Ivo Andrić is almost like a Balkan “Mark Twain” so great were his powers of observation about human nature, sometimes wryly so. Could a man-made creation serve a nobler purpose? We often assign metaphysical powers to grand urban assets like the Eiffel Tower, but this book made the reader cherish a rural stone bridge as a precious jewel that made life grander and more meaningful for all the villagers who come in contact with it. The book The Bridge on the Drina is a fictionalized history of all that happened on that bridge. The Balkan native decides to use his position to build a stone bridge designed by the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan to commemorate the land he came from and to glorify God. Eventually, he rises to a position of adviser to the Sultan. A young Christian boy is taken to the Ottoman capital to serve the Ottoman Empire. What a book! What an author! And what a translator! This book is a haunting wonderful memoir exquisitely rendered in time and place. I never suspected then, that I would eventually be living in Istanbul someday, be familiar with Ottoman history up close, and have walked a historic Mimar Sinan stone bridge with my very own feet. He was so enthusiastic I knew someday I would read it, even though I had never heard of the author, never heard of the book, and knew nothing about Bosnia. About five years ago, an American friend of mine, whose book taste I completely respected, told me about this book.
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