Georgia
Last updated: November 22, 2024
Five Mysteries Set in Russia, recommended by Boris Akunin
The golden age of mystery largely passed Russia by, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some great crime novels produced over the last 150 years. Bestselling crime novelist Boris Akunin, who was born Grigory Chkhartishvili in Soviet Georgia and now lives in exile in London, recommends five Russian mysteries—great works of literature that happen to also have a crime at their heart.
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1
The Knight in the Panther Skin
by Lyn Coffin (translator) & Shota Rustaveli -
2
Kvachi
by Mikheil Javakhishvili and Donald Rayfield (translator) -
3
A Man Was Going Down the Road
by Otar Chiladze and Donald Rayfield (translator) -
4
The Lame Doll
by Ani Kopaliani (translator), Besik Kharanauli & Timothy Kercher (translator) -
5
The Cushion
by Elizabeth Heighway (translator), Irakli Samsonadze & Philip Price (translator)
The Best of Georgian Literature, recommended by Gvantsa Jobava
The Best of Georgian Literature, recommended by Gvantsa Jobava
How does a country left in ruins by 70 years of Soviet oppression rebuild its literature? It starts from scratch and breaks all the rules. Gvantsa Jobava reveals the riches of Georgian literature, from 12th-century feminist epics to radical, experimental accounts of a post-Independence underworld
The best books on Georgia and the Caucasus, recommended by Per Gahrton
‘Most people still live rather primitively, and that is not good from a purely economic point of view, but it’s very charming and the food is wonderful.’
