Antidnevnik prisjećanja: Pogled unatrag i unaprijed
Vladimir Devidé, a Croatian mathematician, Japanologist and essayist, creates an intimate, fragmentary autobiography in Anti-Diary of Recollections through around twenty texts – essays, stories, humorous and satirical articles, travelogues, reflections an
The titular "anti-diary" ironizes the imperfection of memory: unlike a perfect diary, these are incomplete traces of the past, like mathematical theorems that fascinate precisely because of the limitations of logic.
The texts arise from memories, not diary entries (only three are based on short notes), capturing encounters and experiences from childhood in Zagreb, through school days and friends, to exotic travels and Japanese influences. Devidé dissects family life, boyhood adventures, high school years, but also more bizarre topics – such as encounters with friends and contemporaries – with humor, self-denial and a light criticism of social circumstances. Nothing is invented; similarities to real people are intentional, but incomplete due to the sensitivity of the living or relatives.
This collection combines the personal with the universal: memory as an antidote to oblivion, life as a diverse palette of experiences. As a bridge between mathematics and poetry, haiku and satire, it reminds us that the past is a look back – and forward.
One copy is available
