Orthokosta: A Novel (The Margellos World Republic of Letters) - Hardcover

Valtinos, Thanassis; Assimakopoulos, Jane; Deligiorgis, Stavros; Kalyvas, Stathis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300209991 ISBN 13: 9780300209990

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2016

Synopsis

A preeminent work of modern Greek literature, this provocative novel poses difficult questions about the nation's Nazi occupation and early Civil War years First published in 1994 to a storm of controversy, Thanassis Valtinos's probing novel Orthokosta defied standard interpretations of the Greek Civil War. Through the documentary-style testimonies of multiple narrators, among them the previously unheard voices of right-wing collaborationists, Valtinos provides a powerful, nuanced interpretation of events during the later years of Nazi occupation and the early stages of the nation's Civil War. His fictionalized chronicle gives participants, victims, and innocent bystanders equal opportunity to bear witness to such events as the burning of Valtinos's home village, the detention and execution of combatants and civilians in the monastery of Orthokosta, and the revenge killings that ensued. As a transforming work of literature, this book redefined established methods of fiction; as a work of revisionist history, it changed the way Greece understands its own past. Now, through this masterful translation of Orthokosta, English-language readers have full access to the tremendous vitality of Valtinos's work and to the divisive Civil War experiences that continue to echo in Greek politics and events today.

About this title

Review

"The confusions and contradictions of the story mirror to perfection the confusions and contradictions of civil war."--Thomas Michael Duncan, Words Without Borders--Thomas Michael Duncan "Words Without Borders "

"This chilling, arresting novel . . . complicates the once-proud legacy of Greek resistance to Nazi occupation."--Publishers Weekly--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Thanassis Valtinos was born in the Peloponnese, in southern Greece. He has established himself as one of the country's most innovative writers, revered and imitated by many. Jane Assimakopoulos is an American-born translator living in Greece. She is currently a translation editor working on a series of books by Philip Roth. She lives in Greece. Stavros Deligiorgis is a University of Iowa professor emeritus in English and Comparative Literature. He is the author of books and articles on literary theory and translation. Stathis N. Kalyvas is Arnold Wolfers Professor of Political Science at Yale. He is the author of, among other books, Modern Greece: What Everyone Needs to Know, The Logic of Violence in Civil War, and The Rise of Christian Democracy in Europe.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0300209991
• ISBN 13: 9780300209990
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288