December books 1) Sandman V 2) The Myth of Greater Albania
1) A Game Of You, by Neil Gaiman (Sandman Vol 5) - excellent. I am beginning to wonder, though, whether I should go back and read it all again from the beginning now, or wait until I have bought one or two more?
2) The Myth of Greater Albania, by Paulin Kola - Not a bad historical account of Albania's policies towards Kosovo in the twentieth century. It hadn't struck me before that both King Zog and Enver Hoxha were basically installed as rulers of Albania through force of arms with Serbian help, and though both went through their ups and downs with Belgrade subsequently, neither ever really challenged the 1912 borders. Unnervingly the book switches to the first person for one particular diplomatic episode where the author was (at least by his own account) the main player.
I raised this with an Albanian diplomat at a reception we were both at last night. He teased me by asking when I would next visit Albania. I told him I hadn't been to Albania for over 36 years. He asked how I could write about Albania without having ever been there. I replied, "The last thing I wrote about Albania was the story of how you didn't become President." We clinked our wine glasses together.
2) The Myth of Greater Albania, by Paulin Kola - Not a bad historical account of Albania's policies towards Kosovo in the twentieth century. It hadn't struck me before that both King Zog and Enver Hoxha were basically installed as rulers of Albania through force of arms with Serbian help, and though both went through their ups and downs with Belgrade subsequently, neither ever really challenged the 1912 borders. Unnervingly the book switches to the first person for one particular diplomatic episode where the author was (at least by his own account) the main player.
I raised this with an Albanian diplomat at a reception we were both at last night. He teased me by asking when I would next visit Albania. I told him I hadn't been to Albania for over 36 years. He asked how I could write about Albania without having ever been there. I replied, "The last thing I wrote about Albania was the story of how you didn't become President." We clinked our wine glasses together.