Chronicle in Stone by Ismail Kadare, translated by David Bellos

Chronicle in Stone tells the story of war through a child's eyes. Our youthful, nameless narrator details life in the stone-built southern Albanian city of Gjirokaster during the Second World War. He recounts a primitive Albania on the brink of modernization through a dreamlike and poetic narrative. The country is bombed by the British, is occupied by both the Italians and Greeks, and then eventually falls into Nazi hands. Simultaneously raindrops take on a life on their own, running down a roof to be trapped in the cistern's "underground prison." As the ancient, magical city changes beyond all recognition the young protagonist loses his innocence, using his imagination as a means of escape. Seduced firstly by witchcraft, then literature, airplanes and a mysterious unattainable woman, his world changes at an alarming pace. Kadare has achieved an extraordinary link between youthful daydreams and the political environment of the time. Gjirokaster and its many characters, as well as its endless nooks and crannies hidden in stone, come to life in Kadare's enchanting prose. As the child is just short of adolescence, Kadare is able to blur the line between fantasy and reality, detailing both daydreams and historical events without compromising the integrity of the novel. While Chronicle in Stone transcends time and offers the brutality of war through a child's eyes, it remains particular to Albania's history and records the tyranny experienced by the seemingly remote country as it is hauled into line with Europe. [Julie Paterson]