Like Andrić's
city-based chronicles, Omer Pasha Latas serves the purpose of projecting the
sides than the center. The final novel by Andrić
before his death and never before translated into English has renewed
revelation not on history but on humanity. Impeccable translation done by Celia
Hawkesworth, Omer Pasha Latas is another historical novel in the oeuvre rich in
character portrayals and description of uncanny identities, in whom we may find
quotidian but always green side of human nature, which is in fact dark.
People were charmed to
see the extravagance of the Pasha and his entourage on their arrival, which
slowly turned to disgust when they decreed Ottoman Sultan's will to reform the administration,
social and moral structure. Pasha's yearlong residence and expedition leaves
land-owners and non-conformists killed, chained or exiled. While Pasha's
infamous court and army is busy bringing their own form of moral justice
subduing whatever comes on the way, people of the city have no power to mock
the degradation caused by their residence, corruption, loot, and lavish way of
living. People believed this grandeur of living was not suited to a reformer.
The characters are
abruptly disjunct. Everyone wants to escape the complexity of their identity
and individuality, and unknowingly live their part while others are little
concerned. It seems the world around Omer Pasha has been separated into
individuals, who are agonized and sometimes are in ruins. Omer Pasha and his
army are surrounded by elusive problem concerning their identity. Greatness is
at the verge of dissatisfaction, and characters have common human problems and
their internal is in ruins.
The army of the
Muslim-converts is despised by the town's people, and their supreme leader Omer
Pasha is hated for the way he is – arrogant and distrustful, but which has
earned him favors in the middle of pandemonium in occupying and subduing
pursuit. However, Omer Pasha's mere presence is enough for his foes or allies
to be afraid of him. Formerly Mićo Latas, a Muslim-convert himself, originally
belonging to Christian Serb family, a runaway, Omer makes himself fitted to
serve the Ottoman sultan, and is highly praised for suppressing the rebellion, is
enigmatic and leaves the reader to amaze to his sheen.
Personal traits of
Crazy Osman, Karas – the painter, a member of Pasha's harem Saida Hanuma, an
old vigil for a corpse, raped victim of imperial army, impotent blind lover and
a murderer are some characters that confirm Andrić
is occupied with eccentric characters. Political and purely human faces merge
in the text, moral corruption is in the shadows, and what obvious is the dream
to escape the fate. Also, vexed we may from sudden appearance of new characters;
we soon find it adds to the sublime nature of the prose, and each one is as
important as they are different.
Omer Pasha had this
unrelenting skill of lying, manipulation and negotiation that always earned him
what he wanted, the way he wanted it. For his brother, he is a cold-blooded
man, who's lost himself in the way of finding glory and counts none, sees no
one, and hears nothing but thinks the triumphal historical height for himself.
Power corrupts the natural way a man is supposed to behave, and leaves waste of
characters along the track, Muhsin Effendi is one such, a Yes-man to the
superiors. The woe from the change in their characters many believed was due to
their being in Bosnia, in this foreign territory.
Omer Pasha's carnal
desires and the way he fulfills them, his desire to be painted and be hailed
for generations everywhere, his love for luxury and his brutality made him
infamous, and this had to be kept secret. The novel is not supposedly biography
of Omer Pasha, rather through array of characters with or without seraksier's
influence Andrić's portrayal is rather of faith,
fate and nature of a man, and leaving behind historical context characters
radiate on their own. A hailed reformer now infamous for his way of doing
things looks pitiful, when victor was the subject of deceit, so Omer finds new
ways of keeping his position and bearing clean. And finally, his departure is joyed
by the town's people and his army is cursed on the back.
Andrić
poses the history as guile to faux and brazen personas. We're surprised to see
how hopelessness rise in among those close to seraksier's power, and believe
that humans are only satisfied by individual desires and history plays minor
role. Trying to link all characters to Omer Pasha is impossible, and it seems Andrić is talking about that specific time and
the mentality of the period, but they are nothing different than today's problem
of identity, corruption of power and morale. Though little is given about the
town's people, we'll understand the complex of faith and beliefs among
Christians and Muslims in Bosnia, and the social formation then. "If we all had the opportunity, courage
and strength to transform just a part of our imaginings and most ardent desires
into reality, at just one moment of our lives, it would be immediately clear to
the whole world and to ourselves who we are, what we are, what we are like and
what we are capable of becoming and being. Fortunately, for most of us, that
opportunity never arises and we never cross from imagination and transient
irrational thoughts to deeds and actions." from the chapter And Then is
self-revealing to support our fate and also to the way we are.
Novel has slack plot
line, and sticks to the character description and establishment till the end
and does little to conflate them and leaves them to their own world. One ardent
remark is made in the introduction about Ivo Andrić
“But the wise man thinks his own thoughts and does things his own way.” But
same holds true for all men. A man can corrupt himself, a man can believe he's
useless and his life meaningless. He can lie, cheat and still. Omer Pasha Latas
manages to put forth the idea that ignoring the fatalistic and sadistic tone
about life, throughout the history humans has behaved almost in similar way,
they are brutal, ignorant, idiots, killers, suppressors, lecherous, but we seek
the other way, and feel proud that we can see the future lies in the other way.
Andrić has made a real Omer Pasha into
larger than life character, and we know why when we read.
Author:
Ivo Andrić
Translator: Celia
Hawkesworth
Publisher: New York Review Books
Page Count: 304
Price: $10.94 (Kindle)