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This novel is set Travnik city and it takes place during Napoleonic era. Like most of Andric's works, it is set in turbulent historical times but then again history is always turbulent in the Balkans. History held a special attraction for this writer. I sometimes think it was the case because talking about history was ' politically safer' than talking about the present. Whatever has been behind his motivation to set his books in the past, Andric has certainly done well writing about the past. It could be said that he mastered and conquered the historical prose genre. Bosnian Chronicle is written in Andric's signature style. It is among the best works of psychological realism and it is absolutely brilliant. It is both universal and local in its scope, both individual and social in its portraits.

Travnik is at the centre of this novel, everything that happens in this novel takes place in it. Therefore, I think that better translation of this book would be Travnik Chronicle. That is the title in the original language anyway- literally, the book is called Travnik Chronicle. I assume that the translator thought that Bosnian Chronicle would sound more familiar to the average reader then Travnik chronicle. I mean the translator was probably right, as Travnik, although supposedly beautiful (I haven't been there myself yet), is not that well known city. However, this novel is set in Travnik. The characters all, either permanently or not, live in Travnik or immediate vicinity. On the other hand, perhaps it could be said that on some higher or a more metaphorical layer it is about Bosnia. It might be that Travnik is a metaphor for Bosnia itself. But then again on even higher layer it could be said that it is about mankind in general. As Andrić says “there is something in man that lives regardless of outside life and that, for better or worse, determines his life.� The writer’s chief merit would be capturing that inner live, in that sense he is brilliant.

The chronicle spans over seven years, so called "consul years". The narrative starts with the arrival of first ever consul in Travnik. During the era of Napoleon's rule, Travnik gets a French consul. Soon after him, arrives Austrian consul. The writer describes these foreigners (and their families, servants, etc) in detail, as he does with the Ottoman rulers of the town and the inhabitants of the town (four nations, well five if you count the gypsies, but they live on the edges of the society). Andrić is ever a master of characterization. I always great enjoy the depths he goes into pondering the motivations of different characters. You get this sensation that he wants to have a look in their souls.

...“No one knows what it means to be born and to live on the brink, between two worlds....to love and hate both, to hesitate and waver all one's life. To have two homelands and yet have none. To be everywhere at home and to remain forever a stranger. In short, to be torn on a rack, but as both victim and torturer at once.�
� Ivo Andrić, Bosnian Chronicle

I have sang praises to Bosnian Chronicle. Nevertheless, this is not the easiest book to read. Not to dispute Andrić's genius, but this chronicle is full of tragedy. The main problem I had with it is that I started to look like one of Andric's characters (suffering from insomnia and being bewildered with the world). Andric is definitely not an easy read. Despair, fear and sadness fill every page in this chronicle. It is not that he focuses only on the negative; but rather it is just realistic in a grim way.
The writer is just being brutally honest. Never simplifying the complexities of life and people, he is remarkably successful is giving a voice to many characters. Nor does he stops at that. He captures the very soul of the place. On an individual level, Andrić somehow manages to portray both universal and local in a man. There is no one who has managed to describe four religions in a land where religion equals nation and the implications of that situation as he did. Andric was a gifted writer, no doubt about that.

The character I enjoyed most in this novel was the friar doctor. Friars are my favourite characters in Andric's novels and shorter prose works (I adore his short stories). Now, that I think of it, friars are probably the reason why I like his short stories best. There is just so much warmth in his descriptions of little brothers. Is there some link there? Perhaps there is because according to some recent research and information by his relatives, Andrić was an illegitimate son of a friar. To conclude, Bosnian Chronicle is a serious and sometimes grim work of literature. However, it is more than worthy of your time. Read this book with an open heart and you might learn a lot.