A review by angielisle
The Roads of the Roma: a PEN Anthology of Gypsy Writers by Ian Hancock, Siobhan Dowd, Rajko Djurić
5.0
I stumbled across this book while researching my family origins (Welsh-Romnichal) and was wonderfully surprised by the emotional depth of the stories and poems collected here. I also appreciate that this is a collection of works composed by actual Romany people - for far too long, the Romany have been portrayed only as stereotypes by cultures that fail to understand the Romany way of life. I love the personal insight that dominates this book.
My favorite story is "A Wedding in Auschwitz" by Rajko Djuric (translated by Anika Weiss). It's a gut-wrenching look at the effects of "The Porajmos" ("The Devouring" - or, the Romany Holocaust) perpetuated by Nazi Germany.
The poem that stands out the most to me was "Lament of the Mother," also written by Rajko Djuric (apparently, I'm a fan of this writer). This is a heart-breaking poem that will resonate with all mothers, no matter what their cultural background - the poem (along with "Prayers of an Impious Father and Gypsy Mother) is dedicated to a young boy who died (naturally) in a Serbian village and was almost denied the right to be buried.
I'm used to picking up anthologies and having a 50/50 shot of liking/hating the individual components. That didn't happen with this book - I didn't have any strong dislike feelings with any of the pieces found here and I highly recommend this book.
My favorite story is "A Wedding in Auschwitz" by Rajko Djuric (translated by Anika Weiss). It's a gut-wrenching look at the effects of "The Porajmos" ("The Devouring" - or, the Romany Holocaust) perpetuated by Nazi Germany.
The poem that stands out the most to me was "Lament of the Mother," also written by Rajko Djuric (apparently, I'm a fan of this writer). This is a heart-breaking poem that will resonate with all mothers, no matter what their cultural background - the poem (along with "Prayers of an Impious Father and Gypsy Mother) is dedicated to a young boy who died (naturally) in a Serbian village and was almost denied the right to be buried.
I'm used to picking up anthologies and having a 50/50 shot of liking/hating the individual components. That didn't happen with this book - I didn't have any strong dislike feelings with any of the pieces found here and I highly recommend this book.