The Trojan Mare

Lyrical and symbolic, The Trojan Mare by Marina Šur Puhlovski is a tale of the mutations of a country, a woman named Rosalie, and the Madman called Moses, a man she smuggled into the house. Translated by Graham McMaster, this book offers a compelling metaphor for the Yugoslavian society and political atmosphere in the period following its fall from 1929 to the late 1980s. Readers encounter characters navigating the corrupt system that operates within the prism of lethargy, and while some are smart enough to make this system work for them, others are trapped in the machinations of pseudo-politicians, unable to make the system work in their favor. It is against this backdrop that Rosalie evolves. This is a simple book that will appeal to poetry lovers, but it offers multiple interpretations and thought-provoking narratives.

Goosegirl seems to be the symbol of the fertility of the country that should nurture its people, but one that is mishandled and broken at so many levels of its political machinery. References to her premature pains and being kicked in the stomach by the madman are symbolic of the recklessness of those who rape a country and rob it of its power to create healthy spaces for the citizens. There are tales of broken dreams, of people getting set up and made to bear the consequences of the wrong choices of others. Readers will find the behavior of Madman peculiar and won't help but feel sad for the husband of the Tailor turned Gastarbeiter, who finally comes ''home from Germany, representing himself as little short of a beggar, intending to reveal the secret of his suitcase only on the birthday of his eldest son, not knowing that he was not to live to see it…'' Politics, love, corruption, and betrayal are among the compelling themes that are dominant in this book. The Trojan Mare is a stunningly imagined historical tale that is skillfully rendered in poetry — the story of a time, place, and broken people. It is brimming with humor and biting political satire.

Bertin Drizller, The Book Commentary

What is The Trojan Mare? (In a Few Words)

Written between 1987 and 1988 and published in 1991, the year of the fall of Yugoslavia, The Trojan Mare is a metaphor of a failed ideological system. In this poignant and satirical take on the weaknesses of society as well as individuals, the characters are presented as either those who know how to use the system to their own advantage or those who are swallowed by it. The lack of education or a moral compass, the book warns, is no contraindication to unscrupulous advancement that destroys everything in its path. The author's imaginative use of symbolism extends to expose the symbols of the socialist era, such as the picture of Stalin, discarded in a garbage pile just after the Tito-Stalin split, or the symbolic crucifixion of two (by default atheist) comrades and high-ranking officials in the Communist Party. The naturalistic portrayal of characters, whose fates are determined by heredity and environment makes this novel a naturalistic fable as well. The characters inhabit the book just like they inhabit the House, each one clinging to its own miserly existence in the space allocated to them. Rosalie, the heroine of the novel, is the Trojan Mare who smuggles Madman/Moses into the House, indirectly causing its destruction. The unsustainable House, just like its big sister, the State, has to perish, and it perishes in the Fire, at the same time destructive, purgative, and enlightening.

Spanning a period of over 50 years (1929 to late 1980s), The Trojan Mare is a historical novel, but it is far from a linear text laden with historiographical data. This prose is written in the form of a poem with elements of the supernatural and wondrous peppered throughout. The unusual, and at times syntactically difficult, format of long sentences divided into titled chapters makes it a dense and rewarding read, requiring the reader’s focus and attention. Sharp and intelligent humor, which sometimes turns dark, is the author’s best weapon in denouncing the darkest sides of humanity. Irony and humor are found in word choices as well, the most obvious one in the abbreviation for the Company for the Utilization of National Treasure.

In the closing of the novel, which refers to the end of Camus’s The Plague, the author’s prophetic mention of a virus in comparison to Madman/Moses, serves as a reminder that evil may only appear to have (been) lost, but that it is actually dormant and can reappear at any time in any form. Moreover, cautions the author, evil is most likely to succeed around sluggish minds not alert to the circumstances in which they live and those who do not learn from experience, finding “Forgetfulness more pleasant than Memory that would not turn to Knowledge”.

History, the author seems to say, is no teacher; the same mistakes humans have made since the beginning of history will be repeated in new Madmen/Moseses, new systems, and new destructions. The role of the writer is to note these cyclical phenomena, even when there is not much hope of enlightening or changing the inevitable.

Irena Stanic Rasin

Editor