Doug and his kid thoroughly enjoyed this book but I genuinely did not expect to fall in love with it as hard as I did. It’s a cold, snowy evening when Hershel of Ostropol walks into a village where he was expecting a warm reception on the first night of Hanukkah, with lights, latkes and …
Category: Eastern Europe
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/12/11/hershel-and-the-hanukkah-goblins-by-eric-a-kimmel-trina-schart-hyman/
Nov 12 2023
Memories of Starobielsk by Jozef Czapski
Here is how I last introduced a book by Jozef Czapski: World War II in Europe began when Nazi Germany invaded Poland in the early days of September 1, 1939. Sixteen days later, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east. Less than three weeks later, the Nazis and the Soviets had conquered all of …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/11/12/memories-of-starobielsk-by-jozef-czapski/
Oct 31 2023
Whisper Of The Woods by Ennun Ana Iurov
I thought I’d bend my own scheduling rules and do a quick graphic novel twofer, reading and reviewing this for the last official day of Spooky Season, and I’m so glad I did! First, let’s talk about how creator Ennun Ana Iurov is actually Romanian, living in Romania and writing this brilliant little cautionary tale …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/10/31/whisper-of-the-woods-by-ennun-ana-iurov/
Sep 30 2023
Lost Time: Lectures on Proust in a Soviet Prison Camp by Jozef Czapski
World War II in Europe began when Nazi Germany invaded Poland in the early days of September 1, 1939. Sixteen days later, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east. Less than three weeks later, the Nazis and the Soviets had conquered all of Poland. They divided the country between them according to the secret …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/09/30/lost-time-lectures-on-proust-in-a-soviet-prison-camp-by-jozef-czapski/
Sep 16 2023
Memoirs of the Polish Baroque by Jan Chryzostom Pasek
More properly: The Writings of Jan Chryzostom Pasek, a Squire of the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania edited, translated, with an introduction and notes by Catherine S. Leach because a title appropriate to the era is important. If Sir John Falstaff walked off of Shakespeare’s stage and wrote his memoirs, they would read a lot …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/09/16/memoirs-of-the-polish-baroque-by-jan-chryzostom-pasek/
Sep 07 2023
Der Verrückte des Zaren by Jaan Kross
The jacket copy from the Süddeutsche Zeitung edition of Jaan Kross’ historical novel The Tsar’s Madman, first published in 1978, is tough to beat for a concise summary. “In his diary, Jakob Mättik tells the dramatic story of his brother-in-law, the Baltic German nobleman Timotheus von Bock, who won not only renown in 1812 in …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/09/07/der-verruckte-des-zaren-by-jaan-kross/
Apr 08 2023
Chernobyl by Serhii Plokhy
Thirty-six seconds. That’s how long the test that sealed Chernobyl’s fate lasted. The test itself was not unreasonable, and could only be performed as a reactor — one of four in operation at the power station in 1986 — was being shut down. It was designed to provide data to understand how the reactor and the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/04/08/chernobyl-by-serhii-plokhy/
Mar 05 2023
The Red Prince by Timothy Snyder
How’s this for introducing the subject of your biography? Wilhelm von Habsburg, the Red Prince, wore the uniform of an Austrian officer, the court regalia of a Habsburg archduke, the simple suit of a Parisian exile, the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, and, every so often, a dress. He could handle a …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/03/05/the-red-prince-by-timothy-snyder/
Jan 28 2023
Cold Water by Dave Hutchinson
Dave Hutchinson, like William Gibson, is an artiste of the slightly funny deal. They run all through Cold Water, and trying to figure out just who is running a caper on whom is one of the pleasures of the novel. Carey Tews, the novel’s main protagonist, is a Texan who’s been in Europe for decades …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/01/28/cold-water-by-dave-hutchinson/
Dec 30 2022
Wrapping Up
Time for some short takes to clear the desk for the coming year. Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk. Nobel winner Tokarczuk uses very short chapters, each titled “The Time of …”, to depict life in an archetpyal Polish village from just before the outbreak of the First World War through the last years …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/12/30/wrapping-up-3/