February 13, 2017
In current day Helsinki, Bekim, an isolated, gay, 20-something ethnic Albanian born in Kosovo, acquires a boa constrictor and intentionally keeps it out of its terrarium, preferring to let the snake wrap itself around his body instead. Meanwhile, in alternating chapters, readers follow Bekim’s history: the story of his mother and father before they were married and he was born, the Serbian destruction of Islamic Albania, and the family’s eventual move to Finland. As each story line progresses, the gap between the two timelines closes, illustrating how the past and the present have shaped Bekim. The chapters featuring Bekim’s mother, beginning in 1980 when she was 15 years old, powerfully reveal her strained marriage to a traditional, domineering man and her endless domestic responsibilities because “a Kosovan home should always look tidy and shouldn’t look lived in.” She works tirelessly to placate her husband and protect her children, a task made infinitely more difficult once the family is displaced to cold, foreign Finland. But the thread following adult Bekim is far more difficult to track, particularly once he meets a cat in a bar: “he raised his front paw to the top button of his shirt, unbuttoned it, and began walking toward me.” The reality here becomes hard to parse, and it’s unclear if the cat is whimsical or a reflection of Bekim’s disturbed mental state. While the story of the family is compelling, the juxtaposition with the talking cat becomes a jarring counterpoint, interfering with the otherwise important exploration of the aftershocks of war.
Starred review from February 15, 2017
Winner of Finland's highest literary honor for best debut novel, an elegant, allegorical portrait of lives lived at the margin, minorities within minorities in a new land.Bekim is Muslim and gay, the son of a woman who left fragmenting Yugoslavia with her domineering, moody husband for a new life in Finland. Now, in Helsinki, where Bekim is not entirely at home though a productive citizen, he has come into the orbit of a talking cat who sucks down alcohol and has any number of dislikes and--well, pet peeves. "Gays. I don't much like gays," says the cat, before amending the remark to, "Obviously, I like all kinds of toms, but I hate bitches!" That explains the cat's presence in a gay bar, perhaps, but it does nothing to relieve Bekim's angst, especially when the cat hisses that no one will ever love him. His mother, Emine, meanwhile, has grown from an utterly ordinary person, "only pretty and good at housework, or so I'd been told," as she says, to a self-aware woman who finally frees herself from a bad marriage and a life where "our entire existence hung on our children who had decided to have nothing to do with us." Statovci's characters might prefer to live quietly on the sidelines, but events in Kosovo overturn their lives, even from afar; witnessing one in a long series of atrocities on the news, Emine concludes, "God did nothing with that child because there was no God." Strangers in an uncomprehending new home, Statovci's actors make do, alert for possibilities of happiness, however unattainable. Statovci doesn't quite make full use of his fantastic cat; though he invests his creation with plenty of personality, Statovci lacks Mikhail Bulgakov's flair for satirical meaning-making through the use of animal characters. As it is, though, the creature turns out to be a complex character, tormented as well as a tormentor. And that's not to speak of Bekim's pet snake, who has dangerous ideas of his own. Allegorical but matter-of-fact: a fine debut, layered with meaning and shades of sorrow.
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Starred review from February 1, 2017
Told in alternating chapters, this powerful story of Albanian refugees from Kosovo now living in Finland (like the author himself) starts with the encounter of two gay men who met in a chatroom. The lonely younger man, Bekim, is searching for someone with whom to share his life. In alternate chapters, we read about the courtship and marriage of Bekim's parents, Emine and Bejram, and of Emine's youthful dreams of a handsome, caring husband and children of her own. After a traditional wedding and the birth of their children, the family flees to Finland to escape the numerous military conflicts in Kosovo. Unfortunately, Emine and Bejram's life continues to deteriorate, and Bejram becomes even more melancholy and abusive, alienating himself from everyone. Vacationing in his homeland, he realizes he no longer fits in there any more than he does in Finland and feels thoroughly unwanted; he is living in a kind of purgatory. We see the dramatic effects of this dysfunctional life on Bekim, who as a child was terrorized by nightmares of snakes and now adopts a boa constrictor as a pet. In addition, Bekim follows the advice of a highly unusual talking cat. VERDICT Statovci is a tremendous talent. This debut novel--a deserved winner of the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize for Best First Novel in 2014--has an intensity and power that demands a second reading. [See Prepub Alert, 10/10/16.]--Lisa Rohrbaugh, Leetonia Community P.L., OH
Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
March 1, 2017
Cats and snakes feature prominently in Statovci's novel, adding levity and surrealist texture to an otherwise grim story about a Kosovar family's new life in Finland. Young Emine marries handsome but brutish Bajram, who is not traditional enough to kill a cat in front of her, as wedding-night custom dictates. Years later, her youngest son, Bekim, falls into an abusive relationship with a talking cat who, despite his good looks, turns out to be a sadistic jerk. Before that, Bekim's most intimate relationship was with the gigantic boa constrictor he allows to roam free in his apartment. Though estranged, mother and son seek similar emancipation from patriarchy, prejudice, and their Yugoslavian past, but Finland, with its rules and various forms of coldness, does not easily yield the freedom they desire. Alternating between two first-person narrators and swerving between realism and allegory, Statovci sacrifices some linear continuity to emphasize broader points about his characters' hybrid identities and disjunctive experiences. Will symbolism, whimsy, and emotionally manipulative animals resonate with international audiences? Finland bestowed the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize for best first novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)