A landmark, perhaps the landmark, of Slovenian literature and, after all the buildup from everything I read about it, I was quite disappointed. I think some of it is attributable to the translation; done by a professor who is undoubtedly proficient or even fluent but who is clearly not a professional translator. It read clearly but had no…verve, no style. It often felt as if he were striving for accuracy at the expense of everything else. All that said, I didn’t care for the story or the way it was told. Kačur, a young and overly idealistic schoolteacher, moves from one far-flung town to another and is routinely disappointed by the scorn, distrust, and ridicule he receives—not only from the ordinary people but from the educated class as well. The damning picture Cankar paints of local political and religious leaders loses much of its power, though, because his protagonist is a “self-centered, masochistic, self-righteous young man whose lack of common sense and compassion dooms him to an ineffective and unhappy life.” [from Goodreads] Still, it is not hard to imagine that this portrayal of society’s power to isolate people must have a huge impact when published in 1907, but this version (translated in 2009) failed to impress. ( )