Long nights and longer books

Well a few weeks ago the clocks went back here in the UK and the darker evenings of winter started a time to spend more time in the house reading and this winter has seen the chance to read two huge books in translation .The first is the German  book prize winning The Tower by Uwe Tellkamp a family saga set in East Germany just in the years before it fell apart ,a timely time to translate the book as it marks 25 years since the Berlin Wall fell (is it really this seems like yesterday to me ) .The second book is one that had been on my radar for a good while Giacomo Leopardi book Zibaldone is well one of those books that can’t really be pigeonholed so easily it is the first full translation of the 4500 odd pages Leopardi wrote in his notebooks over a number of years .The books is collection of thoughts, ideas ,quotes and aphorisms what would have at one time been called a commonplace book (a book that people collect quotes and their reactions etc ) .Now this book has taken seven years two editors seven main translators and a whole collection of experts to bring to English .I think it will take me to new year to work through the 2500 pages of it alongside a few other books .It’s worth the effort to put on the blog what is considered a masterpiece of Italian literature so look out for a number of posts in the new year about Zibaldone and a post about the tower later this month

What books are you reading this winter ,