Highly recommended. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 29, 2019. Translated by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin. I learned a lot about Russian history along with an incredible family saga. THE EIGHTH LIFE By Nino Haratischvili Tolstoy had intended to set "War and Peace" in his own era, but realized that in order to understand the aftermath of the Crimean War he had to go back to. Not Russian, it's GEORGIAN story! I built up a family tree, adding the most notable subsidiary characters, because as the century unfolds the canvas becomes crowded. , Publication date Please use a different way to share. Dreams are hung, drawn and quartered. The 60s herald teenagers and rebellion, but for this generation it is a false dawn; Stasias daughter sings to the demonstrators in the middle of the Prague Spring as the tanks roll in. Haratischvilis epic portrait of a close-knit family doubles as a stunning tribute to the power of resilience. STARRED REVIEW Publishers Weekly, This novel has generated substantial industry buzz and international critical praise. Stunning novel. , Word Wise You will not want to put it down. 3 Stars. Her downfall came when Henry learned of her premarital affairs. Both are justified, the story of a family, a country, a centuryis an imaginative, expansive, and important read., If its a family saga youre seeking, look no further than this grand tale The author gracefully interweaves the historical backdrop of her novel with the lives of her characters, thus adding depth to her story. It is perhaps for this reason that reading Nino Haratischwilis The Eighth Life, translated by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin, feels so familiar, almost like a wish fulfilled The Eighth Life has deservedly been compared to Tolstoys War & Peace. Barbara Halla, Asymoptote, [A]n epica magnificent, sprawling family saga that captures the suffering and pride of the Georgian people throughout the tumult of the twentieth century. Edmund Moody of Bury St. Edmunds, county Suffolk, England, born probably about 1495, is the earliest person of the name from whom a descent has been proved in this particular family. At over 900 pages long, it is a book you want to immerse yourself in and never return from. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold. Haratischvilis epic portrait of a close-knit family doubles as a stunning tribute to the power of resilience., This novel has generated substantial industry buzz and international critical praise. Haratischvili has created a fascinating cast (and its easy to imagine it as a television series) whose lives illuminate some of the greatest events of the 20th century. Declan ODriscoll, The Irish Times, Elegant it demonstrates a technical mastery, impressively sustained The Eighth Life is more than a family saga: it is an ode, a lamentation, a monumentto Georgia, its people, its past and future. Bryan Karetnyk, TLS, The Eighth Life is capacious, voluble, urgent, readable, translated heroically and sparklingly by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin. Julian Evans, The Telegraph, Spanning six generations of a family between 1900 and the 21st century, its characters travel to Tbilisi, Moscow, London and Berlin in an epic story of doomed romance that combines humor with magic realism. Marta Bausells, The Guardian, Ten of the best new books in translation, Nino Haratischvili's elegant epic is a triumph of both authorship and painstaking translation The Eighth Life is an unforgettable love letter to Georgia and the Caucasus, to lives led and to come, and to writing itself. The Economist, The Eighth Life is a lavish banquet of family stories that can, for all their sorrows, be devoured with gluttonous delight. Catherine was one of 10 children of Lord Edmund Howard (died 1539), a poverty-stricken younger son of Thomas Howard, 2nd duke of Norfolk. Even as Niza tries to make a life in a new land, she is compelled to recognize that all the stories she grew up with formed the very ingredients of my life. Compiling them, confronting them is her gift to her niece, the girl who had set out, undaunted, to look for a new, better story for herself and her ghosts, the girl who didnt drink the cursed chocolate but poured the remains down the sink, the girl who might just have a chance. That night Stasia took an oath, swearing to learn the recipe by heart and destroy the paper. A little over 900 pages but once you get into it it's very hard to put down. 1216 - 1485. Time hurried by, as fast as you can turn the pages. It starts at the beginning of the XXth century end ends in the first decade of this century. In 2010, her debut novel, Juja, was nominated for the German Book Prize, as was Die Katze und der General in 2018. The state ceases to function at all; the heat goes off and the electricity goes down (I remember this well) to four hours a day in winter. VITA Zone of Social Abandonment Brazil Citizenship PART TWO. Fascinating characters. Family Trees. The red century devours a family, and history comes with a pinch of chocolateLike Water for Chocolate, even. Brigitte, The Eighth Life is a sprawling family saga, to be savored for its grandeur, scope and scale Interwoven with love, loss, trumps and tragedy are the uncanny impacts of a family recipe for divine hot chocolate, which just might carry a curse enthralling and satisfying. FIVE STARS Maureen Eppen, Good Reading, This multi-award winning novel is a riveting read You too often want to pause and appreciate delightful twists, intriguing concepts, the catch-your-breath unexpected. The Australian, The Eighth Life is the sort of book that sweeps you along, sustaining a tremendous feeling of urgency, as if the narrator is desperate to get it all out, get it all on paper, before the family curse catches up with her. The Saturday Paper, A harrowing, heartening and utterly engrossing epic novel astonishing A subtle and compelling translation by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin (on the heels of a Georgian version earlier this year) should make this as great a literary phenomenon in English as it has been in German. The Guardian, This is one for long-haul flights or the Christmas lock-in. Aer Lingus. A caution which is justified: this is a recipe for ecstasy that carries a very . I can see from the amount of five star reviews that the majority of Amazon reviewers have really enjoyed this novel (and so did I, up to a point) so if you enjoy big, blockbusting family sagas, then this may be just what you are looking for. It is perhaps for this reason that reading Nino Haratischwilis, , translated by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin, feels so familiar, almost like a wish fulfilled, has deservedly been compared to Tolstoys. It is being translated into many languages and has already been a major bestseller on publication in Holland, Poland, and Georgia. Henry VII's wife, Elizabeth of York, was twenty years old when the two were married in 1486; Henry VII was . It owes its success to a delicious chocolate recipe, passed down the generations with great solemnity and caution. What I liked is that the author places the characters in the historic period they are living but never gives so much information to turn it into a history book. An epic family saga beginning with the Russian Revolution and swirling across a century, encompassing war, loss, love requited and unrequited, ghosts, joy, massacres, tragedy. : Sadly the story has no old world feel to it nor does it even have a particularly historical feel to it. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. [A]n epica magnificent, sprawling family saga that captures the suffering and pride of the Georgian people throughout the tumult of the twentieth century. Stasia learns it from her Georgian father and takes it north, following her new husband, Simon, to his posting at the center of the Russian Revolution in St Petersburg. I sketched a family tree to keep track of all the characters: pious aunts and mean stepmothers, wives and mistresses, lost lovers, poets and filmmakers and pianists and singers, secret agents and loyal soldiers, bandits, torturers, bastard children and favorite children, love triangles and ghosts. Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2020. THE MEDICAL ARCHIVE Public Psychiatry Her Life as a Typical . Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, By purchasing this title, you agree to Audible's, Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at. Tumbling down the years, and across vast expanses of longing and loss, generation after generation of this compelling family hears echoes and sees reflections. If its not my all-time favourite novel (and it might be) then it must be in the top three or four. Haratischvili is acute on the push-me, pull-you complex of Georgias relationship with Russia. Haratischvilis epic portrait of a close-knit family doubles as a stunning tribute to the power of resilience., This novel has generated substantial industry buzz and international critical praise. We enjoyed being the giants favorite child, one character admits. Her huge novel shows a double face, its crushing pain and loss nonetheless conveyed with an artful storytellers sheer joy in her craft., No doubt Nino Haratischwili is one of the most important voices in contemporary German literature., is an expansive and hopeful tale centered on family touched by war and revolution., It is an ambitious undertaking, but the author retains a firm grasp on her material and knows exactly how she wishes to present the human cost and consequences to a family facing war and colliding ideologies I finished by applauding the vision, boldness and passionate commitment., Sometimes I wonder how many people harbor a secret desire to write a book about their familys entire history. Author: Nino Haratischvili Title: The Eighth Life (for Brilka) It also speaks to the resilience of the Georgian people, while sharing the rhythms and concerns and opportunities of their everyday lives during the peak, the decline, and the fall of their occupier. It is moving, sincere, powerfully told. Having to navigate their way through the dangers and horrors of the situation they find themselves in, so we are taken right into the truth of the utopian dream that was never realised and the brutality that came instead, that which affected so many people. Covers many years of Russia/Georgia history. This is a very long book that tells the story of four generations of a Georgian family, which started with the great-grandfather, a famous chocolatier. Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2022, Please, first read, and then decide it's a Russian story or GEORGIAN, Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2021. The development of the characters is very careful, detailed, and logical. This is probably my best book of the year. Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2021. Unable to add item to List. House of Tudor Family Tree from King Henry VII (1485 - 1509) to Queen Elizabeth I (1558 - 1603). It owes its success to a delicious chocolate recipe, passed down the generations with great solemnity and caution. : There is enough reference back to remind the reader of previous episodes although, inevitably in a book of nearly 1000 pages and with such an immense sweep of time, some of the references back feel like the ghosts of an ancient time. Don't let someone tell you about this one, read it for yourself. At the start of the twentieth century, on the edge of the Russian empire, a family prospers. Almost 1,000 pages, over 100 years. You have to wait a long time for a novel of this richness, scope and greatness to come along. The novel is patched together from the memories of those who somehow survived, a testament to those who didnt. Building a Family. 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, No Import Fees Deposit & $13.22 Shipping to Germany. Her father is a well-to-do chocolate maker who tells her his secret recipe, warning of a curse. The writing is rich and the characters full-blooded. She had been widowed twicein marriages to Edward Borough (b. c. 1508-d. c. 1533) and to John Neville, Lord Latimer (b. But just as I was jotting the familiar tropes ripping yarn, fairy tale and soap opera in my critics notebook, something rather extraordinary happened. She has taught translation at the University of Kent and the Bristol Translates summer school, and is a former co-chair of the Society of Authors Translators Association. Haratischvili writes compellingly from inside her characters heads, but from time to time she pulls back, admitting to her reader that she dare not trespass too far into interior hinterlands. Modern western style writing ruins the story. Our story opens with Niza, who we find is writing this for her twelve-year-old niece, Brilka, who has run off from the dance troupe she is with. Simply the best! Who Needs a Sweeping Epic About the Red Century? Additional gift options are available when buying one eBook at a time. It is a coup! Sddeutsche Zeitung, Not only in its length does this novel resemble the work of Boris Pasternak. Royal Family. An orphan dreamer who once carved legions of wooden angels returns from the camps in Siberia to end his days chiseling busts of Marx and Engels and Lenin. Do you believe that this item violates a copyright? And casting a long shadow through the century is the Little Big Man, the Georgian head of the NKVD who is only named in the very last pages of the novel. Highly recommended. Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2021. And hot chocolate. Royal Family tree: Queen Elizabeth II is not directly related to Elizabeth I (Image: GETTY) While there is no direct line between the two, the modern royals have a distant connection to the. Henry VIII (28 June 1491 28 January 1547) was King of England and Lord of Ireland, later King of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of France, from 21 April 1509 until his death. I felt part of this family as I traveled with them through time and history; as they shared with me all the threads of their woven carpet, generations old I loved this amazing book., Its definitely the best work of fiction I've read in the last year., A sprinkling of Allendesque magic realism is added, along with a handful of spirits and a secret recipe for delicious and addictive hot chocolate that appears to curse those who drink it., If you only read one book this year make sure it is, is an extraordinary, dramatic and compelling read The ambitious, vivid and unflinching translation from the original German by Ruth Martin and Charlotte Collins is in itself a work of art, and deserves to win every translation prize going., [A] generational saga of 20th-century Georgia with the drama and grandeur to be Georgias, Everybody requires a new, vigorous narrative of European ideals, of the European past Nino Haratischwili has created this narrative in her new novel., Nino Haratischwili has written a great book: a book which ranges over a century and half of the globe; a book however, within whichas in the infants experienceeverything is only love and dread. Stasias is only the first in a symphony of grand but all too often doomed romances that swirl from sweet to sour in this epic tale of the red century. Family Trees: Succession in Henry VIII's will November 30, 2018; Family Tree: The House of Tudor June 6, 2017; The Family de la Pole October 17, 2016; Maps Articles. It is the story of a people living and thriving and struggling to survive through wars and in the grip of a totalitarian empire. It looks like WhatsApp is not installed on your phone. It doesn't show up as small in the photo, but in person, it's ridiculous!! Nothing feels forced, nothing feels flashy. It also has got the characters which would stay with me for long time. The novel is divided into eight books (though the last 'book, entitled Brilka, whose story is yet to be told, remains empty). Heartily recommended., This is a long, rewarding novelably translated through a collaborative process. Not only it gives you a unique perspective on the history of 20th century from the one of a lesser known countries - Georgia. It won the Anna Seghers Prize, the Lessing Prize Stipend, and the Bertolt Brecht Prize, and was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2020. Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, around 1950. Saga! Tolstoy had intended to set War and Peace in his own era, but realized that in order to understand the aftermath of the Crimean War he had to go back to the Decembrist uprising of 1825. Book 7: Niza's own story: she was largely brought up by her grandfather, Kostya, who preferred Daria to her; she's the writer in the family, who felt compelled to dig down into its secrets, to write this novel. The Eighth Life Nino Haratischwili, Charlotte Collins (Translator), Ruth Martin (Translator) 4.52 15,933 ratings2,244 reviews Six romances, one revolution, the story of the century. Three Apples Fell from the Sky: The International Bestseller, Solovyov and Larionov: From the award-winning author of Laurus. The author's words are liquid so that one flows through this long novel. They are completely believable because we know that life is not always easy. , Screen Reader : Does this item contain inappropriate content? Heartily recommended. STARRED REVIEW Edward B. Cone, Library Journal, This is a long, rewarding novelably translated through a collaborative process. You Do, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/books/review/nino-haratischvili-eighth-life.html. These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. She lives in Berlin. Hod (Hebrew H, lit. This is a long novel, but it never feels slow. Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we dont use a simple average. At the start of the 20th century, a Russian family prospers. Ruth is currently co-chair of the Society of Authors Translators Association. Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout. Her misgivings subtly afford her characters privacy for the most intimate of deliberations, the fine lines between betrayal and hypocrisy. , File size married to King Louis XII of France on 9 October 1514 at Abbeville Cathedral, France. New Years Eve, 1927: The sinister Little Big Man, favorite of the Generalissimus, appears at a party with a menacing interest in Stasias sister, the beautiful Christine. It is long, but every time I would think -- wow this is long, I dove right back in and was impressed by the epic story and the finely crafted characters. It makes for an engrossing book. Nino Haratischvili, born in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 1983, wanted to write about growing up in the 1990s, a post-Soviet decade of ethnic wars, a flatline economy and electricity blackouts, and she too came to the conclusion that she had to rewind history much further to make sense of her own. I can't praise it enough. It is a coup!, Not only in its length does this novel resemble the work of Boris Pasternak. The intense level of interest never flags over the entire 934 pages, which is an amazing feat of the imagination. In all this is something that is certainly well worth reading, and which will make you think about the realities of the world around you, and what can be done to prevent the same or similar mistakes being made all over again. There was a problem loading your book clubs. 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