Ten Favorite Books by Eastern European Writers
(I didn’t realize Eastern European-ness was such a contested category until I was asked to make this list. I decided to confine myself to countries that were considered part of Europe’s Eastern Bloc during the Cold War era, specifically Albania, Bulgaria, what’s now the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and what’s now Slovakia. This one is by request, and restricted to one book per author.)
The Other City by Michal Ajvaz
The Trouble With Being Born by E. M. Cioran
I Served the King of England by Bohumil Hrabal
Metropole by Ferenc Karinthy
King Matt the First by Janusz Korczak
The Notebook by Ágota Kristóf
The Cyberiad by Stanisław Lem
To Begin Where I Am: Selected Essays by Czesław Miłosz
Europeana. A Brief History of the Twentieth Century by Patrik Ouředník
The Black Maybe: Liminal Tales by Attila Veres
— August 24, 2024