This patterned book cover makes my heart beat faster: In Memory of Memory by the Russian poet Maria Stepanova has just been published in English by New Directions, an American publishing house. The idea of the book came about after Stepanova found a box with photographs, letters, diaries and souvenirs in the apartment of a deceased aunt in Russia. It led her to take a closer look at her Jewish family history. The book, a mixture of essays, fiction, memoirs, travelogues and historical sources, has been getting positive media coverage.
In regards to In Memory of Memory, I feel as if I’m spoilt for choice because the UK edition is published by Fitzcarraldo Editions. I like their tasteful book design: All books are high quality paperbacks with cover flaps; non-fiction is white with a blue font on the cover and fiction blue with white (blog readers may remember these editions from reading lists where I included works by the French Annie Ernaux). I honestly do not know which edition to buy. Is it greedy to have both?
In regards to In Memory of Memory, I feel as if I’m spoilt for choice because the UK edition is published by Fitzcarraldo Editions. I like their tasteful book design: All books are high quality paperbacks with cover flaps; non-fiction is white with a blue font on the cover and fiction blue with white (blog readers may remember these editions from reading lists where I included works by the French Annie Ernaux). I honestly do not know which edition to buy. Is it greedy to have both?
In Memory of Memory
By Maria Stepanova
Translated by Sasha Dugdale
Paperback, 448 pages
ISBN: 9780811228831
New Directions
By Maria Stepanova
Translated by Sasha Dugdale
Paperback, 448 pages
ISBN: 9780811228831
New Directions
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