I enjoy reading memoirs because I find the experience transformative. Memoirs introduce me to the intricacies of a culture or place that I may not have discovered otherwise. When I read personal stories that carry universal truths, I am reminded that I am not alone in this world, that there are people in other continents…
There is something intimate about letter writing. I cherish the art for its transparency, simplicity, and truth. I have enjoyed epistolary novels like Kafka’s Letters to Milena and Mariama Bâ’s So Long a Letter, so I was elated to have Natalia Ginzburg’s The City and the House as an addition to the list of books…
Portugal’s literature embraces lyric poetry and historical writing. One of my favorite Portuguese writers, José Saramago, is celebrated for how he infuses historical elements into his novels, particularly about periods of political conflict that are woven into Portugal’s history. His novel, Raised from the Ground, set in the Alentejo region of Portugal, captures tensions as…
The ancient Greeks pioneered genres of world literature like philosophy, the epic poetry, and tragic drama, but this is not the sole reason you want to read the classics in Greece. My recommended reading from a Greek author is Homer’s The Odyssey, one of the earliest extant European literary works (I may talk about that…