Geboren aus Stein

Ismail Kadare's journey to the origin of his storytelling. It is rare in world literature for an entire work to originate from a single place and continually return to it. For Ismail Kadare, that place is Gjirokastra, once the most powerful mountain settlement in Albania. Large mansions crouch like nests on the slope. Narrow alleys, winding passages, dark gates. Above it all looms the shadow of the castle. In this labyrinth of stone and mystery, Kadare was born. Here he spent his childhood and youth, absorbing mysterious stories of ghosts and spirits from his grandparents under the granite roofs. He continually returned to this place in his books, including his latest novel "The Doll," which concludes this volume and is dedicated to his mother. "He is the Homer of Albania." — The World. "Ismail Kadare has more to say about the 20th century and its darkness than any other contemporary author." — Daniel Kehlmann.