Sample from the e-book "Zbogom sonce" (Farewell to the sun)

Name: Sample from the e-book "Zbogom sonce" (Farewell to the sun)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Description: This entry includes the first part of the e-book "Zbogom sonce" (Farewell to the sun) by author Evald Flisar (COBISS.SI-ID 266955267, ISBN 978-961-7218-91-6). The novel is not merely a gallery of precisely drawn characters entangled in difficult family relationships, punctuated by flashes of humour as family members hurl cynical remarks at one another. It is much more than that. The narrative is driven by timeless themes: selfishness, envy and resentment, but also the desire for success and love, together with the disappointment of unfulfilled longings. Through the voice of a fifteen-year-old narrator, we witness the trauma of a provincial middle-class family, first in a comfortable house and later in a luxurious mansion filled with all the expected symbols of status, from foolish paintings to the obligatory antlers on the wall. Yet what will continue to resonate with readers is the novel’s central message about the futility of an egoistic way of life, which ultimately leads to distress, despair and even tragedy. The solar eclipse visible in the Prekmurje region in 1999, where the story is set, has a cleansing effect on some of the characters. It forces them to confront the harm they have caused and awakens in them a desire to atone for their mistakes through generosity. Others, however, are compelled to bid farewell to the “sun” within themselves.