The Bridge Over the Drina

Excellent book, though I'm not sure I'd categorize it as a novel. Beyond the introduction to Bosnian history and the development of the ethno-religious conflicts in the region, this is a powerful literary work in its own right. One could quibble about the structure of the book which purports to cover three hundred years of the bridge's and the people's history, but which in truth engages more in a spiritual description of the growth and, in some sense, the destruction of a collective spirit. This leads to the fragmentation of the community, even though, ironically, this occurs within the context of empire building, first by the Ottomans and then by Austria-Hungary.A very good read

In 1981 my wife and I toured Yugoslavia for three weeks, during the course of which we stopped overnight in Visegrad. We saw the bridge and heard about Ivo Andric and his Nobel prize novel about the bridge. We learned about the complex relationships between ethnic and religious groups in that beautiful and fascinating country. The tour was one of the most interesting we ever had, and gave us an insight into cultures we had previously had little knowledge of. Whenever I thought back to that wonderful vacation, I always said to myself that I must read Andric's book, but never got around to searching it out until now. I still haven't quite finished it, but am thoroughly enjoying The Bridge Over the Drina.

I did not even know where the Drina was and that it had for 300 years a huge bridge. Ivo Andric narrates the building of and the happenings on the bridge from the time of its inception by an Istambul vizir (born near it), and some of the more interesting characters, up the first World War. It is a steady book, well written and unusual. Very rarely, a novel goes on for so long in terms of time in the novel. Andric has done a good job on it.

An under-appreciated classic with great relevance for our own era because of its portrayal of relationships among Muslims, Christians and Jews in the Balkans.

Great narration and the author Ivo Andric is superb.

thouht it deserves the best rating, was very low priced, the speed of the shipping was amazing considering it came from the u.k. recommend it to people of interests in balkan/ottoman history.

Nobel Prize winner - wonderfully humane, should be better known.

Not exactly a novel, more a series of stories following the 'life' of a Bosnian bridge over 350 years. The book starts with its construction in the 1500s, a project of several years, where the Turkish overseers conscript the locals into slave labor, culminating in the awful description of the impalement of a worker who rebels by sabotaging the bridge. Then Andric takes us through the centuries; the flood, when local leaders of all faiths gather in the same house in a heartwarming episode. Yet with the changes in frontiers and the arrival of Turkish refugees from Serbia, the uncertainty of life is ever in the background. The Austro-Hungarian occupation begins, locals dispute whether or not to resist, a guard commits suicide after failing to do his job properly. The people become wealthier and at the turn of the century the young have time to discuss politics. In the last chapter, World War 1 hits the town and a bomb smashes the bridge. This is told from the perspective of a man in a shop and is such evocative writing you feel you are there. Brilliant book.

I like books, but I hate books with lousy paper, tiny print and they easily fall apart. There was no kindle version and I regret buying the lousy paper book. The font is minuscule, and it's poorly stuck together. The book content is superb, but the presentation is third-rate.

This unaccountably neglected masterpiece captures the essence of Bosnian history since the 16th century in an enthralling and deeply humane way. Andric himself was at the heart of his country’s tragic history: he knew Gavrilo Princip and was Yugoslavia’s ambassador in Berlin when the Germans invaded in 1941. The Nobel prize citation is an excellent summary of the book’s greatness. It is worth adding that although Andric traces the impact of the bridge on Visegrad’s inhabitants over the course of three and a half centuries, his narrative never flags, and some chapters rank with the very best of world literature. In particular, the chapter on his own generation, the idealistic young people of the first decade of the last century, is very moving, reminiscent of the final chapter in Mann’s The Magic Mountain and the poets of the Great War.

I loved this book written by the Nobel Prize winner Ivo Andri'. It is amazing how often we come into contact with historic monuments without giving a second thought as to the history behind it. Apart from being a fascinating histroy lesson and an extraordinary collection of stories for me this book was also a study in human nature. The building of a bridge which was of unquestionable benefit to everyone was however sabotaged by some who were prepared to sacrifice their lives rather than let it be completed for no other logical reason than they didn't like change. I would have to say though there is one chapter in the book that is definitely not for the squeamish.My only reservation is I found a lot of grammatical mistakes and the English a little hard to follow at times and I don't know whether it was down to the translation or the style of writing. My wife (who is Croatian and had read the original) felt the same and pointed out where she thought some of the confusion may have arisen. Non of this detracted from my enjoyment of this book and I would recommend it to anyone.

not exactly a novel, more a series of stories following the 'life' of a Bosnian bridge over 350 years. The book starts with its construction in 1500s, a project of several years where the Turkish overseers conscript the locals into slave labour culminating in the awful description of the impalement of a worker who rebels by sabotaging the bridge. Then Andric takes us through the centuries; the flood when local leaders of all faiths gather in the same house in a heartwarming episode. Yet with the change in frontiers and arrival of Turkish refugees from Serbia, the uncertainty of life is ever in the background. The Austro-Hungarian occupation comes, locals dispute whether or not to resist, a guard commits suicide after failing to do his job properly. Life becomes wealthier, and in 1900s the young have time to discuss politics. In the last chapter world war 1 hits the town as a bomb smashes the bridge; this is told from the perspective of a man in a shop and is such evocative writing you feel you are there. Brilliant book

This is a Nobel prize winning masterpiece - but unfortunately little known by many. Having a random interest in the Balkans I bought this book - in honesty a little sceptical that it would be too heavy - and it has jumped straight into my favourites list.This is essentially an epic story set around the bridge, which remains constant as centuries pass. It looks at a number of key historical events and how they affected this one town. But it also has some great light-hearted moments and awe-inspiring philosophical quotes.I am not a particularly well-read person, but the book I would most liken this to is Captain Corelli's Mandolin, as it is similarly a wartime epic filled with colourful descriptive text about even the most mundane things.