After the last word of Island of The World flew out the tip of my tongue, I was not in a trance like what happened when I finished the book Theophilus. The ending dragged a bit longer than I have anticipated, my emotion has ebbed, yet I still feel uplifted, mixed with a shred of pride (for finishing this epic novel).
Island of The World is a story of a child born into the turbulent world of the Balkans in 1933, and traces his life into the third millennium. When the story starts, Yugoslavia is torn by conflicting fractions: German and Italian occupying armies, and the rebel forces that resist them – the fascist Ustashe, Serb nationalist Chetniks and Communist Partisans. At the beginning of the book, the central character of this book, Josip Lasta was leading a tranquil, content, guileless life with his parents in a remote village high in the mountain region of the Croatian interior, and then abruptly his world was brutally taken away from him when he was only 12 years old. Luckily he has escaped the atrocity of his village, but having to witness the barbarous scenes of his beloved people being burned, amputated and shot. With a broken heard, I walked with him days and nights out of the mountain. I watched him falling again and again, yet I couldn’t land him a hand, I watched him starve, yet I couldn’t offer him a piece of bread, I pray that I wouldn’t pass a lonely soul on the road indifferently if I ever saw one. I was full of gratitude when a man finally picked up his tiny body from the road side and took him home, and saddened by the wife’s decision to let him go because of the food shortage.
Miraculously, he was found by his aunt in the city. It took time for his deprived yet kind aunt to mend his shattered body and traumatized heart a bit; yet again he had to face the cruel reality. It turned out that his uncle was one of the criminals that salvaged his home village. Again I ran with him from the horror with desperate; I sank into the chilly river with him…
When Josip grew into an athletic intelligent young college student, he experienced the most amazing love of his lifetime. The breathtaking beauty of his romance with Ariadne seems surreal. I could almost smell the cruelty from those sweet scents seeping from the lines. Their newly founded family seemed so fragile during the ruthless ruling of their newly found Communist government. Yet Josip was involved in this underground literature revolution group, his love to poetry and yearning for freedom made him decide to stay in the still depressed country. Then again, as events gather momentum, hell breaks loose, he was caught in the path of great evils. With horror, I watched him going through hell yet once again, he was sent to the most merciless labor camp in Yugoslavia; endure the absolutely dehumanizing acts. With the strong desire to reunite with his wife, he escaped the prison island. Yet the hope flame is totally put down by the cold reality that he has lost his family again…
So far, it sounds like a great tragedy, yet throughout his life, I saw a silver thread stretching out, and going up to an invisible hand, at every abyss, every down turn, at the lowest points of his life, it gently tagged him, pulled him through. Along the line, many angelic people appeared in front of him, including the wise lastivica of the sea, the five friends he made in the camp, the little girl who mistaken him as a dolphin in the sea, and the brothers who risked their lives to bring him back home, the psychologist who treated him in Italy… they are all like shining pearls sliding down from the silver thread. Every time, I was touched and inspired by these people’s deeds and words.
I especially enjoyed the later chapters about his life after escaping Yugoslavia. How it happened that he was able to return faith after the ordeals he has been through, how he planted seeds in ordinary peoples’ hearts, how he faced the devils and gave his forgiveness, how he kept the heart stabbing pain to himself and let Ariadne have a peaceful life…
To conclude this, I say it is really an inspiring book and well worth of your time.
