In print, the three dictionaries are physically separate sections. The Red, Green, and Yellow are bound together but remain distinct, like three different histories stacked in a single volume. A PDF, however, is a continuous scroll. The visual and tactile distinction between the faiths collapses. Scrolling from a Christian entry to a Jewish one feels accidental, whereas turning 150 pages of paper to reach the Yellow section is a deliberate, conscious act of migration.
Below is a helpful essay examining the work, its unique structure, and the implications of engaging with it as a PDF. Introduction: A Book That Defies Binding First published in 1984, Milorad Pavić’s Dictionary of the Khazars is often described as the first truly “hypertextual” novel—written before the internet existed. Subtitled A Lexicon Novel , it tells the story of the mythical mass conversion of the Khazar people (a real but lost Turkic tribe) through three cross-referenced dictionaries: one Red (Christian), one Green (Islamic), and one Yellow (Jewish). Each entry offers a conflicting version of the same events.
If you can find a physical copy (especially the female edition), read that first. Use the PDF only as a portable reference or a backup. But never mistake the shadow for the substance. The Khazar question is not a problem to be solved; it is a mirror to be broken. And you need the right kind of glass to do that.