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My Cat Yugoslavia
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
A love story set in two countries in two radically different moments in time, bringing together a young man, his mother, a boa constrictor, and one capricious cat. In 1980s Yugoslavia, a young Muslim girl is married off to a man she hardly knows, but what was meant to be a happy match goes quickly wrong. Soon thereafter her country is torn apart by war and she and her family flee. Years later, her son, Bekim, grows up a social outcast in present-day Finland, not just an immigrant in a country suspicious of foreigners, but a gay man in an unaccepting society. Aside from casual hookups, his only friend is a boa constrictor whom, improbablyhe is terrified of snakeshe lets roam his apartment. Then, during a visit to a gay bar, Bekim meets a talking cat who moves in with him and his snake. It is this witty, charming, manipulative creature who starts Bekim on a journey back to Kosovo to confront his demons and make sense of the magical, cruel, incredible history of his family. And it is this that, in turn, enables him finally, to open himself to true lovewhich he will find in the most unexpected place
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BarbaraBB
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Mehso-so

I‘m not sure I understand this book. It‘s the story of a mother and her son, born in #Kosovo, fled to Finland, thinking of Kosovo. What they share is her husband, his father and his impact on their lives. It‘s a story about outcasts, about not belonging, about suffering and abandonment. And of course there are a cat (a racist boyfriend) and a boa constrictorp. Does it sound confusing? It is!

#ReadingEurope2020 🇽🇰 #Booked2020 #ArmchairTravel

squirrelbrain It does sound very confusing! I might try the other one that I had - they‘re both on Scribd anyway.... 4y
Megabooks That does sound confusing! 4y
Librarybelle Yes - it sounds confusing! 4y
BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain I would indeed try the other one! 4y
BarbaraBB Also this book will count for #ReadWithMrBook: #narratedbyanimal @MrBook 4y
75 likes1 stack add5 comments
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suzie.reads
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Pickpick

A very sad but beautiful book, really enjoyed it.
#ReadingEurope2020 #Kosovo 🇽🇰 (5 books left, off to #Malta next 🇲🇹)

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suzie.reads
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Wine and a book? 🍷📖 Oh go on then if I must!
#BorrowBox

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rwmg
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
Pickpick

Bekim's narrative was interesting and sympathetic to him as an immigrant and him as a gay man in the opening and concluding sections. His mother's narrative was interesting throughout. However, Bekim's narrative in the middle was -- odd. I'm still trying to work out what exactly was going on with the giant talking cat. An abusive partner? A projection of Bekim's own dark side? Or does Bekim just live in a world where there are giant talking cats?

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rwmg
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Not quite sure I would agree - a good ending is important

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rwmg
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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rwmg
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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rwmg
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Naj
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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#7days7covers #covercrush Day 6

@NeedsMoreBooks want to join? Post seven book covers you love each day for seven days, no explanations needed, and invite someone new each day.

NeedsMoreBooks Thank you for the tag @Naj ❤️ (edited) 5y
Naj @NeedsMoreBooks 💜💜 5y
22 likes2 comments
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FaisalJ
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Pickpick

An immigrant lonely buys a snake which he is afraid off. Meets a cat that triggers his need to rediscover his home country. Story explores his experiences growing up as an immigrant in Finland. 7/10.

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BooksCatsMaine
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Pickpick

My Cat Yugoslavia weaves together folk-lore, clashing politics and family strife. The politics are riveting, but the talking-cat storyline felt a bit heavy-handed (trying to avoid spoilers here!)

This was Book 16 of my #52Booksin2018 (slightly out of order!)

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Addison1
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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This month‘s book club read! I ate through it pretty fast thanks to the great writing and interesting tone. LOVE how Pajtim describes people and bodies. a very human story that‘s inspired me to do more research. I highly recommend the documentary ‘A Cry from the Grave‘ if you‘re planning to or have read this book.

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Bevita
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Pickpick

So this was pretty weird but I love all things Eastern Europe so I enjoyed it. Intersecting stories of a young gay man who ends up with a snake and a human-like cat, interspersed with what I think is his mother‘s story of getting married to what turns out to be an abusive husband in Kosovo, and ending up as refugees in Finland. I liked it a lot but have a limited group of people I might recommend it to.

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MrBook
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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#TBRtemptation post 2! Translated from Finnish. In 1980s Yugoslavia, a young Muslim girl, Emine, is married off to a near-stranger. The happy matching isn't happy. With war, they flee to Finland, where their son, Bekim, is a social outcast with three strikes: Muslim, foreigner, and gay. With a boa constrictor and cat as his companions, will things improve? Reviewers consider this book thought-provoking and powerful. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

ReadingRover I have this book. I haven‘t read it yet though. So many books so little time! 7y
70 likes4 stack adds1 comment
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ReadosaurusText
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Parts Bulgakov, Kafka, Proust, and Murakami? That is like 4 scoops of my favorite kinds of ice cream in one book bowl. This blurb had me at hello!
#tbr #effectiveblurb

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Moray_Reads
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Congratulations @Cinfhen! Great achievement and will-deserved for all the great photo challenges. I'd choose My Cat Yugoslavia for #crushingongiveaway. I've heard good things!

vivastory You had me at talking cat! 7y
Moray_Reads @vivastory the Master and Margarita does set a great precedent for talking cats in translated literature but that is setting the bar extremely high! 7y
vivastory True, if only more literary animals could be as memorable as Behemoth. 7y
Cinfhen New to me book & author!! Best of luck 🤞🏼☘️💚 7y
44 likes3 stack adds4 comments
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sumaiyya.books
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Pickpick

This was a fantastic read on the implications of being treated as an outsider/foreigner/refugee. Here's my full review:
https://sumaiyyareads.wordpress.com/2017/08/22/book-review-my-cat-yugoslavia-by-...

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sumaiyya.books
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Pickpick

So I finished reading this and thought it was such a beautiful and painful narrative of the immigrant experience. We have two storylines, one of a mother and the other of her son - both are distinct, present differing perspectives on life yet both work so well together to show just how deeply being marginalized affects people. A beautiful portrait of loneliness and feeling like an outsider. (Giveaway coming up on my Bookstagram sumaiyya.books!)

Heideschrampf Your hands look so beautiful! I wish people would wear mehndi in germany... 7y
Wbabdullah @sumaiyya.books love your henna! 7y
TrishB Your henna looks beautiful 💟 7y
See All 6 Comments
Soubhiville Pretty henna! 7y
BarbaraBB Love the henna and the review! 7y
Darth_Kaders I am so glad I stumbled on this post. My grandparents are immigrants from Yugoslavia (what's considered Croatia now). I feel ashamed I've never explored the literature of the area, and now it's my new goal. Thank you for sharing this!!! 7y
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sumaiyya.books
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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This book is so good!! I'm already about 100 pages in and I'm loving it. It's about a young man and the talking cat who makes him confront his past and changes his life. Brilliant ❤️

idk_elby Loved this book! So much so that it's my new favorite. The author is very sweet as well. His newest novel will be in English Fall 2018! 7y
sumaiyya.books @idk_elby That's so exciting - I can't wait to read his next! I'd love to know what you think the significance of his nightmares were and why they suddenly stopped. Also, he ends up adopting the animals he was once scared of - what did you think of that? 7y
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Kathrin
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Mehso-so

There are good bones in this book, but in the end it's unpolished. I was set to give a higher rating, because of the strong storytelling when the author describes the refugee experience especially in the Emine storyline. The Bekim storyline was so discombobulated and I kind of hated the ending.

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Kathrin
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Going to the library today was like scratching an itch... it was either this or buying new books... I feel better now! 😂😂😂

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Fabookishlife
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Pickpick

[4/5] I was happy that I picked this up. This book tells two stories: a man's story (his struggle to love and live as a gay immigrant) and his mother's story when she was young, how she's going through her marriage life and how she managed her life after she fled her country. // You can read more of my opinion on Instagram @Fabookishlife

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Hobbinol
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Mehso-so

After I stopped blaming this book for not being what I thought it was (quirky & fun), & took it on its own terms (dark & serious), I appreciated it more for daring to ask how we can possibly have true relationships in a disparate world. The book catalogs all the vicissitudes of alienation: from nature, from God, from sex, from violence & war, from assimilation & culturalizaton, from language, from despots real & imagined, familial & feline.

Mimi28 Nice review! I was just hoping there was no beastiality honestly. It's "in transit" to my nearest library now. 8y
Hobbinol @mimi28 Well thanks! No, there's no bestiality. The son's relationship with a talking cat is implied to be a real adult relationship, but is cartoonishly drawn and is more symbolic than sexual. 8y
Mimi28 Whew! Ok cool thanks! I can't wait until it gets to my library! 👍🏙😻 8y
LeahBergen Nicely reviewed. 👏🏻👏🏻 8y
Hobbinol @LeahBergen ❤️ I think you're swell (I've always copied sentiments from candy hearts) Thank you! (edited) 8y
54 likes5 comments
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egroig
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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This new release, a (bizarre, surrealist) graduation present to myself. To be read as a reward as soon as I leave my final undergraduate class (!) this Friday.

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shawnmooney
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Panpan

Shame on the publisher for inflicting this unripened novel on the world. The Kosovar mom's story is heart-rending and realistically told, but the interleaved narrative of her gay son, a refugee in Finland, is simply awful: he is nothing but a conglomeration of resentments, ideas, and neuroses. His pet is a boa constrictor; in the most unenjoyable, unreal, bizarre section, one of his boyfriends is a talking, racist, homophobic cat. Need I say more?

HardcoverHearts Thank you for doing the legwork on this one so I don't have to! 🙏🏻👏🏻 8y
DeborahSmall Love this review 😜 8y
CherylDeFranceschi I'm so sad about this- the NYT loved it and the blurbs are so hyperbolic that I was running in squee circles. Thank you for the truth. 8y
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shawnmooney @CherylDeFranceschi Of course, it's only MY truth. I considered giving it a 'so-so' rating based on the strength of the mother's story, but I hated the son's too much. 8y
CherylDeFranceschi I realize that it's your truth, but trust you. Really bummed, though. That was way at the top of my want to read now list. 8y
Megabooks That sounds really bizarre! 8y
Hobbinol I just started it last night and I'm not too impressed so far. Also, it got a really nice review in the NYT yesterday, so maybe I just expected more. I'm still going to see how it plays out, even though right now it seems a little desperate... 8y
shawnmooney @Hobbinol I connected rather deeply with the mother's side of the story – but the son's was just bonkers. (edited) 8y
41 likes8 comments
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Ilana
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
Pickpick

Amazing, odd, funny, touching, intersectional, fascinating.

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shawnmooney
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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shawnmooney
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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zsuzsanna_reads Added it to my stack! Sounds really interesting! 8y
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shawnmooney
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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zsuzsanna_reads Been there, done that 😀 8y
quirkyreader The trick is to put the coffee in the cup first and then pour in the water. My former mum-in law taught me this tip. 8y
See All 7 Comments
PandaPanda @JenFowler best emoji ever. 8y
ItsAnotherJen Lol @PandaPanda Why would she throw out COFFEE? 8y
PandaPanda @JenFowler my reaction as well! ☕😁 8y
shawnmooney @JenFowler @zsuzsanna_reads @quirkyreader @PandaPanda If you go on and read the book, you'll appreciate how truly bizarre his – it's the gay male character here - dumping the coffee down the sink actually is! :-) 8y
32 likes7 comments
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shawnmooney
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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The enigmatic opening paragraph or prologue. (I finally found a free etext preview of the first chapter or two, on iBooks, so I could paste in a few quotes - I sure am enjoying it on audio so far!)

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shawnmooney
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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About the author (click on the link below if the print on my GIF is too tiny)

http://www.salomonssonagency.se/pajtim-statovci

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shawnmooney
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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This is starting out good on audio!

LeahBergen This sounds bizarre! 8y
Simona It used to be my cat too ... 8y
Suet624 How many books are you currently reading? 8y
shawnmooney @Suet624 Only a dozen! 😳 8y
Suet624 😍💪 8y
37 likes5 comments
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Hobbinol
My Cat Yugoslavia: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Okay so here we have a Muslim woman, her gay son, a boa constrictor and a talking cat. How can I refuse?! Gotta check this one out when it's released in April. Hope my curiosity doesn't kill the cat! #diversebooks #2017MostAnticipatedBooks

OrangeMooseReads I need to have this book in my life 8y
Hobbinol @OrangeMooseReads Me too! Hope it's good!☺️ 8y
shawnmooney Starting it on audio today! 8y
Hobbinol @shawnmooney 💚Jealous! I preordered my hard copy months ago and haven't received it yet! I'm looking forward to reading your quotes and posts about it. 8y
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