For World Book Day, we have picked 5 books we enjoy from our bookshop and would like to share them with our followers.
1. I Ask You, Ladies and Gentlemen By Leon Surmelian
We are very proud of our own publication of a personal tale of deep sorrow and profound gratitude, of terrible loss and a lively embrace of life itself. This out-of-print book, first published in 1945, a bestseller in its time, was internationally acclaimed and translated into many languages.
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2. The Armenian Legionnaires: Sacrifice and Betrayal in World War I By Susan Paul Pattie
Following the devastation resulting from the Armenian Genocide, the survivors of the massacres were dispersed across the Middle East, Europe and North and South America. Not content with watching World War I silently from the sidelines, a large number of Armenian volunteers joined the Léegion d’Orient.
They were trained in Cyprus and fought in Palestine and Cilicia alongside Allied commander General Allenby, signed up on the understanding that should the Allies be successful, they would be part of an occupying army in their old homelands, laying the foundation for a self-governing Armenian state.
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3. Treasured Objects: Armenian Life in the Ottoman Empire 100 Years Ago. Edited by Vazken Khatchig Davidian, Susan Paul Pattie & Gagik Stepan-Sarkissian
The Treasured Objects portrayed within provide pathways to visit the lives of Armenians 100 years ago, inspiring connections, dreams, ideas as we imagine the people who once used these items.
These Treasured Objects came together first as an exhibition of household items that had accompanied “their” families in the great dispersion of Armenians from their historic homelands.
Some escaped earlier but many belong to survivors of the genocide of 1915 or the destruction of Smyrna (Izmir) in 1922. In these textiles, pots, kitchen implements, books, documents and fine jewellery, we sense the presence of the previous owners and their traces in our lives today.
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4. Soviet Armenian Poetry Translated and edited by Mischa Kudian
Armenian poetry dates back to the pre-Christian era, from which times fragments of epic songs were recorded in the fifth century. During the Middle Ages, it was at first mainly sacred in character but later included secular themes also.
In the period that followed, profane poetry came into its own, giving rise to a number of notable troubadours. The Renaissance of Armenian literature in the eighteenth century developed into two groups of writers, Western and Eastern.
It was against this ancient background that many modern poets emerged. The present volume introduces some of the foremost poets of Soviet Armenia, such as Charents, Toumanian, Terian, Sahian, Sevak, Kapoutikian with poems and biographical notes.
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5.An Armenian Sketchbook by Vasily Grossman. Translated by Robert Chandler
Masterfully translated into English by Robert Chandler, An Armenian Sketchbook by Vasily Grossman is an evocative account of the author’s stay in Armenia in the early 1960s.
It is an intimate narrative of his impressions of the country and its people and the way they lived, its rocky, mountainous landscape and ancient churches. The book is full of vivid observations of an outsider, but also a reflection of Grossman’s place as a writer in Russia and on human dignity.
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