Popular European Memoir Books
Find memoir books written by authors from Europe for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (85)
51.
Scafandrul şi fluturele by Jean-Dominique Bauby RO
FranceDescription:
Bestseller international, vandut in peste un milion de exemplare si tradus in 30 de limbi, cartea lui Jean-Dominique Bauby sta la baza filmului lui Julian Schnabel, distins in 2008 cu Globul de Aur.
Ce inseamna, de fapt, sa fii viu? Care ne sunt, cu adevarat, bucuriile vietii? Cine - sau ce - din noi traieste, se-ndragosteste, cauta, uita, iarta? Cata suferinta incape intr-un trup, cata nefericire intr-un suflet? De ce trebuie sa murim?
Publicat la cateva zile dupa moartea autorului, victima a unui accident vascular, "Scafandrul si fluturele" este una dintre cele mai zguduitoare ... continue
52.
Shadows on the Tundra by Dalia Grinkevičiūtė EN
LithuaniaDescription:
An extraordinary piece of international survival literature, joining the likes of Primo Levi and Anne Frank. In 1941, 14-year-old Dalia and her family are deported from their native Lithuania to a labour camp in Siberia. As the strongest member of her family she submits to twelve hours a day of manual labour. At the age of 21, she escapes the gulag and returns to Lithuania. She writes her memories on scraps of paper and buries them in the garden, fearing they might be discovered by the KGB. They are not found until 1991, four years after her death. This is the story Dalia buried. The immediacy... continue
53.
Sin destino by Imre Kertész ES
HungaryDescription:
Historia del año y medio de la vida de un adolescente en diversos campos de concentración nazis (experiencia que el autor vivió en propia carne), “Sin destino” no es, sin embargo, ningún texto autobiográfico. Con la fría objetividad del entomólogo y desde una distancia irónica, Kertész nos muestra en su historia la hiriente realidad de los campos de exterminio en sus efectos más eficazmente perversos: aquellos que confunden justicia y humillación arbitraria, y la cotidianidad más inhumana con una forma aberrante de felicidad. Testigo desapasionado, “Sin destino” es, por encima de todo, gran li... continue
54.
Śmierć pięknych saren by Ota Pavel PL
Country: Europe / 
Czech Republic
Czech Republic
Description:
Za co tak bardzo kochamy Otę Pavla? Co sprawia, że kilka dekad po jego przedwczesnej śmierci wciąż sięgamy po jego książki? Z pewnością są to zawarte w tych tekstach ponadczasowe wartości: miłość, przyjaźń, rodzina i przyroda, a także podszyte delikatnym humorem nostalgia i bezradność wobec przemijającego świata i czasu. Lecz najważniejsza jest być może ta, tak charakterystyczna dla Pavla, magia życia, nieuchwytna, utkana ze słów i przypominająca, że każdy nasz dzień, nawet nie najpiękniejszy, ma olbrzymią wartość, którą jednak musimy odnaleźć przede wszystkim w naszych sercach.
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55.
Sophie Scholl and the White Rose by Annette Dumbach, Jud Newborn EN
BelarusDescription:
A SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY EDITION TO COMMEMORATE 80 YEARS SINCE THE EXTRAORDINARY EVENTS OF 1943 Sophie Scholl and the White Rose tells the gripping true story of five Munich university students who set up an underground resistance movement in World War II. The thrilling story of their courage and defiance, brought to life in the Oscar-nominated film Sophie Scholl - The Final Days, is beautifully told in this special 80th anniversary edition of Annette Dumbach & Jud Newborn's critically acclaimed work. Acclaim for Sophie Scholl and the White Rose: 'The animated narrative reads like a suspense nove... continue
56.
Spare by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex EN
Country: Europe / 
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Description:
It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow—and horror. As Diana, Princess of Wales, was laid to rest, billions wondered what the princes must be thinking and feeling—and how their lives would play out from that point on. For Harry, this is that story at last. With its raw, unflinching honesty, Spare is a landmark publication full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.
57.
The Appointment : A Novel by Katharina Volckmer EN
GermanyDescription:
“A darkly funny untangling of national and sexual identity.” —The Guardian * “Transgressive...Incendiary.” —The New Yorker * “A furious comic monologue...with a disregard for propriety worthy of Alexander Portnoy.” —The New York Times Book Review * “Sexy, hilarious, and subversive.” —The Paris Review For readers of Ottessa Moshfegh and Han Kang, a whip-smart debut novel in which a woman on the verge of major change addresses her doctor in a stream of consciousness narrative. In a well-appointed examination in London, a young woman unburdens herself to a certain Dr. Seligman. Though she can bar... continue
58.
The Arab of the Future : Volume 1: a Childhood in the Middle East, 1978-1984 - a Graphic Memoir by Riad Sattouf EN
Description:
VOLUME 1 IN THE UNFORGETTABLE STORY OF AN EXTRAORDINARY CHILDHOOD The Arab of the Future tells the unforgettable story of Riad Sattouf's childhood, spent in the shadows of three dictators - Muammar Gaddafi, Hafez al-Assad, and his father. A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR | AN OBSERVER GRAPHIC BOOK OF THE YEAR | A NEW YORK TIMES CRITICS' TOP BOOK OF THE YEAR 'I tore through it... The most enjoyable graphic novel I've read in a while' Zadie Smith 'I joyously recommend this book to you' Mark Haddon 'Riad Sattouf is one of the great creators of our time' Alain De Botton 'Beautifully-written and drawn, ... continue
59.
The Cat I Never Named by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess EN
Country: Europe / 
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Description:
In Bihac, Bosnia, in 1992, sixteen-year-old Amra and her family face starvation and the threat of brutal ethnic violence as Serbs and Bosnians clash, while a stray cat, Maci, provides solace --
60.
The Copenhagen Trilogy : Childhood; Youth; Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen EN
DenmarkDescription:
Called "a masterpiece" by The Guardian, this courageous and honest trilogy from Tove Ditlevsen, a pioneer in the field of genre-bending confessional writing, explores themes of family, sex, motherhood, abortion, addiction, and being an artist. This single-volume hardcover contains all three volumes of her memoirs Tove Ditlevsen is today celebrated as one of the most important and unique voices in twentieth-century Danish literature, and The Copenhagen Trilogy (1969–71) is her acknowledged masterpiece. Childhood tells the story of a misfit child’s single-minded determination to become a poet; Y... continue