Cav's Place

The first stories are reasonably funny while obviously pointing out and criticizing certain character traits and behaviors. Later ones become more serious, with deeper character and social commentary presented more directly. Those taking place after the character’s return to Bulgaria continue this trend, the author harshly lashing out against the politics and the press of the time. As for the brief ones added at the end, written after the others were first gathered in one book, they’re something of a mix of these categories, squeezed in a few pages each.
As this was written in the late 1800s, by a Bulgarian and for and about Bulgarians, the specifics obviously reflect this. However, taken generally, the negative traits, behaviors, attitudes and ways in which things work, or don’t work, are sadly still very much present in many people and many parts of the world. Of course, the author often exaggerates, but that’s a characteristic of this style of writing.
Do need to make a note that the edition I read was translated and published in 1964, so under Communism, and includes a foreword that’s quite a lengthy propaganda piece, stressing how readers should take the stories as supporting certain ideologies and opposing others despite stating repeatedly that the author himself understood little about such matters. As such, on top of what’d normally be expected to get lost in translation, wonder how much else was censored or intentionally changed. But it was just a little book I wouldn’t normally care about which I picked up while going through and sorting boxes of old books to give away, so I’m not going to care too much if it may not have reflected the source material as accurately as it should have. Not going to give much thought to the rating either.

Rating: 3/5