Mike Ormsby - Grand Bazar Romania + Never Mind the Balkans, Here's Romania RO/EN

Autor: Mike Ormsby

Titlu: Grand Bazar Romania / Never Mind the Balkans, Here's Romania

Editura: Compania

An aparitie: 2008

Nr. pagini: 287 / 279

Versiunea 1 (Engleza) / 2 (Romana)

starea cartilor: foarte buna

Descriere: Never Mind the Balkans, Here's Romania is a collection of 57 short stories by Mike Ormsby, published by Editura Compania in Bucharest, Romania in May 2008. The Romanian language version Grand Bazar România sau Călător străin updated, translated by Vlad A. Arghir, was published simultaneously. The book gained significant and widespread attention from Romania's literary critics in print, broadcast and online media. Most praised its realistic tone, tragicomic style and accessible format.

Some reviewers described the author as 'a British Ion Luca Caragiale', and one perceived a direct link to foreign travel writers of previous centuries in Romania, such as John Paget, James Henry Skene, Emily Gerard and Sacheverell Sitwell. Another likened Ormsby's style to that of a portrait artist, and, in terms of contemporary peers, he was compared to Irish writer Philip Ó Ceallaigh. However, one journalist suggested that the book represents an indictment of Romania by a foreign guest. General public response to the book was positive, at home and abroad. Three of Ormsby's stories were subsequently included in the 2011 anthology Bucharest Tales, published by New Europe Writers.

Plot summary

Based on the author's personal experiences in urban and rural Romania over a fourteen-year period between 1994 and 2008, the book consists of a series of vignettes delineating various aspects of modern Romanian life. A narrator tells the stories in the first person, using the present tense, and is closely linked to the events and characters portrayed, often with unexpected results. He describes encounters with taxi drivers, the new rich, teenagers, notaries, lawyers, waiters, musicians, friends, families, association presidents, politicians, etc. Settings range from Bucharest to Transylvania, from the mountains to the coast. In two stories, the narrator meets or observes Romanians abroad. The tone throughout is wry but empathetic, with elements of bittersweet comedy, danger and, on one occasion, violence, when interests and ideals clash. Most of the stories contain an allegorical twist, inviting wider interpretation.

Major Themes

The overriding theme is Romania's progress from former Communist dictatorship to a democracy within the European Union. The country's socio-cultural, economic and political transition provides the backdrop for a range of overlapping and often opposing sub-themes drawn from everyday life in town and country, home and abroad. These include new wealth; endemic poverty; bureaucracy; civil society; apartment block politics; hospitality; self-interest; compassion; authority; manners; petty corruption; service culture; the remnants of the 'communist' mindset; child-care; road safety; animal welfare; travel; hospitality; classical and popular music; work and leisure activities (notably jogging); ethnic minorities; gender issues; baptism and funeral rites.

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