Fictional Roma story in Bogdan Teodorescu’s “The Sword”

July 2010

We gathered in a friendly atmosphere to talk about Bogdan Teodorescu’s book, “The Sword”. The event was more engaging and interesting as the author himself, Mr. Teodorescu was there to share with us his vision.

The book is based on a string of vigilante killings in Bucharest targeting ethnic Roma with criminal records. The identity of the serial killer is unknown, and the authorities seem powerless to stop him. In addition, the social environment becomes explosive due to the sensationalist media. Taking into account the current Romanian context and the prejudices existing against the Roma, Teodorescu’s fictional story could materialize to reality at any moment.  Nevertheless, the described conflict is not necessarily of an ethnic nature, but rather of a social one.

The author’s emphasis was on showing how the Romanian authorities are unprepared for any kind of crisis. Teodorescu pointed out that the Romanian politician underrates the importance of communication and that the messages of the political elite don’t actually represent the citizen’s needs.