"A Woman in Berlin" Anonymous. Translated from the German by Philip Boehm. It was quite by chance that I heard about this novel, reading some article or other that I do not even remember. But when I knew it existed I really wanted to read it alongside the other books dealing with the war and … Continue reading 12. Germany II
11. Luxembourg
"Borderlands" - Roy Jacobsen. Translated: Don Bartlett and Dan Shaw. It would be very easy for a book to teach me something of Luxembourg, for I am afraid my only knowledge of the country comes from news reports on multinational tax avoidance and dodgy banking. Yet trying to find an English book on the place … Continue reading 11. Luxembourg
10. Finland
"Unknown Soldiers" - Vaino Linna. Trans from Finnish by Liesl Yamaguchi. I don’t know how to start describing this book nor the gradual, building effect it compressed into a few hundred, unpoetic, pages. It is like every war film I have seen yet far more human, wordly and affecting. It tells the moribund story of … Continue reading 10. Finland
9. Germany I
"Rosa Luxemburg" - Karl Frohlich . “Social Reform or Revolution”, “Organisational Questions of Russian Social Democracy” Rosa Luxemburg from “The Rosa Luxemburg Reader” eds. Peter Hudis and Kevin B. Anderson. Putting together this reading list I was quite intimidated by Germany, a country I have both studied and feel like I barely know. At the … Continue reading 9. Germany I
8. Denmark
"LUCKY PER (LYKKE PER)" - Henrik Pontippidan. Translator Naomi Lebowitz. I awarded this 4 stars on my Goodreads review. 4 stars grudgingly given, drawn out of me as Per’s long, frustrating quest for self-knowledge was dragged out of him. This is a coming-of-age tale scandi-noir style; the antithesis of every Hollywood movie, laced with Northern … Continue reading 8. Denmark
7. Ireland
"The Green Road" - Anne Enright. What do you expect from an Irish story? Family, guilt, so many words spoken but so much left unsaid, a grim, hope-crushing ending. Maybe this is just my inherited Celtic Catholic sensibilities. But this is what you got with the Green Road. The novel is about a family in … Continue reading 7. Ireland
6. Portugal
"Perreira Maintains" - Antonio Tabucchi. Translated from the Italian by Patrick Creagh. I had intended to only pick authors who were from the country I was reading, however, not only is the author something of an expert on Portugal, this was recommended to me by a Portuguese friend whose taste I trust. It felt like … Continue reading 6. Portugal
5. Spain
"Books Burn Badly" - Manuel Rivas. Translated from Galician by Jonathan Dunne. I found this book by chance after browsing in Daunt's bookshop in Marylebone, London; the only place I know where books are divided by country and those with a geographic reading list can search for gems with little previous knowledge. It was a … Continue reading 5. Spain
The European Reader 