this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2026
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Tolkien, Lord of the Rings (LotR), etc.
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The Bridge on the Drina is supposed to be an incredible work - sort of the Yugoslavian answer to War And Peace. But it's not going to get picked up by Amazon or New Line Cinema, so the vast majority of Millennial age Americans will never hear about it.
Why is “being known by millennial Americans” important in this context?
I've read a good portion of it in English. It's a good read if you like historical dramas. It's about a Bosnian village called Višegrad. In the 16th century, the Ottoman Sultan has the titular bridge built there to connect two parts of his empire. The book follows the residents of the village as the construction and then continued operation of that bridge shapes their lives over the centuries, all the way up to the start of WW1.
It's not character-centric, because it covers such a huge time period, but it's still great if you have any interest in the history of that part of the world.
You can also visit the bridge itself if you have some time to spend in Bosnia. I've not been there yet, but I imagine it's more impressive than the street corner in Sarajevo where Franz Ferdinand was shot, which I have been to and can confirm is very underwhelming.
The anglocentric bias is ever stronger on the internet. And I say that as a Tolkien fan: in no way he is worthy of a Nobel prize.