Shopping for Books in Albania : Some People Juggle Geese

Wherever I go, I look at the books. Doesn’t matter if I can read them, although books in English have spread across the globe just like English itself has. I’m always interested to see what books look like, whether they are originals in the local language, world classics translated into the local language, or books in English imported from overseas.

See below for photos of two very different types of book shopping experience.

Books I Bought

I’m trying to limit my book purchases for a variety of reasons, but I went to Albania with the intention of bringing back at least one book with me: a translation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Albanian to add to my collection of translations of Harry Potter books. In this, I succeeded. I also came home with a copy of The Little Prince in Albanian to add to my collection of translations of this French classic.

I bought both of these at the large, centrally located branch of Adrion, which I’d read about online before leaving China.

But before I reached the bookstore, I unexpectedly encountered a guy selling books at the edge of a public park.

Thanks to this book stall, I came away with a second-hand Albanian-English dictionary from 1981.

They also had bilingual French, Italian, and German dictionaries, as shown.

Half the reason I like this book is that the title looks like something a kid wrote after learning the letters but before learning to spell: “Look! I writed you a story! FJALORSHQIPANGLISHT”

But it’s actually not gibberish! I’ll bet you can figure out what “SHQIP” means from the context.

Books Siqi Bought

On Day 3, I took Siqi to the park where the books were being sold. He saw “1984” and picked up the book to see what language it was in (since you can’t tell from the title). It was in Albanian, so he decided to buy it.

The bookseller, not the same guy I bought from, struck up a conversation in English, the gist of which was that Albanians are the original Europeans and their language is the original European language and their culture is the original European culture, or something like that. Britannica says “The Albanians are descended from the Illyrians, an ancient Indo-European people who lived in central Europe and migrated south by the beginning of the Iron Age.” I guess it’s good to know your roots.

He managed to sell Siqi another Orwell title, and then gave him a third book, in English, for free.

*1984* (in Albanian) and *Animal Farm* (in Albanian) by George Orwell and *Broken April*, a novel by Albanian author Ismail Kadare.

According to Wikipedia: “[Broken April] concerns the centuries-old tradition of hospitality, blood feuds, and revenge killing in the highlands of north Albania in the 1930s. It was translated into English by John Hodgson for New Amsterdam Books in 1990.”

Actually, Wikipedia has a lot to say about Ismail Kadare. I feel like I should have recognized the name, but I don’t think I did… he’s been internationally famous since 1970 and has published dozens of works: novels, plays, screenplays, poetry, essays, and stories, many of them subtly opposing the oppressive Albanian Communist regime (which only ended in 1992).

I’m glad the voluble bookseller made sure we went away knowing a little more about his people, his country, and his country’s award-winning novelist. (Mission accomplished, my dude.)