Popular European Autobiography Books
Find autobiography books written by authors from Europe for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (20)
11.
My Struggle: Book 2 by Karl Ove Knausgard EN
NorwayDescription:
The second book in “perhaps the most significant literary enterprise of our time” from the international bestselling author of The Third Realm (Rachel Cusk, The Guardian). Finalist—The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize A Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year In the second installment of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s monumental six-volume masterpiece, the character Karl Ove Knausgaard moves to Stockholm, where, having left his wife, he leads a solitary existence. He strikes up a deep friendship with another exiled Norwegian, a Nietzschean intellectual and boxing fanatic named Geir. He also tracks d... continue
12.
My Struggle: Book One by Karl Ove Knausgard EN
Description:
A New York Times bestseller, My Struggle: Book 1 introduces American readers to the audacious, addictive, and profoundly surprising international literary sensation that is the provocative and brilliant six-volume autobiographical novel by Karl Ove Knausgaard. It has already been anointed a Proustian masterpiece and is the rare work of dazzling literary originality that is intensely, irresistibly readable. Unafraid of the big issues—death, love, art, fear—and yet committed to the intimate details of life as it is lived, My Struggle is an essential work of contemporary literature.
13.
Nine Rabbits by Virginia Zaharieva EN
BulgariaDescription:
“Zaharieva packs several genres into one, including but not limited to pastoral idyll, sexual coming–of–age story, and feminist memoir. Ultimately, she presents life in all its messiness and possibility, vivid enough for the reader to almost taste.”—Publishers Weekly "This is powerful, controlled writing.”—Rain Taxi I turned up in the seaside town of Nesebar—an inconvenient four–year–old grandchild, just as my grandmother was raising the last two of her six children, putting the finishing touches on the house, ordering the workmen around and doing some of the construction work herself—thank Go... continue
14.
Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson EN
EnglandDescription:
'Like most people I lived for a long time with my mother and father. My father liked to watch the wrestling, my mother liked to wrestle; it didn't matter what' This is the story of Jeanette, adopted and brought up by her mother as one of God's elect. Zealous and passionate, she seems destined for life as a missionary, but then she falls for one of her converts. At sixteen, Jeanette decides to leave the church, her home and her family, for the young woman she loves. Innovative, punchy and tender, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is a few days ride into the bizarre outposts of religious excess and... continue
15.
Our Lady of the Flowers by Jean Genet EN
FranceDescription:
The shattering novel of underground life the New York Times called “a cry of rapture and horror . . . the purest lyrical genius.” Jean Genet’s debut novel Our Lady of the Flowers, which is often considered to be his masterpiece, was written entirely in the solitude of a prison cell. A semi- autobiographical account of one man’s journey through the Paris demi-monde, dubbed “the epic of masturbation” by no less a figure than Jean-Paul Sartre, the novel’s exceptional value lies in its exquisite ambiguity.
16.
Raising Hare : A Memoir by Chloe Dalton EN
Description:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A moving and fascinating meditation on freedom, trust, loss, and our relationship with the natural world, explored through the story of one woman’s unlikely friendship with a wild hare. Imagine you could hold a baby hare and bottle-feed it. Imagine that it lived under your roof and lolloped around your bedroom at night, drumming on the duvet cover when it wanted your attention. Imagine that, over two years later, it still ran in from the fields when you called it and slept in your house for hours on end and gave birth to leverets in your study. For political advisor... continue
17.
Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence EN
Description:
Widely regarded as D.H. Lawrence's masterpiece, Sons and Lovers is a sprawling, multi-generational look at family relationships, class dynamics, and the intimate ties with others that pull young adults toward independence. This largely autobiographical novel made Lawrence's reputation as a writer -- it's a must read for fans of classic literary fiction.
18.
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene EN
Description:
The love affair between Maurice Bendix and Sarah, flourishing in the turbulent times of the London Blitz, ends when she suddenly breaks it off. A chance meeting rekindles his love and jealousy two years later, and Bendix hires a private detective to follow Sarah. Slowly his love for her turns into an obsession. "From the Trade Paperback edition.
19.
The Fly Trap by Fredrik Sjöberg EN
SwedenDescription:
Chronicles the author's meditative, obsessive pursuit of hoverflies on a remote island in Sweden and how his findings have reflected the history of entomology.
20.
Description:
WINNER OF THE 2022 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE Shortlisted for the 2019 Man Booker International Prize Considered by many to be the iconic French memoirist's defining work and a breakout bestseller when published in France in 2008 The Years is a personal narrative of the period 1941 to 2006 told through the lens of memory, impressions past and present—even projections into the future—photos, books, songs, radio, television and decades of advertising, headlines, contrasted with intimate conflicts and writing notes from 6 decades of diaries. Local dialect, words of the times, slogans, brands and n... continue