
VEPRA 12 1 copy
VEPRA 20 1 copy
VEPRA 19 1 copy
VEPRA 18 1 copy
VEPRA 17 1 copy
VEPRA 16 1 copy
VEPRA 15 1 copy
VEPRA 13 1 copy
Drömmarnas palats (2014) 1 copy
Her er Tirana! (1982) 1 copy
@0153uvres (1993) 1 copy
KOSOVA'YA UC AGIT (1999) 1 copy
La Grande Muraille (1993) 1 copy
2002 1 copy
La Bambola 1 copy
Kater Perkthyesit (1991) 1 copy
Ëndërrime 1 copy
KOHE BARBARE 1 copy
Kusheriri i engjejve (2005) 1 copy
Umbra 1 copy
Rüyalar Sarayi (2022) 1 copy
Tas Kentin Dususu (2015) 1 copy

Associated Works

Granta 91: Wish You Were Here (2005) — Contributor — 133 copies
Die ogen en de dood (1974) — Afterword, some editions — 19 copies
Behind the Sun [2001 film] (2002) — Original novel — 10 copies
Don Quijote: Alrededor Del Mundo (2005) — Contributor — 7 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Kadare, Ismail
Legal name
Kadaré, Ismaïl
Birthdate
1936-01-28
Gender
male
Nationality
Albania
Birthplace
Gjirokaster, Albania
Places of residence
Gjirokaster, Albania (birth)
Paris, France
Education
University of Tirane (Languages and Literature)
Gorky Institute of World Literature (Moscow)
Occupations
novelist
poet
journalist
Member of Parliament
Relationships
Kadare, Helena (wife)
Awards and honors
Man Booker International Prize (2005)
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)
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.

Members

Reviews

Isamail Kadare offers a promising title and subject only to disappoint with baseless speculations which range from Boris Pasternak and Olga Ivinskaya being KGB, CIA or both to Boris having had an affair with Anna Akhmatova. “Tosh,” as one friend put it. His comments on tyrants and poets are excellent. But these are tiny gems in a book which appears to have been dashed off and published on the weight of the author’s literary reputation. Sad. I do not recommend this book.
 
Flagged
forestormes | Oct 7, 2023 |
This work is unusual in that it takes place in ancient Egypt, though a reader would have to be exceptionally dull to miss the book-length metaphor—a sharp and penetrating indictment of despotism. The story itself is simple: Cheops has to be convinced to order the creation of a pyramid in his honor and memory. His advisors do so by explaining that only by oppressing his otherwise increasingly contented people can he effectively maintain power: only by making the people miserable can they be truly content. Much of the book is given over to a recounting of each day’s progress in the pyramid’s construction and its cost in human lives. The book is a meditation on the paranoia of absolute power.… (more)
 
Flagged
Gypsy_Boy | 10 other reviews | Aug 23, 2023 |
I had never heard of Ismail Kadare prior to being introduced to his name via a discussion on Goodreads with Daniel and Sarah.

The File on H. is a fictionalized story. Loosely based on researchers Albert Lord’s and Milman Parry’s investigation of whether Homer's works were original or based on oral tradition, the book sounded completely out of my comfort zone.

Originally written in Albanian, the English version was translated from the French. Set in the 1930's there is something for almost everyone: Spies, intrigue, myths, legends, jealousy, romance, quirky satire, poetry, music and the more serious references to Lord's and Parry's actual research.

The story isn’t perfect and there is an undercurrent of the author’s nationalism. Still, I ended up really enjoying the book, both the oddly humorous introductory chapters and the more serious parts of the book.
… (more)
 
Flagged
Ann_R | 13 other reviews | Aug 7, 2023 |
Oooh. Sometimes the rabbit holes I climb down to read books off my algorithmic radar really pay off.
Legend and history and political allegory and linguistic diversion.
 
Flagged
Kiramke | 15 other reviews | Jun 27, 2023 |

Lists

Awards

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Associated Authors

David Bellos Translator
Jusuf Vrioni Translator
John Hodgson Translator
Jacqueline Sheji Translator
J. Hodgson Translator
Joachim Röhm Übersetzer
Barbara Bray Translator
Anna Casassas Translator
David Smiley Introduction
Britt Arenander Translator
Derek Coltman Translator
Marianne Eyre Translator
Karlijn Stoffels Translator
Aleks Buda Afterword
Agneta Rehder Translator
Francesco Bruno Translator
Roel Schuyt Translator
Joachim Röhm Translator
Jan Zwart Translator
Oda Buchholz Translator
Wilfried Fiedler Translator
Alexandre Zotos Translator
Marina Marinova Translator
Kees Fens Co-referent

Statistics

Works
189
Also by
5
Members
6,533
Popularity
#3,759
Rating
½ 3.7
Reviews
268
ISBNs
735
Languages
30
Favorited
30

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