Bolla, a novel by Pajtim Stavoci, translated from Finnish by David Hackston, was not an easy book to read. The narrator is caustic and often does reprehensible things. Arsim is a young married man with an expecting wife when he falls for a young Serbian man named Miloš. He knows their love would be condemned, knows he has to keep his identity carefully buried as he tries (barely) to live a normal-looking life in Kosovo. But when war breaks out, his family has to flee, leaving his love behind.
Arsim carries scars with him that damage him and the people around him again and again. He makes irresponsible choices and is horrible to his wife. But that’s precisely what Bolla wants to dig into. Arsim’s pain is deep and dark: his repressed desire and trauma send waves of hurt through him. His self-destructive actions will eventually land him back in Kosovo, because this book is entirely about cycles, never-ending, spiraling.
Content warnings for ethnic prejudice, homophobia, xenophobia, domestic violence and abuse, suicidal ideation, rape, ableism, mental illness, and fatphobia.
