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Loading... Under the Yoke (original 1893; edition 1976)by Ivan Vazov5   elmyra | Nov 17, 2008 |   A classic of nineteenth-century Bulgarian literature, a mercifully short novel about the 1876 uprising against Turkish rule. I must admit that I was surprised by how well it reads, given that I have read any number of much worse-written books about Ireland (or England, or the United States) at the same period. Vazov’s revolutionaries, all men, are outnumbered, outgunned and fight valiantly to the end; his women are in fact also three-dimensional characters; you can’t really say the same for the Turks, and it’s a rather black and white novel, but still it’s a good and digestible insight into that particular part of Europe at that particular time. (  ) nwhyte | Jan 7, 2024 | When Kralich- a political prisoner escaped from the fortress of Diyarbekir- makes it back to his homeland, friends help him assume a new identity and a teaching job. But traitorous locals- who have their own axes to grind with him- are soon suspicious and seeking to betray him to the Turks. The message that comes through all along is less that the Turks are unspeakable swine (we soon see that) but that so many of the Bulgarians themselves - through fear or compkaisance- played along with them. The final line says it all- when the village idiot, Mooncho, is hanged for cursing Turkey: "The idiot was the only man who had dared to protest." There are chases through the mountains, gossiping nuns, a lovely schoolteacher, Cleopatra the bear (I thought the bear would play a larger role) and the memorable war hero Borimechka. Quite a gripping adventure- had me googling the places mentioned. Also had me googling what happened after this failed coup- apparently Russia liberated Bulgaria the following year, but international protest reversed that- Turkey got some back, and the rest was a "self governing" Ottoman kingdom of E Rumelia... Recall "doing" the Balkan wars many years ago for history O level and being entirely uninterested...but this book brings it all to very real life! ( )1 starbox | Nov 3, 2021 | For five hundred years Bulgaria was part of the Ottoman empire, subject to Turkish rule. By the nineteenth century Ottoman power was waning and nationalism was growing. Vakov's book depicts the failed April 1876 uprising of the Bulgarians against the Turks. The book begins with a family celebration, which serves the purpose of introducing Bulgarian religious observance, customs and traditions, and the loathing of the Bulgarians for the Turks. The celebration is interrupted by a noise from outside, which makes the women shriek in fear and sends Marko, the head of the family, out with a loaded gun to investigate. The intruder, Ivan Kralich, a Bulgarian insurgent who has escaped from a Turkish prison, narrowly evades the Turkish policeman who arrives in response to the noise. In only one chapter, Vakov has introduced the main characters and set the scene for the action to follow. Under the Yoke is the work of a Bulgarian patriot. There are no good Turks. The revolutionaries are brave and noble to the core; the rest are cowards and traitors. Vakov was there in 1876, fighting for Bulgarian independence. In 1878, after world-wide condemnation of Turkish atrocities committed during the Bulgarian uprising, the Russo-Turkish war finally freed Bulgaria from Ottoman rule. Vakov wrote the book in Odessa, in 1893. I found this book fascinating. Apparently, before Vakov there was no literature written in Bulgarian. Kudos to the person, uncredited in this Kindle edition, who managed to translate this book into English in 1912. Unfortunately the Kindle edition is full of typos, and the footnotes appear without warning in the middle of the text. This book deserves better. Highly recommended ( ) pamelad | May 26, 2021 | One of the most famous examples of classic Bulgarian literature. The novel is a tragic love story set in the context of a Bulgarian uprising against the Turks. Beautiful descriptions of the landscape and interesting from the perspective of capturing a specific moment in time - the emotions of the people in Bulgaria living under Turkish rule. Parts were a little dramatic for my tastes but overall I did enjoy the book. ( ) JenPrim | Jan 15, 2016 | Several reasons for that (I guess): lack of concentration due to personal issues, lack of knowlegde about the history of that part of the world (note to self: fresh up, read on the matter), and the typesetting. It took me ages to get through and I was repeatedly confused by the many names, under cover names, towns & villages that I could not pin down. An interesting reading experience, but not one I'd repeat quickly... (  ) BoekenTrol71 | Oct 12, 2014 | The conflict was both ethnic and religious, with Bulgarian Christians and Turkish Muslims occupying neighboring villages. Not all Bulgarians supported the rebellion. Some Bulgarians were content with their lives and were sympathetic toward the Turkish officials, and some were even willing to spy on and betray their Bulgarian neighbors. There are no sympathetic Turkish characters in the story. In fact, the Turkish characters don't have much personality at all. They're just violent and cruel. The heroes, cowards, and villains are all Bulgarian. Most of the characters were identified at various times by different forms of their names. Some of the characters also assumed aliases, and the aliases also had different forms. It was hard for me to keep all of the characters straight, although I had worked out who was who pretty well by the time I reached the end of the book. Recommended for readers who enjoy 19th century Russian literature, historical fiction, and adventure novels. ( ) cbl_tn | Feb 26, 2012 | Reading it over a century later, in exile if you will myself, it makes for interesting reading. Here's a few thoughts.It made me wonder on couple of occasions: was it worth it? A lot of good people gave their lives in the April Uprising to create a Bulgarian nation and independent state. They weren't immediately successful, but indirectly did contribute to the liberation two years later. But really, looking at Bulgaria today, was it worth it?I don't do nationalism - of any flavour other than possibly European - terribly well. I went through a mental list of what as a Bulgarian I could possibly be proud of. And the answer is that the vast majority of things that move me - art, history, literature, poetry, music - are from the time of the National Revival. There is very little that has been created since that I can form any sort of emotional bond with, and that little seems to stem from communist times. As a modern reader, one of the things that caught my eye was the way women are treated by Vazov. He states himself that his aim is to show Bulgarian life - and yet women seem largely ignored in the book. It passes the Bechdel test but only barely as Gospozha Murtaliiska begs Rada to leave the burning town of Klisura. Rada's own function as female lead is entirely as love interest, and most other women are portrayed as somebody's wife. Very few of them have any voice for themselves. Some of this reflects, of course, the gender segregation of society at the time - arguably I can't fairly expect Vazov to depict a conversation between two women about anything other than a man, if he's never witnessed one in his life. But I do still find the portrayal of Rada upsetting. You see, Rada is partially based on my own great-great-grandmother, Gana Naidenova Stoilova. Unlike Rada, of course, Gana survived the uprising. This is her story: Gana sewed and embroidered the flag for the uprising in Sopot where she lived. From money set aside from her wages (she was a teacher) she bought fabric and sewed clothes for the fighters. Like Rada, the uprising found her in Klisura, and when the town was overrun by the Turks, she actually found herself fighting. She was captured, tortured (they cut off one of her breasts - I can't imagine her not being raped), escaped to Koprivshtitsa, and survived. She had seven or eight children, lived to see her country liberated, lived into the 20th century. A single photo of Gana survives (that my family is aware of). In it, she wears a medal she was awarded for her bravery and contribution to the uprising. Proud as I am to have her as my great-great-grandmother, Gana was not an exception. Bulgarian women contributed time, money, skills, and their lives to the uprising. They played a vital role int he national revival as teachers. They fought bravely, a lot of them died bravely. And yet, what Vazov chooses to portray as the defining female character of the novel is a simpering girl, desperately in love with one of the revolutionaries, who faints when the Turks come for them at the end, and whose contribution of sewing the flag for the uprising is only mentioned in passing. Having said all of that, I did find the book interesting and it did in my mind paint a picture of Bulgarian life at the time and of the April Uprising. (Note: I read the Bulgarian original, but LT is playing up.) ( )5 elmyra | Nov 17, 2008 | Reading it over a century later, in exile if you will myself, it makes for interesting reading. Here's a few thoughts. It made me wonder on couple of occasions: was it worth it? A lot of good people gave their lives in the April Uprising to create a Bulgarian nation and independent state. They weren't immediately successful, but indirectly did contribute to the liberation two years later. But really, looking at Bulgaria today, was it worth it? I don't do nationalism - of any flavour other than possibly European - terribly well. I went through a mental list of what as a Bulgarian I could possibly be proud of. And the answer is that the vast majority of things that move me - art, history, literature, poetry, music - are from the time of the National Revival. There is very little that has been created since that I can form any sort of emotional bond with, and that little seems to stem from communist times. As a modern reader, one of the things that caught my eye was the way women are treated by Vazov. He states himself that his aim is to show Bulgarian life - and yet women seem largely ignored in the book. It passes the Bechdel test but only barely as Gospozha Murtaliiska begs Rada to leave the burning town of Klisura. Rada's own function as female lead is entirely as love interest, and most other women are portrayed as somebody's wife. Very few of them have any voice for themselves. Some of this reflects, of course, the gender segregation of society at the time - arguably I can't fairly expect Vazov to depict a conversation between two women about anything other than a man, if he's never witnessed one in his life. But I do still find the portrayal of Rada upsetting. You see, Rada is partially based on my own great-great-grandmother, Gana Naidenova Stoilova. Unlike Rada, of course, Gana survived the uprising. This is her story: Gana sewed and embroidered the flag for the uprising in Sopot where she lived. From money set aside from her wages (she was a teacher) she bought fabric and sewed clothes for the fighters. Like Rada, the uprising found her in Klisura, and when the town was overrun by the Turks, she actually found herself fighting. She was captured, tortured (they cut off one of her breasts - I can't imagine her not being raped), escaped to Koprivshtitsa, and survived. She had seven or eight children, lived to see her country liberated, lived into the 20th century. A single photo of Gana survives (that my family is aware of). In it, she wears a medal she was awarded for her bravery and contribution to the uprising. Proud as I am to have her as my great-great-grandmother, Gana was not an exception. Bulgarian women contributed time, money, skills, and their lives to the uprising. They played a vital role int he national revival as teachers. They fought bravely, a lot of them died bravely. And yet, what Vazov chooses to portray as the defining female character of the novel is a simpering girl, desperately in love with one of the revolutionaries, who faints when the Turks come for them at the end, and whose contribution of sewing the flag for the uprising is only mentioned in passing. Having said all of that, I did find the book interesting and it did in my mind paint a picture of Bulgarian life at the time and of the April Uprising. ( )1 elmyra | Nov 2, 2008 | |
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Reading it over a century later, in exile if you will myself, it makes for interesting reading. Here's a few thoughts.It made me wonder on couple of occasions: was it worth it? A lot of good people gave their lives in the April Uprising to create a Bulgarian nation and independent state. They weren't immediately successful, but indirectly did contribute to the liberation two years later. But really, looking at Bulgaria today, was it worth it?I don't do nationalism - of any flavour other than possibly European - terribly well. I went through a mental list of what as a Bulgarian I could possibly be proud of. And the answer is that the vast majority of things that move me - art, history, literature, poetry, music - are from the time of the National Revival. There is very little that has been created since that I can form any sort of emotional bond with, and that little seems to stem from communist times.
As a modern reader, one of the things that caught my eye was the way women are treated by Vazov. He states himself that his aim is to show Bulgarian life - and yet women seem largely ignored in the book. It passes the Bechdel test but only barely as Gospozha Murtaliiska begs Rada to leave the burning town of Klisura. Rada's own function as female lead is entirely as love interest, and most other women are portrayed as somebody's wife. Very few of them have any voice for themselves. Some of this reflects, of course, the gender segregation of society at the time - arguably I can't fairly expect Vazov to depict a conversation between two women about anything other than a man, if he's never witnessed one in his life. But I do still find the portrayal of Rada upsetting.
You see, Rada is partially based on my own great-great-grandmother, Gana Naidenova Stoilova. Unlike Rada, of course, Gana survived the uprising. This is her story: Gana sewed and embroidered the flag for the uprising in Sopot where she lived. From money set aside from her wages (she was a teacher) she bought fabric and sewed clothes for the fighters. Like Rada, the uprising found her in Klisura, and when the town was overrun by the Turks, she actually found herself fighting. She was captured, tortured (they cut off one of her breasts - I can't imagine her not being raped), escaped to Koprivshtitsa, and survived. She had seven or eight children, lived to see her country liberated, lived into the 20th century. A single photo of Gana survives (that my family is aware of). In it, she wears a medal she was awarded for her bravery and contribution to the uprising. Proud as I am to have her as my great-great-grandmother, Gana was not an exception. Bulgarian women contributed time, money, skills, and their lives to the uprising. They played a vital role int he national revival as teachers. They fought bravely, a lot of them died bravely.
And yet, what Vazov chooses to portray as the defining female character of the novel is a simpering girl, desperately in love with one of the revolutionaries, who faints when the Turks come for them at the end, and whose contribution of sewing the flag for the uprising is only mentioned in passing.
Having said all of that, I did find the book interesting and it did in my mind paint a picture of Bulgarian life at the time and of the April Uprising.
(Note: I read the Bulgarian original, but LT is playing up.) (