Worlds

MORE THAN LITERATURE: THE NEW EDITION OF THE NOVEL ”VUK” (”WOLF”) BY MIROSLAV KUSMUK
A Book as a Remedy and a Weapon
He was only 22 years old when he was wounded on the Sarajevo battlefields in the cervical part of the spine, and he is left permanently in his wheel chair. Since then, for 13 years, he is fighting and teaching us to keep the flame of life and our spirit. He can only write with the little finger of his right hand, but his thoughts are clear, his will is never-ending and his heart is filled with peace. The novel ”Vuk” and its second edition published by ”Princip Press” is a true testimony of his life

By: Neda Simić Žerajić

Vuk lives in every one of us and it is easy to reach him. You only need enough strength. Those who step forward and look him in the eyes, face their fears. Vuk is everything we hide from others, but from ourselves as well. He is what we run away from; he is what we deny, but unsuccessfully.
This is how Miroslav Kusmuk begins his story, the writer of the novel called Vuk, whose second edition is now prepared by ”Princip Press” (the first edition was published by ”Besjeda” from Banjaluka).
This man from Sarajevo lives in Inđija, a small town in Srem, and he showed his maturity as a writer with his first novel, awaking the interest of the public. The novel Vuk was highly rated by university professors and literary critics, and the Council of Culture of the Town Assembly of Banjaluka awarded Kusmuk’s novel on the contest of publishers.
This was not only a stimulus for future creation for this young writer, who is still seeking for his literary road. For Miroslav Kusmuk, this book is much more. This book is a remedy, a remedy for the soul, but also a weapon. The weapon of spirit, the weapon of the heart and the mind. Miroslav Kusmuk, after his injury of the cervical part of the spine and 13 years in a wheel chair, succeeded in facing his unfortunate life, and courageously step into the fight for new life, for new meaning of life, and he left that fight as a winner.
The fact that he can only write with the little finger of his right hand, which is half-moving, did not take away his courage. Just like his hero, Miroslav faced his own destiny with the strength of a wolf and he succeeded in finding deeper meaning in truths which life itself showed him.

I, THE WOLF

– When I was 22 years old, I realized that I will spend the rest of my life in a wheel chair, and it was not easy for me. The fight began and I had only one goal: to make my life the same as it was before the injury. That battle was lost for everyone, except for me and my family. Torn between two worlds, the first one made of wishes and dreams, and the other one, which is realistic, and often dragging me to the bottom, I started seeking for strength and meaning, I realized that life is actually a prisoner of two different worlds, which could not exist one without the other. Just as the body and the soul make a whole, dreams and reality stick together as well. My body is left crashed, yet my soul fought with the handicap and it helped me in dealing with the real world that surrounds me – says Miroslav.
Believing that every well-grounded literary work has autobiographical elements, Miroslav Kusmuk gave Vuk in his novel a part of his life reflections.
– To write and not to include a part of your own soul and a part of your feelings, would be unfair and hypocrite. That is why the life, the autobiographical character, and the personal part all give the strength to a work of art. It is nice when a writer shares something true with his audience, whether it is poetry or prose, but it is even more beautiful when other people find themselves in it. Unfortunately, a man’s life is not only about nice things. There is the other part, the less beautiful, but also very important, because bad experience is to be shown to others. When I wrote my novel Vuk, I put myself into wolf’s skin and I have represented my hero with my own feelings and reflections.
According to Professor Darko Gavrilović, the book critic, for Miroslav Kusmuk’s life comes out of the purest springs, from the essence of being. ”Based on relations in the wolf community, this writer finds solution for relations between people.”
”Kusmuk is not Aesop and his wolves are not fable-like, but his writing does include an Aesopian moral which is intended for a man, in order to remind him what life means and how a man should appreciate that life”, says Gavrilović.

LOVE AND FORGIVENESS

Besides showing the life of animals and the ambient of a forest, for which the critic Duško Pevulja says that they are very clearly and well painted, the novel Vuk directs the man towards real values, above all toward love and forgiveness.
– The first thing that my Wolf says is that a man should be a man to a man, and a wolf to evil. We should contribute goodness to each other, and multiply it, not leaving any space for evil to spread. You should help to the one who lost his balance and failed and not pointing at him and laugh at him. The forest and the world we live in are full of love. Do not get angry at each other, you should learn to forgive; it is not a sin to cry out of atonement. Are newly born children to blame for their tears? We should become keepers of true values, because of those who are yet to come to this world. Forgiveness is a man’s biggest virtue. The ma who says he is capable of loving but not of forgiving, is lying to himself. If one cannot forgive, he was never able to love – says Miroslav Kusumuk about himself and about Vuk.
Besides literature, he cherishes many other arts and one form of spirituality. He loves the nature, because the nature, as Goethe said, ”is the only book which offers us an endless range of possibilities on every page”.
– The time I spend with my dear people, my family, relatives and my friends is the nicest time I have. I love the nature, especially when I go down to the river. It is not always possible that I enjoy it, but I have brought it into my home. I have big aquariums and beautiful fish. I also have a macaw, called Žile Patagonac, who is already disapproving of me spending so much time with you and your readers.
He lived with animals since his early childhood. When he was 16, he opened a pet shop in Sarajevo. He made business and he made friendships. Then came the war and his spinal injury on the battlefields of Sarajevo. Then he spent tough years in hospitals in Serbia. In the hospital in Stari Slankamen he spent ten years. The love of his mother, who was besides him all that time, helped him and prevented him from falling into an abyss. The rest, he found alone and showed everyone how the story of the spirit that conquers the body is not only a cliché. That story is our most important task and the success of every each of us.

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God and family
– God is giving me the strength for living and everything should be as he wishes. The family is a gift from God and we should keep it. Even when we are not the part of our old family anymore, we should think of each other still. That is going to strengthen us and when we fall into despair, it will help us to fight our life temptations – says Miroslav.

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Pen
– When I went to the Book Fair in Belgrade last year in October, I could not help myself from excitement. I knew that somewhere, among all these books in the great coliseum is my Vuk. For a moment, I saw myself as a gladiator carrying a colourless pen in his hand. The arena was full of people, and the great gladiators waved at me with their white pens. My pen is yet to get its colour, and I wish that is colour were not even close to black – says Miroslav Kusmuk.