Nostalgia
'Cartarescu is one of the great literary voices of Central Europe' Olga Tokarczuk, Nobel Prize winner and author of Flights
'A Danubian Narnia. . . his writing delivers a rainbow-hued riot of fantasy, imagination and invention' Boyd Tonkin, Spectator
A dreamlike novel of memory and magic, Nostalgia turns the dark world of Communist Bucharest into a place of strange enchantments. Here a man plays increasingly death-defying games of Russian Roulette, a child messiah works his magic in the tenements, a young man explores gender boundaries, a woman relives her youth and an architect becomes obsessed with the sound of his new car horn - with unexpected consequences.
Blending reality and symbolism, time and myth, this is a cult masterwork from Romania's most celebrated writer.
Mircea Cartarescu was born in Bucharest in 1956. His novels and poetry are widely considered to be the best writing to emerge from post-communist Romania. His books, including the trilogy Blinding, Solenoid and Nostalgia have been translated into over twenty languages. Solenoid was longlisted for the International Booker Prize and he has received many awards, including most recently the Dublin Literary Award, the Thomas Mann Prize and the Prix Formentor.
Julian Semilian (Translator)
Julian Semilian is a translator, poet and filmmaker. He currently teaches at the North Carolina School of the Arts, after a twenty-four-year career as a film editor in Hollywood.