Death and the DervishDeath and the Dervish is an acclaimed novel by Bosnian writer Mesa Selimovic. It recounts the story of Sheikh Nuruddin, a dervish residing in an Islamic monastery in Sarajevo in the eighteenth century during the Ottoman Turk hegemony over the Balkans. When his brother is arrested, he must descend into the Kafkaesque world of the Ottoman authorities in his search to discover what happened to him. He narrates his story in the form of an elaborate suicide note, regularly misquoting the Koran. In time, he begins to question his relations with society as a whole and, eventually, his life choices in general. Hugely successful when published in the 1960s, Death and the Dervish is an enduring classic made into a feature length film in 1974. |
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abdest afraid Ahmed Nuruddin asked beautiful began believe Bosnia brother calm calmly Constantinople conversation dangerous darkness dead DEATH defterdar DERVISH desire Dubrovnik empty everything eyes face father fear feel felt forget fortress frightened front gate golden bird gone guards guilty Hadji-Sinanuddin Hafiz-Muhammed hand happened Harun Hassan hate hatred hear heard hide hope important Is-haq kadi Kara-Zaim kasaba knew Koran laughed leave listened live longer looked lovage madrasah matter memory MEŠA SELIMOVIĆ misfortune morning mosque mufti Mullah-Yusuf musellim never night path piasters Piri-Voivode pity Posavina prayer prison quiet reason remembered river Saint George's Day Sarajevo seemed Selimović shadow shame silent smile someone somewhere sorrow sorry stood stopped strange street surprised talk tekke tell thing thought tion told Travnik trying turned upset vali vizier voice waiting walked wanted watched words Yusuf zurna