Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The Book of Whispers/Cartea soaptelor

I bought this book because it won the best book award in 2009 and because it’s written by Varujan Vosganian – an Armenian politician and I was curious. I read it slowly because some parts are quite strong, especially the circles of death. It’s a biography of Armenians in Romania, the history of the 1915 genocide, life stories of those who chose exile and of those who chose to stay, it’s a tangled web of characters, destinies, families. It was amazing to me that the childhood memories, all the smells and images were so vivid and it was enough to close our eyes and take a break from reading and you were in Focsani in the 50ties and the smell of fresh coffee or green nuts would surround you. I think this book has it’s charm because it written in Romanian, Mr. Vosganian is a skilled and wonderful story teller and I will find an opportunity to hear him read from his book because I am sure it would be like time traveling back into a time when my parents were just babies. It is surprising how things change in 50 and so years. To me it was less of a history lesson, more of a peoples’ fresco.  
“Noi nu ne deosebim prin ceea ce suntem, ci prin mortii pe care fiecare ii plange” a spus bunicul meu Garabet.
Rough translation :
We do not distinguish each other by what we are, but through the dead we each weep

2 comments:

  1. I loved this book. Very strong! I then gave it as a present to all my friends either in Italian translation by Anita Bernacchia or in the Romanioan original. It makes for an absorbing reading

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  2. I borrowed it to a couple of my friends and they were equally impressed by this reading. I have it in my library and I will read it again in a few years, just to see if my perspective changes. Thank you for dropping by :)

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