Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung
Essen, Germany
September 01, 1997
Number 7/ 2. week
Page 9
by Hans Jansen
Journey to yesterday
A small masterpiece
Members of a small nation ask from a president of a powerful country the skull of their hero Arimah, who is buried within
honors in an unknown place - somewhere between Kilikia and Kappadokia. Surprisingly, the president responds to their wishes,
although his advisors warn him: according to an old belief, the opening of the grave means the fall of the country.
In his novel, "The Broken Journey" Mihajlo Kazic condenses something that begins as an adventure into a parable of
superstition and religion, knowledge and arrogance of the powerful. The story spans throughout three centuries from no man's
land of a magical region to the modern Los Angeles.
Similar to his first book, "Emperor of the Galatians", the Serbian author, who works as an engineer, here also shows
a panorama of human madness between a vision and reality. The main character is the French major Philippe Guelton, a deeply
melancholic man, who, in his dream, once again relieves the expedition of the strange search for the grave.
Interwoven with fine irony and worldwide known wise sayings, this small epic masterpiece, not in the least thanks to its fiction
full of atmosphere, is a reminiscence of Dino Buzzati's magnificent novel "The Tartar Steppe" - here, as well as there,
the sameness of the metaphysical search for sense is stripped off an exciting action.
