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Longlisted for the 2020 International Booker, it also won two German awards per the back flap.

It took me two months to read this 1275 page monster. It‘s a multigenerational saga about a Georgian family from 1900 to 2007. Very melodramatic - I didn‘t particularly like it but appreciated the mental workout of reading in German. I read it w/ a friend & complained to her. 😂

I can happily announce that I‘ve finished the longest book (1280p) I‘ve ever read! #DasAchteLeben is not without struggle, because the story is very complex & often extremely sad and shocking. However, the author has put an immense work of research into this, and for a book that long, the number of characters was small, which really helped following along. The ending was beautiful.

Rating: ��������,25/5

Oh @candority I‘m so grateful to you for doing this again! One of my favourite books recently ( tagged) was discovered though this swap - thank you @jenniferw88 !

So of course I‘ve just signed up! If you fancy starting the year off discovering some great new reads - head over to @candority page and sign up too! #bestof2021swap

Over 100 years of family history is narrated in unending, tragic detail. Yes in Georgia/USSR times were tumultuous, but not a single character is able to keep their heads down and trudge through–every female is violated. It‘s tedious and frustrating that hundreds of pages didn‘t elicit emotion. It ends ambiguously, which I read as (another) impending tragedy, but having the final book as a blank page to be filled by the next generation was clever.

For us, the Soviet Union meant: endless summer camps, Pioneer neckerchiefs. Tea plantations, apiaries, and kolkhozes. White knee-socks from China, tapestries of hunting scenes on the walls, Mishka Na Severe chocolates, and Lagidze's tarragon lemonade.

It's horrible and wet outside, so it seemed a good time to pick up the 934pp of this!

This book was a million years long but oh so good. Like most chunky books, it dragged a bit in the middle and I got a little lost in the sprawling family tree, but it wasn‘t a HUGE retraction. It is very readable, which isn‘t something I‘ve encountered often in translated work. Well worth all the hours spent reading it. #readingeurope #georgia
+16 for #teamreadnosedreindeer #wintergames

Reading on the balcony during a sunshower when I caught this 🌠🤩I‘m still struggling with this book 😔

I‘m tempted to take this big book on during the remaining days of summer. I think I‘m in the mood for a family saga. #BigBookSummer #womenintranslation

Chocolate was now just a memory of another age, and without chocolate people forgot sweetness, and without sweetness they forgot childhood, and without childhood they forgot the beginning, and without the beginning they couldn‘t see the end.

[Book 3, Kostya, p. 200]

I hope it‘s possible to read this from book 2, Christine, p. 137

There‘s just something about the contrasts on this page

Someone who needs a veil, an object, even one made of silk, between themselves and the world is afraid of life. They‘re afraid to experience things, to really feel them. And I think life is too short and far too wonderful not to really look at it, not to really grab it, not to really live it. (p. 25)

Personally, I do not believe that revolution is an outcry from the people; rather, I believe that it awakens in the guilty conscience of the

The first paragraph, and I already love the voice in this story and how it pulls you into the story.

I‘ve read the prologue, but if the rest of the book is like this I‘m in for a treat.

Ready to start this chunkster. I‘ve seen nothing but raving reviews for it

#WeeklyForcast

📚 Read the second Vernon Subutex book
🎧 Hopefully finish Victim 2117
📚 Continue the book about Austen
📚 Read a good chunk of The Eight Life

A little over half way through the #joysofjune readathon, and I‘m at 80% - I might yet finish this on Sunday!

We‘re up to Daria and Niza (our narrator)‘s childhood. Gorbachev has taken the reins, and as throughout the whole book I‘ve loved how naturally the Georgian/Soviet history sits alongside the family history. I‘m enjoying spending time with the girls, and I do love how characters we met years ago reappear. But I really am ready to be done!

good one!

Books&chocola boek uit chocolade op....

Books&chocolat

Loved it. Great way to find out more on the history of Georgia in the 20th century. The family is very interesting with a lot of intrigue and bad luck despite their priviliged position. Have been doing a lot of internet searches while reading this. And the cover is just to pretty #coverlove

When books have the most beautiful dustcovers �

Love details like this! #books&details #books #bigbooks

Just started this one #lovebigbooks