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If you are into historical here are some historical books from Albania for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.
1.
Abril despedaçado by Ismail Kadare
PT
Description:
O jovem montanhês Gjorg Berisha dá um tiro de fuzil e "toma o sangue" de Zef Kryeqyq. É A quadragésima quinta morte de uma vendeta iniciada setenta anos antes, quando um desconhecido foi vítima de um Kryeqyq depois de ser acolhido pelo clã dos Berisha. A Matança entre as duas famílias é uma imposição do Kanun, código moral que há séculos é transmitido de boca em boca nas montanhas albanesas (assim como na região de Kossovo).COm rigor de antropólogo, Ismail Kadaré vai ao fundo dessa fantástica codificação do assassinato como direito e dever e extrai de lá toda a fúria das tragédias. TÃo minucio... continue
2.
Broken April by Ismail Kadare
EN
Description:
Gjorg is a young mountaineer who (much against his will) has just killed a man in order to avenge the death of his older brother, and who expects to be killed himself in accordance with the Code that regulates life in the Albanian highlands. A young couple on their honeymoon has come to this place to study its age-old customs-including the blood feud. In Broken April, Ismail Kadare intersects the fates of both Gjorg and the young couple with visions of an unending cycle of obligatory murder and the horrifying effects it has on their respective lives. "Dostoevskian in its dark vision."--Kirkus ... continue
3.
Chronicle in Stone by Ismail Kadare
EN
Description:
Masterful in its simplicity, Chronicle in Stone is a touching coming-of-age story and a testament to the perseverance of the human spirit. Surrounded by the magic of beautiful women and literature, a boy must endure the deprivations of war as he suffers the hardships of growing up. His sleepy country has just thrown off centuries of tyranny, but new waves of domination inundate his city. Through the boy’s eyes, we see the terrors of World War II as he witnesses fascist invasions, allied bombings, partisan infighting, and the many faces of human cruelty—as well as the simple pleasures of life. ... continue
4.
Glimmer of Hope, Glimmer of Flame: a documentary novel by Ag Apolloni
EN
Description:
A unique voice from Europe’s newest country, rooted in its oldest literary traditions – now in English for the first time. Glimmer of Hope, Glimmer of Flame is a documentary novel of the true tragedy of two mothers after the Kosovo War of 1999: one lost her whole family and continues to lay the table for them more than twenty years later; the other burned herself to death when the remains of two of her sons were returned. A mosaic of the evil fortunes of war and the painful consequences of peace, the novel echoes the eternal truths of ancient Greek tragedy as it tells the sorrows of modern war... continue
5.
The Siege by Ismail Kadare
EN
Description:
In the early fifteenth century, as winter falls away, the people of Albania know that their fate is sealed. They have refused to negotiate with the Ottoman Empire, and war is now inevitable. Soon enough dust kicked up by Turkish horses is spotted from a citadel. Brightly coloured banners, hastily constructed minarets and tens of thousands of men fill the plain below. From this moment on, the world is waiting to hear that the fortress has fallen.The Siege tells the enthralling story of the weeks and months that follow ' of the exhilaration and despair of the battlefield, the constantly shifting... continue
6.
The Three-Arched Bridge by Ismail Kadare
EN
Description:
In the Balkan Peninsula, history’s long-disputed bridge between Asia and Europe, the receding Byzantine empire has left behind a patchwork of warring peoples who fight over everything, from their pastures of sheep to the authorship of their countless legends. One such gruesome tale declares that a castle under construction cannot be finished until a young mason’s bride has been walled up alive, one breast left exposed to suckle her growing infant even after her death. Myth becomes perverse reality when a mason is plastered into a bridge over a strategically important river, where his will not ... continue