A Dictator Calls

**LONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2024**"Comrade Stalin wishes to speak with you." This captivating narrative delves into the complex dynamics between authors and authoritarian regimes, crafted by the first recipient of the Man Booker International Prize. The scene is set in June 1934, when Joseph Stalin supposedly reached out to Boris Pasternak, a renowned novelist and poet, amid the tense backdrop of Soviet repression, to discuss the detainment of fellow poet Osip Mandelstam. Through a compelling mix of imaginative scenarios and documented facts, Ismail Kadare meticulously reconstructs the brief yet impactful three-minute conversation and its reverberations through modern history.Kadare skillfully intertwines testimonies from observers, journalists, and literary figures like Isaiah Berlin and Anna Akhmatova, painting a vivid portrait of the entanglement of art and authority. This narrative resonates with eerily similar experiences endured by Kadare himself as he created under a repressive regime, including receiving an unexpected phone call that mirrored those fraught with political tension. Translated from Albanian by John Hodgson, the work has been praised by the Sunday Times, highlighting Kadare as one of Europe's most acclaimed writers, with seasoned enthusiasts sure to find themselves captivated all over again.