„Тютюн“ / “Tabacco”
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Autor:
Dimitar Dimov
Country:
Bulgaria (BG)
Book Theme:
Classic novels and Authors representing your country culture
Publisher:
Trud
Publishing Year:
1951
Dimitar Dimov is one of the most prominent Bulgarian novelists. He developed an interest in various fields of science, initially focusing on the natural sciences and he was strongly influenced by the works of Freud and his philosophy. He studied for veterinary surgeon, but as a writer Dimov is a master of a psychological portraying, discovering the fine layers of human emotionality.He is best known for his novels “Tobacco” and “Doomed Souls”. Both novels were filmed and became cinema classics in Bulgaria. The main themes of his works are the ruinous force of love, the dismal end of life and the falsity of the ideological cliches promising a paradise here on earth. He is obsessed with almighty gloom passions consuming human souls to death.
National Award for Children’s and Young People’s
Abstract
The novel begins with the first meeting between the young Boris and Irina during the grape harvest. The action takes place at the end of the 20s of the 20th century, somewhere in southern Bulgaria. The meeting ends with a kiss.
Boris wants to gain power and wealth with the help of the tobacco business, working in Nicotiana – one of the largest companies for processing and selling tobacco in Bulgaria.He marries the factory owner’s only daughter who has a mental disorder. Later, he meets Irina again and the two become lovers. On the eve of the Second World War, Germany is looking for a way to attract Bulgaria to its side and using the power of the German Tobacco Concern, which buys huge quantities of tobacco. Boris does everything to make Nicotiana the main supplier to the Germans. Director of the concern for Bulgaria is Von Geyer, a former military pilot and aristocrat. He is very impressed by Irina and Boris wants to use her for the good of the factory. She is disappointed and decides to use him as well.The second part of the novel begins in the midst of the war. The tobacco merchants get rich, corruption reigns, and the workers and peasants live hard. Maria dies. Irina realizes she no longer loves Boris, but only wants his money. Shortly after Maria’s death, Irina is in Boris’s villa in Borovets and meets his brother Pavel, who was hiding there, waiting to take part in the war. Irina realizes that her life is worn out and meaningless, but there is an attraction between Pavel and her.A series of military events follow. Boris and Irina are traveling to Greece, because he wants to make a deal for a lot of money. She is not interested in him anymore. Boris drinks lots of alcohol and his health is getting worse. He contracts malaria in Thessaloniki and dies before concluding the deal. A partisan squad recognize Von Geyer he is killed. Irina and Kostov return to Sofia. She tries to leave, seeking help from Pavel, but he refuses. Irina ends her life by taking poison.
