Currently considered by some to be *the* classic of Bosnian literature. It is a collection of stories, a history if you will, of a town situated between Sarajevo and Serbia on the banks of the Drina river. The book covers the time period from about 1600 to the beginning of World War I. From the beginning of the story to about 1860, the Turks controlled the territory. At the beginning of the tale, the sultan decides to build an elaborate stone bridge at the site.

At the end of the book, the Austrians ... well, let's just say the bridge is the main character.My fellow book club members could not guess the religious background of the author. I think this is noteworthy, because the author is gentle toward all of the different ethnic and religious groups in the story. Just as Garrison Keillor gently but lovingly teases the stereotypes of small town Minnesota, Andric is kind to Serb, Turk, Croat, and Austrian. Even such gruesome acts as someone being put to death on a spike are softened.

I have heard that the book is now required reading in the new Bosnian schools as though it were history. Perhaps it is a mythology of a past that was not so bitter that the nation cannot now join together.