pickI chose something random from my TBR and this was a FIND. Ismail Kadare won the inaugural Man Booker International for his body of work. This is from 1977.
The structure moves from a boys description of his life in a stony city in Albania, to pages that are random sentences from the local paper (Chronicle). You get this dreamy boy communing with the city and nature while he mentions glimpses of the adult world. They often don‘t make sense, ⬇️
The secret life of raindrops. 🌧️💧☔ I am almost positive I had the same reflection as a kid... Moreso how it would suck to start out as a raindrop looking down on beautiful earth as part of a cloud, flying around, fluffy, cute.. To end up in a dirty mud puddle full of worms. 👎. Lame way to end your life as a rain drop.
pickThis is my first Kadare. What a writer. This one is written from the perspective of an imaginative, short sighted boy about the invasions, occupation, and bombardments by multiple foreign armies from '39-'43 in WWII (Italian, Greek, British, German) in his home city of Gjirokaster, Albania. Incredible imagery and prose. I want to say so much but can't fit it in. It's no wonder Kadare won the inaugural Man Booker in 2005.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5.
I asked, "can you read the ants?" He chuckled softly and patted my tousled hair.
"No, boy, you can't read ants."
"But why not? When they're all piled together, they look just like Turkish letters."
"It only seems that way, but it's not really true."
"But I've seen them", I insisted one last time.
As I drew on my cigarette, I wondered what meaning ant hills could have if you couldn't read them like books.
(Reading in line to vote!)
My used copy of Chronicle in Stone by Ismail Kadare just came in the mail! And... I think it might be signed by the author?!? Can anyone else make out what this says?
Chronicle in Stone | 
This is genius, it‘s like watching a quirky dreamy coming of age novel warp and twist and morph into a horror novel. DARK but enlightening. 3y