Novel
Песма
Not translated into English
Oskar Davičo · 1952
Synopsis
Belgrade under German occupation. Mića, a young communist in the underground, acts with his comrades Petar and Đorđe, while the poet Andrija Veković, who lives in the same building, dreams of joining the partisans so as to write there at last his final and greatest poem. Between them passes Ana, whom they both love, and behind them stand Mića's father, Žika, the dead mother, the fate of the city's Jews, and the never-settled question of whether Veković is the boy's real father.
Context
Fragments of the novel first appeared in newspapers and reviews, then the book came out in 1952 from Novo pokolenje; it was subsequently reissued in several abridged and reworked versions. In it the author brings into the novel the experience of poetry and theatre, through interior monologue and surrealist association. Belgrade television made a television film from it in 1961, directed by Radoš Novaković, then a six-episode series in 1975, directed by Živojin Pavlović.
Who it is for
A long novel in a lyrical, jerky prose, made of monologues and rapid dialogues. It helps to know that Belgrade was occupied by Germany from 1941 to 1944.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as the author's great novel, and adapted twice for the screen, in 1961 and then in 1975.