KULTURA / CULTURE
most of his life living far from his place of birth. ON ROME Rome, just like Italy as a whole, is an open-air museum – because of its beauty and artistic treasures, but also because of the civilised conduct of the people who live there. But I nonethe- less experienced significant unpleas- antness there. That’s why I sought an antidote there, continually returning and always recalling everything good in Rome. And there’s so much that’s beautiful in that city... ON BRUSSELS I worked as a correspondent in Brussels during the time of the col- lapse of Yugoslavia and I was very lonely, and perhaps also the only journalist from these lands living there, so they viewed me a bit like a Yeti [laughs]. During those years, flights to Brussels headed via Bu- dapest, and I returned to my bleak and gloomy Belgrade, while – on the flip side – the Belgian capital was in- credibly brightly lit. That contrast is something I’ll never forget. The roads between Belgian towns and villages are also illuminated brightly, and astronauts confirmed that on- ly those illuminated Belgian roads and the Great Wall of China are vis- ible from space. I loved the Grand- Place, Brussels’ central square, with its old baroque edifices, which hosts flower shows on Sundays and where they drink over 200 types of beer... ON NEW YORK New York is exceptional because it is a city that holds the whole world. There you’ll eat better Chinese food than you would in China, buy a rug that you couldn’t even find in Tehran etc. But it’s also The City That Nev- er Sleeps, so it suffers from chron- ic hypertension. The constant din of sirens of all types requires time to grow accustomed to. I realised that New York is the belly of the world, all tastes, smells and col- ours are there, something capti- vates a person faced with endless possibilities. I like places that are ar- tistic quarters, like Greenwich Vil-
NJUJORK / NEW YORK
to dangerous and unsettling situ- ations. For someone who’s spent most of his life as a writer and jour- nalist, these were all blessed oppor- tunities... It’s also interesting how we know some cities before we even visit them: Paris, Moscow, London, and it’s paradoxical that you can per- haps find yourself more excited by a city that hardly anyone would want to visit. One such city is Khartoum, where the Blue Nile flows into the White Nile and courses on to Cai- ro. It is an incredible experience to watch how that mighty river flows like life itself. There are cities re- nowned for shoes and fashion hous- es, but also those that have some- thing no others have, which isn’t easily described and must be ex- perienced. ON ANDRIĆ I was partly inspired for the strapline of my book by an observa- tion made by Ivo Andrić in his nov- el Signs by the Roadside, in which he writes: “Our deepest and most vivid desires and their encounters (or clashes) with the world around us – that is what generally deter- mines our destiny”. Andrić was able to judge that because he also spent
U raznim gradovima istražujem ko mi je naneo zlo, ali tražim i protivotrov, uzimajući u obzir ono lepo i dobro što sam doživeo In various cities, I investigate who has done me harm, but I also seek an antidote, taking into consideration good and nice things that I’ve experienced
46 | Knjige » Books
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