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. Throughout the book, the family hot chocolate is mixed at moments of crisis, an analgesic to soothe or to summon strength, an opiate of sorts that seems to symbolize the delusion of solace and perhaps the delusion of the great Communist experiment itself. 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. It is just like the chocolate sheer perfection. It's a great Russian novel, reminiscent of Pasternak's 'Dr Zhivago', even of Tolstoy's 'War and Peace'. And just as the tragedy brings real and convincing emotion, so too does the love and the laughter that run through the novel. They are completely believable because we know that life is not always easy. Learn more. Catherine was one of 10 children of Lord Edmund Howard (died 1539), a poverty-stricken younger son of Thomas Howard, 2nd duke of Norfolk. Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Then falling into disastrous relationships. By the 70s, Nizas childhood, life has lapsed into a comfortable complacency, a golden age corrupted by alcoholism, theft and absenteeism., In the 90s, things fall apart. 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. 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. 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. Henry VII's wife, Elizabeth of York, was twenty years old when the two were married in 1486; Henry VII was . 1937: a terrible suicide, terror and arrests. The Theologians on the Christian Life series provides accessible introductions to some of church historys greatest teachersexploring their personal lives and writings, especially as they pertain to the walk of faithand offers readers wisdom from the past for life in the present. I learned a lot about Russian history along with an incredible family saga. 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. Her co-translation, with Ruth Martin, of Nino HaratischvilisThe Eighth Life won the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation, and in 2017 she was awarded the Goethe-Instituts Helen and Kurt Wolff Translators Prize for Robert Seethalers A Whole Life. Haratischvili is acute on the push-me, pull-you complex of Georgias relationship with Russia. Unfamiliar readers, fear not; Haratischvili writes deceptively easy prose and inserts historical and cultural references, as clear as an almanac, along the way. 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. It starts at the beginning of the XXth century end ends in the first decade of this century. But she was wrong., At the start of the twentieth century, on the edge of the Russian Empire, a family prospers. 1. At home in two different worlds, each with their own language, she has been writing in both German and Georgian since the age of twelve. 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. Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Translated by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin. At the heart of this is of course the Jashi women, a family that has a secret, the ingredients to a hot chocolate. My breath caught in my throat, tears nestled in my lashes. We are reminded of good and evil, and that you do not need a god or a devil, when man himself is so good at creating both to extremes. Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2021. I learned a lot about Russian history along with an incredible family saga. A little over 900 pages but once you get into it it's very hard to put down. Some suffer because of the war, some others because of social beliefs, others for their personal dissatisfaction, unrequited love, treason, and there is no one who does not have to struggle to find happiness, although not all of them are successful. Stunning novel. Need joy? Don't let someone tell you about this one, read it for yourself. 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. Stunning novel. It makes for an engrossing book. It starts at the beginning of the XXth century end ends in the first decade of this century. Heartily recommended. STARRED REVIEW Edward B. Cone, Library Journal, This is a long, rewarding novelably translated through a collaborative process. And hot chocolate. We cant save anyone, admits Stasia at one point. She has taught translation to undergraduates at Birkbeck and the University of Kent, and leads workshops for postgraduates and early-career translators. I learned so much history from this book. The book concludes with a devastatingly brilliant announcement of hope, a new chapter, titled with her nieces name, yet unwritten. 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. The early chapters are full of portents as we await the arrival of the events we know will shatter the idyll. 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. When Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell wrote Georgia on My Mind they were of course not referring to the actual country with that name, but it seems as good a title as any for my review. Saga! I really enjoyed it and got to love some of the characters after living with them for almost two months. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. This is probably my best book of the year. There was a problem loading your book clubs. Then jump into You Be You, and youll find yourself satisfied and succeeding in ways you never expected. Samir Hussein/WireImage. It also has got the characters which would stay with me for long time. 3 Stars. 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. The Eighth Life: (for Brilka) The International Bestseller, Something rather extraordinary happened. It is definitely a view of life behind the Iron Curtain and eventually, of a people emerging from a century of domination. Very talented author, brilliant book and good translation into English. It is a very long book, but I regret when I finished reading it. Now-King Charles. 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. , Enhanced typesetting Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 29, 2019. The willingness of the novel to embrace tragedy stories dont always have happy endings and villains dont always get their just deserts is unusual but refreshingly so. The Eighth Life (for Brilka), originally published in German in 2014, has the heft and sweep to overturn such misconceptions, while introducing the uninitiated to a beguiling culture. 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. I can't praise it enough. This book is in good condition and shows normal wear to cover and corners. The sweep is 100 years, 5 generations of life, mostly in Georgia and Russia, but also western Europe. The author sketches in the historical background, in so far as it affects the characters, but keeps this to a minimum: the focus is . 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. Great characters and greater relationships come and go and come again; the world shakes, and shakes some more, and the reader rejoices to have found at last one of those glorious old books in which you can live and learn, be lost and found, and make indelible new friends. It makes for an engrossing book. 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. If you are patient - more than 1000 pages - I truly recommend it. 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. The ease with which the story skips back and forth; the asides from the narrator (Niza herself not born during most of the story she narrates) to the young Brilka in the present day; the leitmotif of the chocolate it utterly breathtaking. It's written to try answer the latter's questions regarding the secrets of her family, and to lay some troubling family ghosts. The writing is rich and the characters full-blooded. Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! It is moving, sincere, powerfully told. Family Trees. Full content visible, double tap to read brief content. , Screen Reader I have certainly met enough women in my life who have expressed this explicitly, especially the stories shared by their mothers and grandmothersthe implication being that we dont get enough of these stories in literature or biographies. Great characters and greater relationships come and go and come again; the world shakes, and shakes some more, and the reader rejoices to have found at last one of those glorious old books in which you can live and learn, be lost and found, and make indelible new friends. Catherine Howard, (born c. 1524died February 13, 1542, London, England), fifth wife of King Henry VIII of England. 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. Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2022. Prince Harry. Ruth Martin has a PhD in German literature and philosophy, and has been translating fiction and non-fiction books since 2009. ), Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 25, 2020. You have to go back to Elena Ferranti's Neopolitan quartet of novels for something comparable, or further back, to Vikram Seth's 'A Suitable Boy' - what they did for Italy and You have to wait a long time for a novel of this richness, scope and greatness to come along. 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. A real page turner. Nino Haratischvili's 'The Eighth Life' is a multi-generational saga focusing on a Georgian family and written by Niza Jashi for her 12 year-old niece, Brilka, which spans six generations of the Jashi family, the first of whom is Niza's great-great-grandfather, a master chocolatier whose secret recipe for a hot chocolate drink is so . As the life of this family progresses we learn some of the history of this country, always threatened by the Russians and in continuous wars with its neighbors or even civil wars to overthrow one government or another. Book 5: Elene, Kostya's second daughter, always discontent; she's the mother of Niza, the narrator. As in 900 pages covering generations of a single family, of the remarkable events and amazing women, in particular, who defined this lineage from the Bolshevik occupation of the country to the early twenty-first century. Stasia learns it from her Georgian father and takes it north, following her new husband, Simon, to his posting at the centre of the Russian Revolution in St Petersburg. and I must admit that by the end of the book, Id had rather a bit too much of the Jashi family and was quite happy to leave them behind and start reading something else. The development of the characters is very careful, detailed, and logical. The red century devours a family, and history comes with a pinch of chocolate, 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., 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., 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., 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., This is one for long-haul flights or the Christmas lock-in.. 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