* indicates a book that appears in our feature "Around the World in 80+ Books"published in the April 2002 issue of National Geographic Traveler.
*Balkan Ghosts: A Journey through History, by Robert D. Kaplan (1993). To appreciate the complexity of contemporary Europe, one must understand the Balkans. Completed in 1990, before the first shot was fired in the war in Yugoslavia, Kaplan's riveting account of his travels weaves in history and politics.
*Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey, by Isabel Fonseca (1995). Fonseca spent four nomadic years living with the Roma (as the Gypsies call themselves), moving from Albania to Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Bulgaria to document their traditions.
Café Europa: Life After Communism, by Slavenka Drakulic (1996). Using everyday language, Drakulic puts the commonplace sights of Eastern Europe under a microscope, finding sociological importance in the toilets of Romania and the deeper meaning behind the ubiquitous "Café Europas" that pepper the region. Drakulic discovers through her travels that these pale imitations of Western-style cafés are symbolic of a region still seeking acceptance into the world community.
Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie (1934). Christie guides readers through a mystery plot and across the European continent as a crime unfolds on the Orient Express train. Experience the blizzard in Yugoslavia that brings together 13 travelers from various countries to solve the murder.
Albania
Broken April,by Ismail Kadare (1978). Kadare, Albania'smost celebrated wordsmith, dissects the "mountain law" custom of blood feud, in which murder is mandated for family vengeance. In this mesmerizing novel set in the 1920s, the story of Gjorg—a young Albanian man ordered by his father to commit murder to avenge his brother's murder—intersects with the story of a young couple honeymooning in Albania's highlands, offering a glimpse of traditional Albanian mountain life in the raw.
Bosnia
Fools Rush In: A True Story of War and Redemption, by Bill Carter (2005). Drawn to volunteer in war-torn Bosnia—in part to escape his own personal fog after the death of his girlfriend—Carter finds refuge in an abandoned tower block and gathers supplies for the citizens of Sarajevo. He learns to navigate Snipers' Alley and the Old Town, and eventually enlists the band U2 and lead singer Bono to help publicize the Sarajevans' plight.
Croatia
Croatia: Travels in Undiscovered Country, by Tony Fabijancic (2003). "Croatia's highway from Istria to Dubrovnik is a heat-cracked grey line unspooling along the blue waves of the Velebit Mountains," writes Fabijancic. The Croatian immigrant's son relates his hike through the country, enjoying produce straight from rural kitchen gardens and sipping sljivovica (plum brandy) with the locals.
Plum Brandy: Croatian Journeys, by Josip Novakovich (2002). For native son Novakovich, who emigrated to the U.S. at age 20, the turbulence of 1990s' Croatia is both personal and distant. His recollections of growing up idyllically in a Croatian village juxtapose with his immigrant life in America. He muses about this disconnect during his frequent Balkan travels: "You can't enter the same country twice."
Czech Republic
*Danube: A Sentimental Journey from the Source to the Black Sea, by Claudio Magris, translated by Patrick Creagh (1986). Italian intellectual Magris's poetic river trip offers a portrait of Central Europe that's both exhaustive and energizing.
My Merry Mornings(1986) and My First Loves(1986), by Ivan Klima. These touching and often humorous short-story collections from the 1970s and '80s bring you into the homes of ordinary Czechs coping with the frustrations of life under communism and convey the tiny intimacies of a culture that is still far more comfortable in a pub or weekend cottage than at the grandiose Prague Castle or Charles Bridge.
Open Letters: Selected Writings, 1965-1990,by Vaclav Havel (1992). This book gathers the former Czech president's inspiring essays from the 1970s and '80s and captures the sense of the intellectual fervor and dissent in Cold War-era Prague. In one of the most famous pieces, "The Power of the Powerless," Havel foretells the 1989 Velvet Revolution exactly as it would unfold a decade later: "The crust of a life of lies is made of strange stuff. As long as it seals off hermetically the entire society, it appears to be made of stone. But the moment someone breaks through in one place ... everything suddenly appears in another light and the whole crust disintegrates uncontrollably."
The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera (1984). The hollowness of life inside communist-era Prague echoes in the love triangle at the center of Kundera's philosophical modern classic, set against the 1968 Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia.
Estonia
The Beauty of History,by Viivi Luik (1991). It's 1968, Soviet tanks are moving in to crush the Prague Spring, and a young hippy Estonianwoman takes the train to visit her Jewish artist lover in his hometown of Riga, in neighboring Latvia. Their love story plays out against the backdrop of unfolding larger political events in this lyrical novel.
The Czar's Madman,by Jaan Kross (1978). In 1827, Estonian nobleman Timotheus van Bock is released from a Russian prison after nine years. Told from his brother-in-law's point of view, this vivid historical novel, based on actual events, unravels the story behind van Bock's imprisonment after an idealistic stand against Tsar Alexander I's absolute monarchy. Kross is Estonia's preeminent contemporary novelist.
Things in the Night, by Mati Unt (1990). Set in post-Soviet Estonia at the end of the millennium, Unt spins a sometimes-bleak postmodern tale of a nightmarish power outage in Tallinn's sub-zero weather. City folklore, Estonian mythology, and bolts of optimism keep the characters afloat.
Treading Air,by Jaan Kross (1998). This acclaimed historical novel of 20th-century Estonia's political upheavals tells the story of one Ullo Paerand, who pays a price for his principles. He witnesses both Soviet and German occupation of Estonia, joins the Resistance, then chooses to stay in his native land when many of his co-patriots have fled for Western Europe, and ultimately spends the remainder of his life as a factory worker.
Hungary
Ballad of the Whiskey Robber,by Julian Rubinstein (2004). The subtitle says it all: "A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts." This rollicking true-crime tale of Hungarian bank robber/hockey goalie/folk hero Attila Ambrus accurately captures the Wild West culture of 1990s Budapest.
Between the Woods and the Water, by Patrick Leigh Fermor (1986). In 1934, Fermor set off on foot from Holland to Constantinople (Istanbul). This second book in his classic account of that journey covers his travels through Hungary (the "water" being the Danube) and Romania (the "woods" being the Carpathians). The simpatico Fermor finds himself welcome wherever he goes, getting invited to play "bike-polo" with a Hungarian count and to partake in a lazy afternoon's coffee-and-cigarette ritual with a group of old Balkan Turks.
Under the Frog, by Tibor Fischer (1992). Set in 1950s communist Hungary, this darkly comic tale follows two Hungarian basketball players as they travel around the country, butting up against the absurdities of Soviet rule. Your laugh catches in your throat as the plot culminates with the failed 1956 uprising against the Russians, in which 25,000 to 50,000 Hungarians were killed and some quarter million fled the country as refugees.
Latvia
The Beauty of History,by Viivi Luik (1991). It's 1968, Soviet tanks are moving in to crush the Prague Spring, and a young hippy Estonian woman takes the train to visit her Jewish artist lover in his hometown of Riga, in neighboring Latvia. Their love story plays out against the backdrop of unfolding larger political events in this lyrical novel.
Lithuania
The Corrections,by Jonathan Franzen (2001). Franzen tells the quirky story of the unraveling of the Lamberts, a modern-day dysfunctional American family spread around the globe, from New York and Philadelphia to Vilnius, Lithuania. He describes Lithuania's bleak side: "For six hundred years the country was passed around among Poland, Prussia, and Russia like a much-recycled wedding present (the leatherette ice bucket, the salad tongs)." This breakthrough novel won Franzen the 2001 National Book Award.
The Earth Remains, ed. by Laima Sruoginis (2002). This English-language anthology of contemporary Lithuanian authors includes the voices of young writers versed in the post-Soviet era to old-timers who spent the bulk of their careers publishing exiled from their homelands. Short stories, memoirs, novel excerpts (including Ricardas Gaveli's renowned Poker in Vilnius) and essays offer perspectives on Lithuania's character and endurance, tested time and again through occupations by the Soviets, the Nazis, and the Soviets again until the country finally declared independence in 1990.
Macedonia
Macedonia, by Harvey Pekar and Heather Roberson (2007). In this graphic novel, American Splendor author Pekar and illustrator Ed Piskor animate the solo travels of peace and conflict studies major Heather Roberson through the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia. Her senior-thesis goal: to learn how the country managed to avoid the violent ethnic conflict that plagued neighboring Kosovo and Bosnia.
Poland
The Doll,by Boleslaw Prus (1890). Under Russian rule in the 1870s, Warsaw's palette of social castes is colorful: buttoned-up businessmen, savvy tradesmen, high society gentry, and the urban poor. But to the novel's hero Wokulski, all that matters is a debilitating obsession with his "doll," the aristocratic and flouncy Izabela. Arguably the best Polish novel from the 19th century, this epic panorama of old Warsaw is required reading.
They Called Me Mayer July,by Mayer Kirshenblatt (2007). This hefty memoir comes with over 200 witty and sweet portraits of daily Jewish life in a small Polish town before 1934, illustrated by Kirshenblatt, who taught himself to paint at 73.
Romania
The Appointment,by Herta Müller (1997). A young Romanianfactory worker is taking the tram to her interrogation with the secret police. Her crime: sewing notes that say "marry me" into the linings of men's suits bound for Italy. This sharply observed and chilling novel is full of the details of life under Ceausescu's regime: the tram driver who abandons his full tram mid-route to sneak a break, the passengers who can only shrug their shoulders in resigned helplessness when he does, the interrogator who starts each session with a wet kiss on her knuckles.
Between the Woods and the Water, by Patrick Leigh Fermor (1986). In 1934, Fermor set off on foot from Holland to Constantinople (Istanbul). This second book in his classic account of that journey covers his travels through Hungary (the "water" being the Danube) and Romania (the "woods" being the Carpathians). The simpatico Fermor finds himself welcome wherever he goes, getting invited to play "bike-polo" with a Hungarian count and to partake in a lazy afternoon's coffee-and-cigarette ritual with a group of old Balkan Turks.
Transylvania and Beyond,by Dervla Murphy (1992). In 1990, the distinguished travel writer headed to Romania "to share in [the country's] happiness" after freshly throwing off communism and Ceausescu's tyranny. She meets bewildered if newly liberated Romanians, gets into a serious car accident, and travels by foot and bike to the Carpathians' wildest corners. A gripping and excellent narrative.
Turkey
The Bastard of Istanbul,by Elif Shafak (2007). Switching between Turkey and the U.S., this controversial novel about Armenians and Turks follows four generations of women and their families as they leave behind embattled faith, ethnicity, and nationality, and don new identities.
Fez of the Heart: Travels Around Turkey in Search of a Hat,by Jeremy Seal (1996). Kemal Ataturk dealt a blow to tradition and history when, in the interest of promoting Westernism, he banned the fez in Turkey in 1925. Ever since (and for decades before), Turkey has teetered between tradition and modernity, East and West. Seal sets off in search of the fez, and of the soul of old Turkey, in this light-hearted journey through Kurdish territories, the Black Sea, Ankara, Istanbul, and Cappadocia. Halide's Gift,by Frances Kazan (2001). The heroine of this historical novel/fictionalized biography is Atatürk's first woman sergeant, Halide Edib, who fought in Turkey's War for Independence in the 1920s—and was also a novelist, feminist leader, and parliamentarian.
An Island in Istanbul: At Home on Heybeliada,by M. A. Whitten (2006). An American couple buy a house on one of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, traditionally a refuge for Ottoman elites and ethnic minorities, in this affectionate memoir. Istanbul's struggle to balance tradition with modernization is reflected in the island's own evolving population.
Istanbul, Memories and the City, by Orhan Pamuk (2005). Pamuk paints a portrait of himself and of his city, Istanbul, in this ethereal novel that hangs, dreamlike, between fantasy and reality. As he revisits his life and childhood, Pamuk also recalls Istanbul as it once was, a city of thoughtful melancholy, huzun, in Arabic. Discover a man and the land that shaped him in this profound novel that rewards readers with a penetrating perspective of Istanbul.
The Janissary Tree,by Jason Goodwin (2006). In this murder mystery set in 1836 Istanbul, the investigator is a court eunuch. Prime suspects are the Janissaries, the disbanded elite troops who once guarded the sultan.
My Name is Red, by Orhan Pamuk(2001). Pamuk transports readers to 16th-century Istanbul in this sweeping story that begins when an artist commissioned by the Sultan to illuminate a manuscript is killed. What follows is a layered tale that uses multiple points of view (including those of a tree, dog, ink, and gold coin) to convey a rich sense of place.
The Snake Stone,by Jason Goodwin (2007). The second in a mystery series, historian Goodwin's tale wends through the alleyways of 1830s Istanbul. When the murder of a French archaeologist is pinned on series hero Yashim, a Turkish eunuch, his suspenseful race to clear his name takes readers through wharves, tunnels, the spice market at the Grand Bazaar, and Topkapi Palace—revealing a mysterious Ottoman society determined to revive the Byzantine Empire.
Tales from the Expat Harem,edited by Anastasia Ashman and Jennifer Eaton Gokmen (2006). Follow the journeys of 29 women as they discover Turkey and its people in this collection of stories designed to reveal a culture often veiled in mystique. A 30-year-old African American encounters a lust-filled dating scene in Istanbul; a shy English teacher confronts her self-image in a 13th-century bathhouse; an Iowan evangelist is changed by the very Turkish souls she hoped to convert.
*Turkish Reflections: A Biography of a Place,by Mary Lee Settle (1991). In Turkey, life can be a contradictory confluence of Byzantine history and contemporary bustle. After a 20-year absence, Settle returns to Turkey to revisit the myths, archaeological treasures, and people she never stopped loving.
Ukraine
Everything is Illuminated,by Jonathan Safran Foer (2002). Foer's bestselling debut novel follows a 20-year-old Jewish-American named Jonathan Safran who is writing a fable set in 1791 Trachimbrod, a Ukrainian shtetl (village) where his grandfather grew up. In search of the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis, Jonathan sets out across rural Ukraine with young Ukrainian translator Alex, a dog named Sammy Davis Junior Junior, and Alex's war-haunted and psychosomatically blind grandfather (as the driver).
