Second sentence

" Ridenimi" i Fatos Lubonjes eshte, per mua, nje nga librat me te mire, ne mos me i miri, i shkruar pas viteve '90. Dhe, ndoshta, i vetmi liber qe merret seriozisht me epoken e diktatures. Me duhet te pohoj qe fillimin e pata jo te lehte. Per shkak te menyres se te treguarit paksa jokonvencionale, te rrefyerit dokumentarik. Por, ne fund te librit kete veshtiresi te fillimit e kisha harruar fare. Bile, besoj, qe kjo menyre e te rrefyerit e shpeton librin nga te qenurit pretencioz, fallco. Kjo menyre e te rrefyerit, e thjeshte, pa metafora te komplikuara, te ben te perqendrohesh tek ngjarjet e librit dhe personazhet e tij. Ne qender te romanit eshte vete autori, qe me syte e eksperiences se tij pershkruan kohen e tij ne burg dhe, sic te sygjeron titulli, ridenimin e tij. Por, ajo qe e ben autorin shume te respektueshem eshte fakti qe ai nuk perpiqet t'i ngreje lapidarin vetevetes. Heronjte e librit, papritur, kane emra te tjere nga ai i autorit. Gjithe vemendja e tij perqendrohet tek shpjegimi i nje diktature nepermjet eksperiencave te ndryshme te te burgosurve politike, shkaqeve qe i sollen ata ne burg, jeten e tyre atje, rruget e ndryshme qe marrin jete te ndryshme ne kushtet e burgut. Ironia e realitetit qe sjell libri eshte qe heronjte e tij jane komuniste te bindur. Vdesin ne emer te tij. Nuk dua t'ua shuaj kuriozitetin. Por nuk mund te rri pa thene qe: ky eshte nje nga ata libra qe te bejne te mendosh per integritetin tend moral, per menyren se si e ke ndertuar jeten tende, per menyren se si ke jetuar ne ate epoke. Per dite e dite me radhe. Ky eshte nje liber i madh, qe duhet te futet ne programin e shkolles shqiptare. Nje liber qe nuk duhet te injorohet ashtu sic. Nje liber qe nuk duhet lene ne heshtje ashtu sic. Respekt!

Kete recension te shkurter e kam shkruar ne 7 gusht 2007. Gati dy vjet me pas, mesoj se libri eshte perkthyer ne anglisht. Nuk e di nese libri ka arritur raftet e dyqaneve, por ne amazon.com ai eshte lehtesisht i gjendshem. Me poshte komentet per librin nga botuesi dhe shkrimtare.


Second sentence

Prison camps in Communist Albania were as brutal and claustrophobic as Stalin’s gulags, with the additional and unique horror that Albanian prisoners could be charged and re-sentenced while already in prison. In this raw and moving memoir, the prize-winning writer Fatos Lubonja brilliantly evokes life for prisoners of the state as they struggled to cope with the physical and psychological deprivations of imprisonment. Second Sentence opens in 1978 with a vivid description of the author’s experiences as a forced laborer in a copper mine in Northern Albania. In the tense camp atmosphere, Lubonja discovers that two of his co-prisoners have written a letter to the Party criticizing "the foremost leader," Enver Hoxha. Shortly afterwards they are spirited away under mysterious circumstances. Lubonja does not make the connection until he is himself re-arrested in the camp with seven others and sent to stand trial as part of an alleged counter-revolutionary organization. With heart-breaking honesty, Lubonja describes the long months of interrogation and solitary confinement as he awaits his second sentence. This is an extraordinary portrait of the impenetrable world of Communist Albania and an unforgettable memoir of friendship and betrayal.

''Second Sentence' reports from Albania, from the communist era. As ever the grimness of the tale is made endurable by the courage and wit of the prisoners. What wonderful people the communist regimes everywhere persecuted, or murdered. It is as if what they wanted to extinguish was simply excellence.' --Doris Lessing

'Fatos Lubonja reveals the dark heart of Stalinist Albania in an unparalleled account of prison life and human dignity in a political system that knew no mercy. 'Second Sentence' offers a rare glimpse into the workings of the Enver Hoxha dictatorship. It is a moving story of resistance and survival that only Lubonja could tell.' --Robert Elsie


Fatos Lubonja is an Albanian writer who spent a total of 17 years in prisons and forced labour camps during Enver Hoxha's regime. He is the author of a number of books which have been translated into Italian, German, English and Polish. Among other prizes he received the Alberto Moravia Prize for International Literature in 2002 and the Herder Prize for Literature in 2004.