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Free
Free: Coming of Age at the End of History | Lea Ypi
4 posts | 4 read | 3 to read
***SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION*** 'Wonderfully funny and poignant. . . a tale of family secrets and political awakening amid a crumbling regime. One of the nonfiction titles of the year' Luke Harding, Observer 'Astonishing and deeply resonant . . . Ypi weaves magic in this book: I was entranced from beginning to end' Laura Hackett, Sunday Times 'I never asked myself about the meaning of freedom until the day I hugged Stalin. From close up, he was much taller than I expected.' Lea Ypi grew up in one of the most isolated countries on earth, a place where communist ideals had officially replaced religion. Albania, the last Stalinist outpost in Europe, was almost impossible to visit, almost impossible to leave. It was a place of queuing and scarcity, of political executions and secret police. To Lea, it was home. People were equal, neighbours helped each other, and children were expected to build a better world. There was community and hope. Then, in December 1990, a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, everything changed. The statues of Stalin and Hoxha were toppled. Almost overnight, people could vote freely, wear what they liked and worship as they wished. There was no longer anything to fear from prying ears. But factories shut, jobs disappeared and thousands fled to Italy on crowded ships, only to be sent back. Predatory pyramid schemes eventually bankrupted the country, leading to violent conflict. As one generation's aspirations became another's disillusionment, and as her own family's secrets were revealed, Lea found herself questioning what freedom really meant. Free is an engrossing memoir of coming of age amid political upheaval. With acute insight and wit, Lea Ypi traces the limits of progress and the burden of the past, illuminating the spaces between ideals and reality, and the hopes and fears of people pulled up by the sweep of history.
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Jari-chan
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We have a big Albanian community in Switzerland and, of course, and of course just as many prejudices. That they love huge cars, that they are cocky and that you cannot trust them.
Reading this memoir actually helped me a lot to understand where this is coming from. Generational trauma, historical background and capitalismn dashing into places and making things even worse. What an eye opener!

#roll100 @PuddleJumper

PuddleJumper 🎉🎉 1mo
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BarbaraBB
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#Albania has always been Europe's most closed country, until recently very little was known about this small country in the Balkan, surrounded by popular tourist destinations like Greece and Croatia. So I was interested in learning about it. Lea grows up in the 90s when the Soviet Union falls apart and the Berlin Wall has come down. ⬇️⬇️

BarbaraBB Albania keeps its population isolated with just one political party and a strong leader. Still Lea grows up happily, until the Velvet Revolution in Albania changes her country for ever with a nasty civil war in 1997 as a tragic highlight. An interesting book with many facts and perspectives. A light pick. 3mo
Suet624 A country I know very little about. Thanks for the review. 3mo
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IuliaC
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I loved this formidable book, the concepts and philosophical ideas it throws a debate around, beyond the story and the plot itself.

It also helped me revisit my childhood in 1980s and 1990s' Romania: the queues, the perpetual penury, the regular public electricity and heating cuts, the transition to the so-called democracy, privatizations, pyramid schemes, huge inflation, corruption and migration, and fortunately no civil war.

Jari-chan I have this one on my TBR. Hope to get to it soon. 5mo
IuliaC @Jari-chan I hope you enjoy it 🙂 5mo
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yourfavouritemixtape
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Really liked this story about a girl coming of age in Albania in the 90s. Very interesting point of view. Makes you think about the term normality.