The latest addition to my website is Svetoslav Minkov and Konstantin Konstantinov‘s Сърцето в картонената кутия [The Heart in the Cardboard Box]. This is a short Bulgarian absurdist novel written by trwo writers and tells of a poet who has lost his actual, physical heart. Much of the novel gives the writers an excuse to … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Vera Mutafchieva‘s Случаят Джем (The Case of Cem). After the sudden death of Mehmed II, known as Mehmed the Conqueror, his two sons vie for the throne. The elder son, Bayezid wins and his younger half-brother Cem Sultan is driven into exile. The story, narrated by a series … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Georgi Gospodinov‘s Времеубежище (Time Shelter). Gaustine, who may or may not exist but whom we have met before in Физика на тъгата (The Physics of Sorrow), is a geriatric psychiatrist. Assisted by the narrator who calls himself Ishmael but may well be the author, he sets up a … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Ivailo Petrov‘s Хайка за вълци (Wolf Hunt). This long novel, originally published in 1982, is set in rural Bulgaria. At the beginning of the novel, six men plan to go out in a snowstorm to hunt wolves that are attacking the sheep. Most of the rest of the … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Yordan Radichkov‘s Les récits de Tcherkaski [Tales from Cherkazki]. As you can see I read the French translation of a selection of these Bulgarian tales. Though there is an English version, it is very hard to obtain. These are linked stories about the Bulgarian village of Cherkazki. The … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Alek Popov‘s Мисия Лондон (Mission to London). Alek Popov was the cultural attaché to the Bulgarian Embassy in London and this is a very funny novel, satirising the Embassy and its relations with the British. The main focus of the story is a charity event, hosted by the … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Georgi Gospodinov‘s Физика на тъгата (The Physics of Sorrow). This is a postmodern novel narrated by the author or, at least, a man called Georgi Gospodinov, about his life and the life of his father and grandfather. The narrator initially identifies not only with himself but with his … Read more