Lockdown reading: Romanian books to try while staying at home

Those who want to catch up on their reading list have a good opportunity to do so as more time is spent indoors because of the coronavirus lockdown. We list below some titles from Romanian literature to keep readers busy during the quarantine period.

The Book of Mirrors - Eugen Ovidiu Chirovici

Chirovici had a career in Romanian media before moving outside of the country and making his English-language debut with The Book of Mirrors. This crime novel focuses on the unsolved murder case of famous professor Joseph Wieder. A secret manuscript and multiple perspectives take the reader on a whodunit journey. The book is available here.

I'm An Old Commie! - Dan Lungu

One of the most successful Romanian authors to have emerged after the 1989 Revolution, he explores in this novel nostalgia and its roots. Emilia, a pensioner, recalls growing up in an impoverished village and of her life as a factory worker during Communism as her daughter, now living in Canada, asks her not to vote for the former communists in upcoming elections. The novel also served for the script of a very successful Romanian movie of the same name. The book is available here.

Diary of a Short-Sighted Adolescent - Mircea Eliade

Part of the fictional work the historian of religions left behind, Diary of a Short-Sighted Adolescent follows a precocious teenager with literary ambitions. Written in the 1920s, the book was published in Romania after 1989 and in English, in the UK, in 2016. Its follow-up, Gaudeamus, was also released in English, in 2018. It can be ordered here.

Matei Brunul - Lucian Dan Teodorovici

Also looking at the Communist past, the novel focuses on political prisoner Bruno Matei, newly released from jail a broken man and suffering from amnesia, and the relationship that develops with the secret policeman who has him under constant surveillance. Teodorovici, who is also a short fiction writer and screenwriter, also serves as the director of the Iasi International Festival of Literature and Translation, the biggest such event in the country. The novel can be found