When I started this challenge I thought Britain’s exit from the european union would be the biggest piece of history I would live through. Yet, as I limped towards the final books in my reading list in early 2020, the entire world shut down. The Covid-19 pandemic fundamentally altered the lives of millions of people … Continue reading Lockdown Interval
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26. Italy
The 8 Mountains by Paolo Cognetti. Translated from the Italian by Erica Segre & Simon Carnell I asked an Italian friend to recommend a book that would teach me something about her country. She gave me a list and, with a certain exasperation, said of this one “I don’t think it’s even the best book, … Continue reading 26. Italy
23. France
“A Void” by Georges Perec. Translated from the French by Gilbert Adair. A book drawn up wholly without resorting to a particular symbol. “A Void” was jovial, ironic, sardonic and good to devour through my Christmas holidays. A conniving work of stunning difficulty which was as fun as it was absorbing. That’s about as much … Continue reading 23. France
22. Greece
“Adults in the Room” by Yanis Varoufakis This reading list wouldn’t feel complete without a book on the financial crisis, specifically the eurozone crisis, which engulfed Europe from roughly 2010 onwards. While the tumult and fury of those days are somewhat forgotten amongst everything that has happened since, the EU will no doubt be judged … Continue reading 22. Greece
20. Poland
"Drive your plow over the bones of the dead" by Olga Tokarczuk. Translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. If you were to invent a parodic title for a certain type of European novel, I think this would be it. An allusion to the peasant lifestyle that has sustained Europeans over the centuries, to a … Continue reading 20. Poland
16. Estonia
"Diary of a Blood Donor" Mati Unt. Translated from the Estonian by Ants Ert. A retelling of Dracula set in Communist Estonia. Who could resist such a book? Never mind that I haven’t read “Dracula” or that Mati Unt seemingly writes post-modernist books and that’s always a little perplexing, this definitely seemed worth a go. … Continue reading 16. Estonia
2. Croatia
"Girl at War" - Sara Novic. I generally wanted to read the books in some form of chronological order, but almost immediately after starting my reading list I had to pick a title for my local book group and that came with responsibilities, not least that the book should be easy for everyone to get … Continue reading 2. Croatia
1. Austria
"The World of Yesterday", Stefan Zweig. Not being overly familiar with continental authors I had not heard of Stefan Zweig until I began researching books to read for Austria. His harrowing memoir, The World of Yesterday, seemed the ideal entry into a European reading list: charting the demise of old nineteenth century Vienna and the … Continue reading 1. Austria
The European Reader 