Pajtim Statovci - Minu kass Jugoslaavia

Author: Pajtim Statovci

Title: Minu kass Jugoslaavia

Language: Estonian

Format: hardcover

Rating: 1½ stars

Reading challenge:  A book by an author who lives in a country which's literature is foreign to you (you have not read anything by someone from that country)

No of pages: 261

Date read: 26.11 - 30.11.2017

Goodreads

BLURB:

"Already an international sensation: a debut novel that tells 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, improbably--he is terrified of snakes--he lets roam his apartment. But 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 love--which he will find in the most unexpected place."

Honestly? Was not a fan of the writing style nor the story itself either. Reading this book was a chore, and not a very enjoyable chore. I kept pushing and pushing, hoping for it to get better. Hoping for the story get more engaging for me, but I fear that the opposite happened. The more I read, the less interested I was.

Maybe I'm not intelligent enough for this award-winning debut novel full to the brim of metaphors as I felt a lot of the context went over my head.

Like a lot of other readers, I found the mother's story a bit more engaging than the son's. I could understand the mother's storyline, but the son's with all the metaphors drove me insane. As far as I could understand that the cat Bekim was in a relationship with was a racist, violent homophobe. But hey, maybe I'm just simply plain wrong.