BLAZE MINEVSKI
THE MARK
Novel
Pages 342
First published by “Makavej”, 2007
English translation available
Winner of Stale Popov award for best prose book in Macedonia, 2007
Nominated for IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
The Mark is published by:
Serbia, Arka – 2014
Rights sold:
Slovenia (Slovenska Zalozba)
Armenia (Antares)
Translation of this book is eligible for translation subsidy by Ministry of culture of Macedonia
„THE MARK“ IS A NOVEL OF A GREAT EUROPEAN FORMAT
The story is set in the front line as one sniper becomes aware that he is held in the sights of another. This happens to be a woman, moreover one who is extremely beautiful and though he is caught in between the cross hairs she does not fire! Why not execute the victim? How does victim live to fire at another? As in a chess match they look at each, carefully studying their faces through the gun sight? She’s the narrator and „listens“ to his story. Our narrator tells the story, and Doruntina (our figure names her festively as Doruntina, in order to establish an act of an communication, the axis `I-you`) listens intoxicated. She hears a life story of anonymous victim whose life is placed in her hands. A pacifists story of man who nurtured many high ideals (he wanted to become a writer, event took participation in a creative writing workshop in Iowa, where acquired a lot of literary friends). This story demonstrates the senselessness of every war which posses the power to cut off already drawn life paths and to mace a farce of everything that looked stable. Like a blind destiny to erase all previous existence, as letter on a sand; that blind power, the war, brigs back all the questions about the sense of life: what the exalted ideals mean whet a moment comes in which the sergeant stands behind their backs and can shoot them just because they hesitate to pull the sniper’s trigger and show mercy to each other, standing on the opposite sides of the `conflict`? „The Mark“ i novel with the highest literary values. It is a novel which is accepted i one emission, like a light. The novel is a literary work of a skilled master of words, obviously lavishly gifted with inspiration and craft. Together they make postmodern magic.
Venko Andonovski, University Professor, writer, winner of Balkanika Prize for best novel of the Balkans in 2002.
BLAZE MINEVSKI is an author, playwright, screenwriter. Works as editor of the publishing department at the National and University Library „St. Kliment Ohridski“ in Skopje. He writes short stories, novels, and plays. His literature has won him the most prestigious national prizes. As part of several anthologies,his work has been translated into several languages. His most important works are the novels “We Should Have Taken a Photo before We Started Hating Each Other”, “A Story about a Third Party”, and “The Mark”, for which he won several prizes
in 2008. He has also written five books of short stories. The “Dandelion Season” won him the Racin Award for the best book of prose in 2001. As author of stage works, he has achieved both critical and fan acclaim for his plays published as a collection under the title “Eh-People”.