Line #55 Literature/TheBridgeOnTheDrina


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vijest-2561_4995.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:375: [- "So people learned from the angels of God how to build bridges, and therefore, after fountains, the greatest blessing is to build a bridge and the greatest sin to interfere with one, for every bridge, from a tree trunk crossing a mountain stream to this great bridge of Mehmed Pasha, has its guardian angel who cares for it and maintains it as long as God has ordained that it should stand." -] ]]
3
4	''The Bridge On the Drina'' (original title: ''Na Drini Ćuprija'') is a 1945 {{novel}} by the Yugoslav writer Ivo Andrić, which won him the 1961 UsefulNotes/NobelPrizeInLiterature.
5
6	In November 1516, an [[TheEmpire Ottoman]] expedition was passing through the backwater Bosnian town of Višegrad, collecting, to the horror of the local Serbian families, the feared ''Devshirme'', or "Tribute in Blood". [[{{Tykebomb}} Exceptionally able and intelligent Christian prepubescent boys]] were taken away to Istanbul in order to be trained as Janissaries, the elite corps of the Ottoman army, dedicated to serve the Sultan until death. One of those boys, [[ChildProdigy the ten year old Bajo]], quickly managed to rise through the ranks of the Ottoman Empire, ultimately becoming the famed Grand Vizier Mehmed Pasha Sokolović, the most powerful man in the Empire after the Sultan himself. Unlike most other Janissaries, the TrainingFromHell didn’t manage to erase the memories of his childhood home and, in order to repay his roots, he orders a bridge to be built over the wild river of Drina, connecting Bosnia to Serbia and the rest of Ottoman territories, that would be the envy of the whole empire.
7
8	Thus begins this novel, considered to be one of the greatest masterpieces of Balkan literature, written as a chronicle of the town of Višegrad, spanning across several centuries, from the beginning of the bridge’s construction in 1571, to the start of the UsefulNotes/FirstWorldWar in 1914. It is notable for containing countless {{Story Arc}}s, written from the perspectives of its huge cast of vibrant characters, of different ethnicities, beliefs and personalities, [[ArcWelding with the bridge itself being what bridges all of the characters and subplots together.]]
9
10	An implicit critic of Balkan nationalism, this novel is considered a must-read for anyone who wishes to truly understand the conflicts still going on in this troubled region.
11	----
12	!!Provides Examples Of:
13
14	* AllJewsAreCheapskates: Subverted with Lotte the hotel manager. She is really stingy and careful with the money, but it is revealed that she actually uses it to help her relatives all around Europe.
15	%%* ArcSymbol: The bridge.
16	%%* ArcWelding: Most character subplots, as part of a larger {{Story Arc}}, eventually weld together.
17	* BadBoss: Abidaga, the overseer of the bridge construction, is extremely cruel and ruthless to the locals mobilized into slave labor, in order for the construction schedule to be fulfilled. [[spoiler:The icing on the cake is that he embezzles the money Mehmed Pasha meant to be used for paying the laborers.]]
18	%%* BenevolentBoss: Arif Beg, [[spoiler:Abidaga's eventual replacement.]]
19	%%* BigFancyHouse: Several rich Muslim families have these.
20	%%* ButtMonkey: Pretty much everybody.
21	%%* CoolOldGuy: Priest Nikola in his later days.
22	* CreatureOfHabit: The old Shemsibeg Branković has trouble adapting to the changes caused by the Austrian occupation, and ends up locking himself in his home, never leaving it again.
23	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Radisav the saboteur is publicly staked as a warning to other workers.
24	%% * DeadpanSnarker: Alihodja and Fata.
25	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The Austrian army, while retreating from Višegrad in front of the incoming Serbian army, shells the bridge. Alihodja, after seeing the bridge, which was the central point of every townsman's life and much more than that, broken and damaged, dies of heartstroke.]]
26	%% * TheDragon: Plevljak to Abidaga.
27	* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Fata, for being forced to marry the man she didn't want, and Fedun, after realizing his mistake.]]
28	%% * TheEmpire: The Ottoman Empire in the first half of the book. Austria-Hungary in the second.
29	%% * EvilTowerOfOminousness: Abidaga, probably the only truly evil character in the book, has one built for him.
30	* FatalFlaw: Fata's is {{Pride}}. She is extremely beautiful and smart, which leads to men flocking around her, and she definitely knows it. This makes her much more independent and self-minded than was the norm for young Muslim girls of the time. [[spoiler:It eventually leads to her demise, since she cannot reconcile her desire for independence with what society asks of her.]]
31	* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:The megalomaniacal Abidaga considers his exile to a backwater province in Asia Minor, after his embezzlement of the money meant for paying the bridge workers had been discovered, to be this.]]
32	%% * UsefulNotes/FirstWorldWar: The book ends with its opening days.
33	%% * TheFool: Ćorkan.
34	* FreakOut: [[spoiler: Poor Lotte suffers this when her hotel is destroyed in the end of the book.]]
35	%% * TheGamblingAddict: Milan Glasinčanin.
36	* GoKartingWithBowser: Even though the ethnicities consisting the population of Višegrad are usually segregated and generally avoid each other, yearly floods bring them all together to cooperate. Surprisingly, they are really friendly with each other, though everything returns to the status quo once the floods are over.
37	%% * TheGoodChancellor: Mehmed Pasha.
38	%% * GoodOldWays: Alihodja, and especially Shemsibeg.
39	%% * {{Gorn}}: The extremely detailed, terrifying depiction of Radisav's staking.
40	%% * HometownNickname: Plevljak (A man from Plevlja).
41	%% * IceQueen: Lotte, though it only contributes to her popularity with the patrons.
42	%% * ImpaledWith Extreme Prejudice: Radisav.
43	%% * KnightInSourArmor: Alihodja.
44	%% * LaResistance: Appears in every {{Story Arc}}, in a different form and with different motivations.
45	* LaughingMad: [[spoiler:Poor Plevljak, scared to death of Abidaga's threats of execution if he doesn't manage to catch whoever is sabotaging the construction, undergoes such a drastic {{Mood Whiplash}} after succeeding in his mission that he literally goes insane from the shock. This trope ensues.]]
46	%% * LocalHangout: The kapija. Later in the book, Lotte's inn.
47	%% * LoveMakesYouDumb: Poor Fedun.
48	%% * MiddleManagementMook: Plevljak.
49	%% * MookLieutenant: Plevljak
50	* NeverRecycleABuilding: After its abandonment, The Stony Han is left decaying for centuries. Subverted, as the Austrians eventually tear it down and use the building material for building a barracks.
51	%% * NewEraSpeech: The proclamation of the Austrian occupation of Bosnia functions as this.
52	* NoAntagonist: The closest thing the book has to a villain is Abidaga, which is there only in a few opening chapters.
53	* OppositesAttractRevenge: Two young men studying at the Vienna university and coming back to Višegrad for summer vacation, although fierce opponents in political debates (one is a nationalist and the other a socialist), are still best friends. Soon, their complexes and the desire to prove each other wrong turn into petty vendetta, and one of them steals the other's girl. This leads them to passionately hate each other.
54	* PunchClockVillain: The executioner whose job is decapitating and staking the heads of Serbian rebels during the First Serbian Uprising is actually quite a pleasant and respected fellow, who views his job as a craft and tries to make the execution as painless as possible for his victims.
55	%% * RuleOfSymbolism: The book thrives on it, though the symbolism is much subtler than most other examples.
56	%% * SceneryPorn: The opening chapter is dedicated to this.
57	%% * ShroudedInMyth: It turns out that all local legend have a source in much more trivial historical happenings.
58	%% * SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: The book is cynical.
59	* SmallNameBigEgo: A young and educated teacher of Islam, one of the most respected townspeople, is trying to write a chronicle of the town during his lifetime, but dismisses most events since he thinks that they are unworthy of him and his book. [[spoiler:He dies of old age, with the chronicle being less than five pages long.]]
60	%% * SmokyGentlemensClub: The upper-class section of Lotte's inn.
61	%% * TakeItToTheBridge: Duh.
62	%% * TheFerryMan: Jamak.
63	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Alihodja gives one to an Islamistic, would-be revolutionary.
64	** The normally quiet and reserved Nikola Glasičanin gives a long one to Janko Stikovič for his vanity and ego-centrism.
65	%% * TheSilentBob: Jamak the ferryman.
66	%% * TimeSkip: Happens several times.
67	* TokenMinority: The architect's apprentice is black. Otherwise averted, since the characters faithfully represent the region's ethnic diversity.
68	* {{Tykebomb}}: The children collected as part of the "Tribute In Blood" are trained to become Janissaries.
69	%% * SycophanticServant: Plevljak to Abidaga.
70	* YouAllMeetInAnInn: The kapija, the expansion in the center of the bridge, is the regular gathering place for the town population.
71
72

Context Literature / TheBridgeOnTheDrina