It is very easy to lose yourself in this gripping story, but in losing yourself, you will also find yourself as you learn from the characters. [A]n epica magnificent, sprawling family saga that captures the suffering and pride of the Georgian people throughout the tumult of the twentieth century. The Eighth Life Nino Haratischwili, Charlotte Collins (Translator), Ruth Martin (Translator) 4.52 15,933 ratings2,244 reviews Six romances, one revolution, the story of the century. 1. Book 2: her sister Christine, a great beauty, who falls into the clutches of 'Little Big Man' (Beria) and suffers a great wrong. King Henry VIII died on 28th January 1547. It is epic, fast-moving, full of dashed hopes, vanity, mystery, bureaucracy, brutality, intimate moments amidst seismic, impenetrable forces, private motives competing and sometimes cooperating with nationalistic predispositions, art trying to find a footing against mechanistic and formulaic forces. The hundred years span the Great October Socialist Revolution, Stalins purges, the Great Patriotic War, the Czech uprisings, Perestroika, Georgian Independence and all the political turmoil in between. It makes for an engrossing book. 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 If you are patient - more than 1000 pages - I truly recommend it. Trevin Wax encourages you to rethink some of our societys most common assumptions about identity and the road to happiness. The author does not comply with the nationalism that came with Georgian independence and allows no reveling in glorifications and perpetual conspiracy theories. Instead, her novel chronicles more needless deaths, more wasted lives. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. 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. Need joy? They are completely believable because we know that life is not always easy. : Book 1: Stasia, who lives until she's 99, who believes in the malign power of the chocolate. , Sticky notes The story moves on to the chocolatiers daughter, Stasia, who marries a member of the White Guard, a man who then transfers his allegiance to the Red Army; the story then moves to their son, Kostya, an ambitious and self-centred young man who joins the Navy and later the NKVD, and also their daughter, Kitty - who, after undergoing more than one tragic incident, escapes to the West where, in England, she becomes a well-known singer; we then meet Elene, Kostyas wayward daughter, who becomes mother to the narrator of the story, Niza, and Nizas half-sister, Daria; and finally to Darias daughter, Brilka, for whom the story is being written. The intense level of interest never flags over the entire 934 pages, which is an amazing feat of the imagination. Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Princess Mary Tudor, queen of France and duchess of Suffolk. It is epic, fast-moving, full of dashed hopes, vanity, mystery, bureaucracy, brutality, intimate moments amidst seismic, impenetrable forces, private motives competing and sometimes cooperating with nationalistic predispositions, art trying to find a footing against mechanistic and formulaic forces. I learned so much history from this book. 2021. The writing is rich and the characters full-blooded. A real page turner. I wont post spoilers, but what I expected to happen didnt. This story shows how Georgians think of themselves, and perhaps more importantly how others think of them, something which is always of relevance on the international stage. Her huge novel shows a double face, its crushing pain and loss nonetheless conveyed with an artful storytellers sheer joy in her craft., No doubt Nino Haratischwili is one of the most important voices in contemporary German literature., is an expansive and hopeful tale centered on family touched by war and revolution., It is an ambitious undertaking, but the author retains a firm grasp on her material and knows exactly how she wishes to present the human cost and consequences to a family facing war and colliding ideologies I finished by applauding the vision, boldness and passionate commitment., Sometimes I wonder how many people harbor a secret desire to write a book about their familys entire history. Catherine Parr, also spelled Katherine Parr, (born 1512died September 5, 1548), sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII of England (ruled 1509-47). Prince Harry is the sixth in line to the British throne. Book 3: Kostya, their nephew, the only major male family member to succeed the grandfather; he becomes a right-wing, despotic, naval officer and staunch communist, who keeps the family afloat during difficult times, someone other members of the family react against. 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. 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. 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. Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app. . And hot chocolate. Learn more. And hot chocolate. Through biblical wisdom, personal stories, and practical advice, Elizabeth shares life-changing truth that has the heart-healing power youve been searching for, and helps you walk through your current life situations from a new perspectiveone that embraces actual, real, deep joy in the midst of the inevitable longings of life. One of the things I like about the novel is that it doesn't just split the story up into parts, as the structure suggests, but sweeps the whole into one great narrative, so that we follow all the main characters throughout their lives. No. If youre tired of hustling to be the best, take a load off with Scarlet and say the honest and laughable truth along with her: were the worst people in the world! Haratischvili writes compellingly from inside her characters heads, but from time to time she pulls back, admitting to her reader that she dare not trespass too far into interior hinterlands. 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. The development of the characters is very careful, detailed, and logical. At first sight, Haratischvilis novel The Eighth Life looks like a big old-fashioned airport blockbuster, complete with book-jacket superlatives: Sweeping! Her father is a well-to-do chocolate maker who tells her his secret recipe, warning of a curse. , Enhanced typesetting The novel focuses on the lives of seven women in the Jashi line, but each of these seven sections includes backstory; side stories; and continues the story of previous baton-holders. The sweep is 100 years, 5 generations of life, mostly in Georgia and Russia, but also western Europe. 3 Stars. 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 early chapters are full of portents as we await the arrival of the events we know will shatter the idyll. The length is just because there is a lot of story to tell, and it is told so wonderfully that the effort is in putting the novel down, not picking it up. The 1940s are terrible years of war, rape, gulag, execution. : As a family saga, where the women are strong and resourceful and play a significant part in the story, this rather works well, and I ended the novel feeling better informed about Georgia and its part in Russias tumultuous history; however, like at least one other reviewer writing here, I expected something a little more literary and a little less soap-opera-ish (is that a word?) They are completely believable because we know that life is not always easy. There was already the corruption that went on in the Soviet years, and as we have seen since then, the corruption that has continued in a number of these countries since the move to democracy. 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]n epica magnificent, sprawling family saga that captures the suffering and pride of the Georgian people throughout the tumult of the twentieth century. Unfamiliar readers, fear not; Haratischvili writes deceptively easy prose and inserts historical and cultural references, as clear as an almanac, along the way. Your satisfaction is guaranteed!! Tumbling down the years, and across vast expanses of longing and loss, generation after generation of this compelling family hears echoes and sees reflections. 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. , has been translated into many languages and is an international bestseller. It won the Anna Seghers Prize, the Lessing Prize Stipend, and the Bertolt Brecht Prize, and was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2020. I would highly recommend this book. In 2010, her debut novel, Juja, was nominated for the German Book Prize, as was Die Katze und der General in 2018. Modern western style writing ruins the story. It is just like the chocolate sheer perfection. There are many other memorable characters weaving through the story, who get tangled up in this formidable family. Prince Harry. If its not my all-time favourite novel (and it might be) then it must be in the top three or four. 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 . The book concludes with a devastatingly brilliant announcement of hope, a new chapter, titled with her nieces name, yet unwritten. Haratischvilis epic portrait of a close-knit family doubles as a stunning tribute to the power of resilience. STARRED REVIEW Publishers Weekly, This novel has generated substantial industry buzz and international critical praise. It's written to try answer the latter's questions regarding the secrets of her family, and to lay some troubling family ghosts. It is the story of a people living and thriving and struggling to survive through wars and in the grip of a totalitarian empire. 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