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"Cambridge Camelot " .................................................................................................. by Constantin Roman.
Synopsis ................... Would it be at all possible to draw the portrait of a Society as one would draw the portrait of one's Lover? Why not? A Society is as easy to explore and penetrate furtively, from an unexpected angle, as a human being would be. For Tomislav Pavlovic, the mysterious Balkan visitor and the main hero of this narrative, could indulge much more effectively in this exhilarating pursuit, than the urbane native, simply because he enjoys the vantage point of a new perspective. He remains at the cutting edge of every-day's life, with his long-lens camera capable, at every corner, to surprise and ambush. For ambush he does, which enhances to a greater degree of perfection the candid portrait of the British society - he has the added quality of the insider who has fallen in love with the city where he is a foreign scholar, a city which is no less than the Land of "Cambridge Camelot". During his time at Cambridge, Tom’s desire to observe as much as to provoke leaves no single stone unturned, no single mystery unresolved, no tradition untold. He is the versatile chronicler who spins emotions with dexterity, like a juggler spinning as many plates for the delight of the spectator. He mixes his impressions with extraordinary forays in the art of love, intrigue and politics as he views the human foibles with the precise and uncompromising eye of the Balkan smuggler, a look softened by a good measure of juvenile lyricism. He initiates the reader in the intimate family life at play, whilst he shares unexpected encounters with the eminent and the humble as in his social fresco, most extraordinary characters creep, secretly, into the narrative. During this insatiable trip Tom often finds solace in the raw nerve of the senses, provocation which he takes as a palliative, for he sees himself as an uprooted, with a deep feeling of loss, which desperately needs to be nurtured. His Anglophilia remains, like all passions spent, full of prejudices - like Stendhal's love for Italy, or Byron's love for Greece, which turned them so uncompromising towards their native country. Likewise, Tomislav Pavlovic’s flash-backs to Milosevic’s Yugoslavia which make him so severe towards the political system he left behind, reflect another antithesis of this book, a stimulating juxtaposition of cultures and of contrasts with heart-rending passages, which throw a fresh light on as many privileges and freedoms taken for granted in our Western society. This is a book charged with a purpose, seen from a completely new angle of a vibrant contemporary world - by contemplating this twin portrait of "Cambridge Camelot" we are confronted in fact with a psycho-analysis of Great Britain, as this canvas unveils the contradictions of the English character with its generosity, imagination, originality and prejudices. The glimpse which we are offered of the British society is without any doubt, the best perspective on this subject depicted for some time by a foreign writer- a book which presents a contemporary panorama a task which the author dispatches with the refreshing candour and immediacy of an unconventional observer. |
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