Dušan Šarotar Books

In the northern Slovenian city of Murska, Sobota stands the renowned Hotel Dobray, once the gathering place of townspeople of all nationalities and social strata who lived in this typical town on the fringe of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. It had always been home to numerous ethnically and culturally mixed communities that gave it the charm and melos of Central-European identity. But now, in the thick of World War II, the town is occupied by the Hungarian army. Franz Schwartz's wife, Ellsie has been preparing their son Isaac, a gifted violinist, for his first solo concert, which is to take place at Hotel Dobray. Isaac is to perform on his bar mitzvah and 13th birthday on April 26, 1944. When the German army marches into town and forces all Jews to display yellow stars on their clothes, Ellsie advises her husband that the family should flee the town and escape to Switzerland. Schwartz promises her he will obtain forged documents, but not before Isaac performs his concert at the hotel. A year later, in March 1945, Schwartz returns, on foot, from the concentration camp as one of the few survivors.

Part of the first Peter Owen World Series. Dusan Sarotar takes the reader on a deeply reflective, multi-faceted journey from northern to southern Europe, full of memorable characters and landscapes. In a manner reminiscent of W.G. Sebald, Sarotar supplements the narrative with photographs, which help blur the lines between fiction and journalism.

Štiri priznane slovenske pisatelje smo povabili, da napišejo kratke zgodbe, za katere naj poiščejo navdih v slovanski mitologiji. Tako spoznamo novodobno Lepo Vido, ki pa tokrat svoje bridke usode ne obžaluje, mladenko, ki na svojem potovanju v Krakov odkrije množico slovanskih božanstev in bajeslovnih bitij, žensko, ki se, da bi obvarovala svojega moža pred kaznijo, kot Bela dama devinska spremeni v skalo, ter mladega pripravnika iz odvetniške pisarne, ki se mu ob nenavadnem srečanju razkriva v tančico skrivnosti zavita usoda, zapisana morda le v zvezdah. V vsaki izmed zgodb, katerih razpon seže od duhovitih vsakdanjih prigod do sanjskih podob, se zrcali nekaj skrivnostnega, nekaj, česar ne moremo popolnoma dojeti, nekaj, kar nas opominja, da je v našem vsakdanjiku marsikaj nepojasnljivega in da so naša življenja nemalokrat podobna - bajkam.

'Šarotarjev prvenec je dokaj nenavadno branje. Predvsem preseneča avtorjev asketizem pri oblikovanju romanesknega sveta. Celotno dogajanje je umeščeno na jadranski otok, razbeljen od peklenskega sonca in poseljen s prikaznimi nočnih videnj. V ta kozmos prvinskih energij vstopi tujec, ki kmalu spozna, da je bilo željeno iskanje miru in morebitne avanture le utvara. Tukaj je namreč Otok mrtvih. Kjer so bitja in stvari, očiščena civilizacijske lepotije, predana elementarni igri življenja in smrti. Fundamentalnim vprašanjem se ni mogoče več izogniti, še več, tudi zastaviti jih ni mogoče. So kot grozljivi kadavri v skrivnostni temi ... Potapljanje na dah ni zgolj realistično poročilo iz pokrajine smrti, ampak tudi, če ne morda predvsem, parabola o življenju.' --- Mitja Čander