ATDDTA (6) 178-179

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

       David Morris:
       OK, but how exactly "right in the middle" are those italics,
       word-count wise on that page?  And is that the "true" middle,
       word-count wise, for the whole book?  And what is the VERY 
       MIDDLELETTER for both words-counts?  And have you 
       considered the numerology of the first three prime number 
       acronyms starting from the VERY MIDDLE word(s) or space(s)?  
       And puh-leeze, how could OUR MAN allow for his perfect 
       creation to exist with two different page-count editions?
       Clearly evil is afoot.  Or, hahaha, maybe he has planned 
       two very different messages...

Dictionary of the Khazars: A Lexicon Novel is the first novel
by Serbian writer Milorad Pavich (Milorad Pavi?), published in 1984.

Originally written in Serbian, the novel has been translated into 
many languages, including English.

There is no easily discerned plot in the conventional sense,
but the central question of the book (the mass religious 
conversion of the Khazar people) is based on an historical 
event generally dated to the last decades of the 8th century 
or the early 9th century when the Khazar royalty and nobility 
converted to Judaism, and part of the general population 
followed.

However, from this starting point, Pavi? often veers into his 
own style of playful, somewhat Borgesian fantasy: most of 
the characters and events described in the novel are entirely 
fictional, as is the culture ascribed to the Khazars in the book, 
which bears little resemblance to any literary or archeological 
evidence. The novel might be a sort of metafictional false 
document, as the people and events in the novel are presented 
as factual.

The novel takes the form of three cross-referenced 
mini-encyclopedias, each compiled from the sources 
of one of the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, 
and Judaism). Due to its format as a dictionary, the 
novel may be read in any number of ways, rather 
than just front to back. This challenges readers to 
shun passive reading and become active participants 
in the novel, as they piece together the story from 
fragmented, and often conflicting, accounts. As the
 author writes (in his introduction to the work, translated 
to English)

"No chronology will be observed here, nor is one 
necessary. Hence each reader will put together the 
book for himself, as in a game of dominoes or cards, 
and, as with a mirror, he will get out of this dictionary 
as much as he puts into it, for you [...] cannot get 
more out of the truth than what you put into it."
The book comes in two different editions, one "Male" 
and one "Female", which differ in only a critical paragraph.

Some have suggested the novel addresses the break 
up of Yugoslavia, which had not yet happened when 
the novel was written, but was clearly a distinct possibility.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_the_Khazars