The collection of these notes entitled "Znakovi pored puta"/ "Signes by the roadside" as well as "Sveske"/"Notebooks", published after Andrić’s death, can be best described as the writer's intellectual diaries. As may be imagined of a man who recoiled so consistently from any exposure of his private life and thoughts, Andrić was equally consistent in his dislike of the diary as a genre, seeing it as a misguided search for permanence.

There are three main thematic cathegories in the work, reflected in its organization: general statements on the nature of existence, human behaviour, society and history: reflections on art, and in particular on writing; and incidental impression and character sketches which can frequently be seen as having inspired or been worked into a work of fiction.

Apart from observations more or less directly related to art, its nature, methods and material, "Signes by the Roadside" and "Notebooks" are made up of reflections on Andrić’s own life and on human condition. Many of these fragments are similar in tone to the early prose poems and to Andrić' s verse: they express the strong lyrical current of all his writing.