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#Albania
review
BarbaraBB
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Pickpick

#Albania has always been Europe's most closed country, until recently very little was known about this small country in the Balkan, surrounded by popular tourist destinations like Greece and Croatia. So I was interested in learning about it. Lea grows up in the 90s when the Soviet Union falls apart and the Berlin Wall has come down. ⬇️⬇️

BarbaraBB Albania keeps its population isolated with just one political party and a strong leader. Still Lea grows up happily, until the Velvet Revolution in Albania changes her country for ever with a nasty civil war in 1997 as a tragic highlight. An interesting book with many facts and perspectives. A light pick. 1mo
Suet624 A country I know very little about. Thanks for the review. 1mo
65 likes2 comments
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Kinniska
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I have to admit that I expected this book to be somewhat dry or abstruse, but I have been reading it out of curiosity based on some family history.
I shouldn‘t have worried. It‘s been far more entertaining than I could‘ve hoped. It‘s often Dorothy Parker levels of skewering of the characters (and I do mean characters! Google Leon Ghilardi, for example).
Jokes aside it‘s also full of source citation; it‘s a great read.

1 stack add
blurb
Kinniska
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Took up reading about King Zogu because my grandparents actually met in Albania during Zog‘s reign/ era. What a strange time, and with absolute characters. Honestly I expected either transparent sentimentality or propaganda, but this has turned out to be a strangely entertaining book about not only the central character but all the people and circumstances around his rise to leadership.

review
Graywacke
A Dictator Calls | Ismail Kadare
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Pickpick

I really like Kadare. He‘s playful and serious and very critical of the Albanian Stalinist state he lived most of his life in. Here he looks at one phone call, when Stalin called Boris Pasternak without warning and asked him about the recent arrest of fellow Jewish poet Osip Mandelstam, Pasternak basically failing this impossible call. Around this is Kadare‘s experience under the rule of this kind of tyrant. It‘s an odd, curious, readable book.

44 likes1 comment
blurb
Graywacke
A Dictator Calls | Ismail Kadare
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I seem to be reading this. Library loan that is taking this slow reader about a minute a page. #Booker2024

review
BookishTrish
A Dictator Calls | Ismail Kadare
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Pickpick

Stalin called Pasternak in 1934 after Osip Mandelstam‘s arrest. If you‘ve ever wondered what took place in the 3-minute call, this one might be for you. It‘s vignettes about 13 accounts of what happened during the call. Kind of a kaleidoscope rather than a novel.

review
Suet624
Bolla: A Novel | Pajtim Statovci
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Panpan

I‘ve read many a book that is grim & have a capacity to appreciate good writing that moves you to despair. I‘ve never read one that made me question whether reading books was something I needed to stop doing. I‘ve debated how to rate this - the story is certainly realistic and the writing kept me reading. Ultimately, I‘m panning it because it requires lots of crime tape around it. (Caution, caution, this will mess you up & think life is hopeless.)

AmyG Yikes. 😬 1y
Suet624 @AmyG yeah. 1y
sarahbarnes I‘d had this one on my list and do love a heavy read, but this sounds like it may be too much even for me. 1y
See All 7 Comments
Suet624 @sarahbarnes the other reviewers seemed to recommend it and were accurate in saying it was hopeless and sad. Maybe it was timing for me, but A Little Life has nothing on this book. This book is a bully. (That last line just popped in my head and I thought, “yup, that‘s so true….) 1y
sarahbarnes Oof. It took me months to get over A Little Life. A bully - what a great description that I‘m going to keep in my pocket for future use. 1y
LeeRHarry This was so so heavy - had to finish it for a thing but wouldn‘t recommend it. 1y
CBee Had to come and check your review - worse than A Little Life? No thank you 🫢😳 1y
49 likes7 comments
review
Lindy
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Pickpick

Lea Ypi‘s memoir of her childhood in Albania while the country undergoes major changes is eye-opening and moving. Her family goes from coveting an empty Coca Cola can as a decorative object, to being able to buy all kinds of soft drinks without even standing in a queue. Excellent audiobook read by Rachel Babbage with the author reading the epilogue.

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Lindy
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In my family, everyone had a favourite revolution, just as everyone had a favourite summer fruit.

AmyG Ha, that is how my grandson eats raspberries! 2y
Lindy @AmyG That‘s one of my sisters in the photo. She says she learned to eat raspberries like that from her granddaughter. 😄 2y
30 likes2 comments
quote
Lindy
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The mastery of the subtle boundary between following rules and breaking them was, for us children, the true mark of growth, maturity and social integration.

20 likes1 stack add