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2014 Longlist

The Cannon was Red Hot

Translated from the original Serbian into English

ABOUT
THE BOOK

This remarkable and powerful novel tells the story of how a brutal civil war impacts on the lives of a group of Muslim, Serbian and Croat neighbours living in Sarajevo while the city was under siege and suffering daily bombardment in the early 1990s. The war is seen through the eyes of a pre-teen aged Serbian boy whose parents are killed during the shelling. It is a gripping tale of cruelty, violence and survival, but also reveals an underlying expression of faith in the inherent ability of human beings to rise above ethnic and religious hatreds. Few books can match the author’s skill in depicting how ordinary people react when forced to take sides in a conflict which turns their neighbours into enemies. An important and exciting book.  – James Bissett, Former Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Vladimir
Kecmanović

Vladimir Kecmanović first attracted the public’s attention in 1990, when he received the Ivo Andric Award, given by the leading Sarajeve newspaper Oslobodjenje. His stories have appeared in major Belgrade periodicals, and his published novels include Poslednja.

Vladimir Kecmanović first attracted the public’s attention in 1990, when he received the Ivo Andric Award, given by the leading Sarajeve newspaper Oslobodjenje. His stories have appeared in major Belgrade periodicals, and his published novels include Poslednja.

NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS

The Cannon was Red Hot is the most courageous Serbian novel of the 21st century and, and most likely, the novel about the true tragedy of the war in Bosnia, the war which no one won.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Date published
01/01/2014
Country
Serbia
Original Language
Serbian
Publisher
Serbian Literary Company
Translator
Sofija Skorić
Translation
Translated from the original Serbian into English

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