Page 8 - Vladimir Bartol catalogue, 2019

8Al Arafsample translations available in English (by Michael Biggins)When we stepped outside, we barely caught a last glimpse of the blond demon as he limped around the corner and out of sight.original title: Al Arafshort stories344 pagesfirst published in 1934, present edition published in 2002 translated into English by Michael Biggins, published by Sanje rights available: worldrecently sodl to: Koridor (Turkey)After the epic breadth of Alamut, these short stories reveal a di erent Bartol, an ingenious storyteller. From story to story, the characters and plots add up to create a portrait of the modern man. e stories, owing much to Bartol’s own experience and to his thorough knowledge of psychology, biology, history and especially philosophy, also aboundin fantasy and romance. ey keep slipping across genre boundaries, from erotic-romantic prose through adventure or crime story to science ction, always to return to the urgent themes of the collection Al Araf as a whole: problems of knowledge, power, freedom. Al Araf is both a picture of the apocalyptic schizophrenia of contemporary man and a map of his future.