Dictionary of the Khazars: A Lexicon Novel in 100,000 Words

I got this book the year of its release, and I read it, absorbed, piecemeal, and would savor it over the years. I never read from front to back, but I would dive in, reading laterally across the books (red, green, and yellow) and compare versions and perspectives. I traveled to Turkey with the book, meeting names and places in person. Only today, 30 years from the time I started, have I read the books in tandem, and seen amazing new unities. Superb book, and fitting the culmination would also have come in threes.

This novel is in the form of a dictionary, or rather, three dictionaries, each purporting to relate to a different aspect of the Khazar Polemic of the 9th Century AD.Some background: There used to be a people on the edge of the Caucasuscalled the Khazars. They lived on the border with the Byzantine Empire, which considered them an ally serving the function of a buffer state with Persia and the states to the east. At some point, they disappeared along with their records, language, cities and almost everything having to do with them but a few cemeteries. Legend has it that the Jews of Eastern Europe (the Ashkenazi) are their descendants. (Arthur Koestler has written a book on the subject.)Before they vanished, their king decided that he needed a new religion and summoned representatives of Christianity, Islam and Judaism to his court.When I first encountered the Dictionary of the Khazars in the late 1980s, I decided that it was the strangest book I'd ever read. That opinion hasn't changed.The book's conceit is that it is a facsimile of a "Dictionary of the Khazars" compiled in Poland during the 1600s, but banned by the Inquisition and destroyed the year after it was printed. All except for one copy, which was printed in poisoned ink. The story dribbles out through the three sets of alphabetical listings (from the Jew, the Muslim and the Christian who appeared at the court), with the relationships among the characters rather than the plot moving the story along. An appendix brings the story to its climax in 1982 in Istanbul.There is in fact not plot in the sense of an ordered, coherent narrative. The story flits in and out of dreams, legends, magical realism, references to the history of Anatolia and the Balkans, all in the form of terse dictionary entries which come from three sources and frequently contradict each other. If you like Jorge Luis Borges and Garbriel Garcia Marquez, this is worth a look.Oh, and don't worry about which edition to get. There is one paragraph toward the end that, as the author says, "changes everything", but you can figure out the other ending without any trouble.

I have found some strange phrases in Kindle edition, and at first, attributed them to Pavic's style. Unfortunately, this was not the case: comparing it to another translation I have, I realized this edition is just corrupted. Not sure who is responsible for this, but keep it in mind if you are going to buy it.Update: Punctuation marks sometimes seem to be added by an elementary school student. Awful editorial work, or complete absence of it?

Henry James said of Conrad's "Chance" that the story "took a lot of telling." One might say the same thing about "Khazars" except that, unlike "Chance," it doesn't tell its story. We never find out much about the Khazars or about the presentations of the three religions, supposedly one of the main topics. It follows some characters, whose lives are tall tales filled with fantastical details, but they don't have much internal logic and don't connect well with one another. It's sometimes funny, but I'm not sure that's always intentional. Most telling to me was that it was not at all clear why I should finish the book once I experienced how it works. The main interest for a reader is in how the book is narrated, or perhaps "laid out" would be a better word. Very postmodern, certainly interesting, but would be better if it were actually about something.

A non-linear book. Fictional mythologies, parables, cultures, and religions all create a fantastic fantasy world, all rooted in actual history. Difficult to get into, and not much in the way of characterization or traditional plotting, but you feel like some kind of scholar-stroke-detective cross-referencing and digging deeper into the book to find its mysteries. A hearty recommendation to the kinds of readers who enjoy unique and experimental narratives, like House of Leaves or mashup fiction in general.

I've read the book once on Kindle and I'm obsessed with it, hence the purchase of a hard copy. And I'm pretty sure I ordered this book rather than my granny's bra but who can tell me what's going on here... Am I suppose to send this to a hot girl as the gift for Chinese Valentine's Day?Btw, replacement requested...

When I read the topic of this book I had to have it it sounded so interesting and it was, the book was great I learned a lot and it was so interesting I can already know that this is a book that I will be reading more than just this once.

This is a vague but insightful work on the Khazars “The Chameleon Nation”. Dream lines. True classic. Must go to everyone’s collection. Especially those who are true seekers.

great

Excellent!

You need certain level of education for this book. You will enjoy the poetic parts like the prayer of the princess Ateh and the philosophic parts. You will wish this book thicker and you will be afraid to reach too soon the last page. I remember I used to put it on the side in order to prolong the time we spend together.

ok

satisfaite de mon achat