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Lauren 's Reviews > Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History
Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History
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• FREE: A Child and a Country at the End of History by Lea Ypi, 2021.
"Things were one way, and then they were another. I was someone, then I became someone else.”
Ypi's memoir recounts a cleaved existence, the before and after rift of childhood in 1980/1990s Albania - a totalitarian communist country shifting nearly overnight to a liberal democracy.
Told through a child's eyes yet never "juvenile", Ypi has a group of 4 elders who shape her world: each of her parents, who share different spaces on the socialist spectrum, her French-speaking grandmother, and her true-believer Stalin-loving teacher, Ms. Nora.
What is remarkable about the book is the emotional depth: family secrets and political struggles, funny and humorous moments, as well as dramatic sadness, separation, and uncertainty.
Ypi's writing is easy to read (or listen to!). The book follows a narrative chronological style for most of the way, and closes with a series of Ypi's diary entries, which she reads herself in the audiobook.
Ypi's interest in politics clearly grew out of her experiences, and she is now a Political Theorist and scholar of Marxism at London School of Economics.
✨ A fascinating book, blending coming-of-age with political history. Highly recommended.
"Things were one way, and then they were another. I was someone, then I became someone else.”
Ypi's memoir recounts a cleaved existence, the before and after rift of childhood in 1980/1990s Albania - a totalitarian communist country shifting nearly overnight to a liberal democracy.
Told through a child's eyes yet never "juvenile", Ypi has a group of 4 elders who shape her world: each of her parents, who share different spaces on the socialist spectrum, her French-speaking grandmother, and her true-believer Stalin-loving teacher, Ms. Nora.
What is remarkable about the book is the emotional depth: family secrets and political struggles, funny and humorous moments, as well as dramatic sadness, separation, and uncertainty.
Ypi's writing is easy to read (or listen to!). The book follows a narrative chronological style for most of the way, and closes with a series of Ypi's diary entries, which she reads herself in the audiobook.
Ypi's interest in politics clearly grew out of her experiences, and she is now a Political Theorist and scholar of Marxism at London School of Economics.
✨ A fascinating book, blending coming-of-age with political history. Highly recommended.
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Reading Progress
April 4, 2022
– Shelved as:
bios-memoirs
April 4, 2022
– Shelved as:
balkans-lit
April 4, 2022
– Shelved
April 4, 2022
– Shelved as:
to-read
April 4, 2022
– Shelved as:
library
July 23, 2022
–
Started Reading
July 23, 2022
– Shelved as:
audiobooks
July 25, 2022
–
26.0%
July 29, 2022
–
70.0%
July 31, 2022
–
Finished Reading
