His work is as immense as Balzac's, as unrelenting in its critique of dictatorship as Orwell's, and as disturbingly fantastical as Kafka's. It is an invention as well as a reflection of what it means to be Albanian, and an exploration of both the ugliness and the dignity of a small, ancient, oppressed nation. Kadare is perhaps the last 'national writer' of European history * Independent * Broken April, a haunting account of the paroxism of the vendetta in northern Albania between the wars, is one of the twin peaks of Kadare's career * Observer * The story is plain, the telling plainer, yet the overall effect is mysterious and elusive as only a fable can be * Guardian * With Broken April Mr Kadare comes to the forefront as a major international novelist * New York Times * Forcefully and simply written...completely authentic * Sunday Times *
