This is a compilation of 16 stories from a writer who came to Australia in his 20s as a refugee from the Balkans. Bosnia and Melbourne feature heavily. The subject matter won’t suit all readers: there’s a content warning on the title page. The stories are raw and uncompromising and the interactions between characters often end in violence. Within the stories is a mix of ingrained racism, casual misogyny, criminality and simmering anger which sits either just below or well above boiling point.
Animals, especially dogs, are a consistent story companion – not always in a good way, unfortunately.
There is a point of difference in each of the stories, whether it’s as a migrant in an homogenous setting, or – as in ‘Dinosaur’ – working as a forklift driver, but having creative talents explored in a sculpting course at night school. These points of difference are exploited, sometimes vocally, sometimes physically, but always with the intention of humiliation.
Thankfully, there are occasional glimpses of humanity. In ‘Names of Wildflowers’, the narrator is called Jim by his boss, although that’s nowhere close to his actual name. (The Anglicising of names is also a recurrent theme.) As the two men work together, barriers are eventually removed and Faruk is given his real name. As Faruk reflects on his journey from war-torn Sarajevo, a quote from his mother perfectly encapsulates Australia from a refugee’s point of view: ‘Is anyone even sure this place is real?’.
I can’t say I ‘enjoyed’ these stories (I found the subject matter unsettling and disturbing), but I could appreciate the skill of the writing. In Complication Pajalic uses his talents to explore the limits of everyday humanity, or the lack thereof.
Reviewed by Bob Moore
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Fikret Pajalic came to Melbourne as a refugee, learnt English in his mid-twenties and started writing years later. He has won and placed in competitions, published in anthologies and literary magazines. His fiction has appeared in Meanjin, Overland, Westerly, Etchings, Sleepers, Antipodes, The Big Issue, Hotel Amerika, Wisconsin Review, The Minnesota Review, Fjords Review, Sheepshead Review, Bop Dead City, Structo, Paper and Ink, JAAM and elsewhere.
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