On the weather, the English and books

I had every intention of making this week”s column another anti-Bucharest rant, but as I sit in front of the computer I simply can”t bring myself to write it. Not because I have been hit by a barrage of criticism, not because I can”t think of anything else remotely critical to say about Bucharest (for I can…). No, the reason is far more simple: I am in far too good a mood this week to be rude about anywhere or anyone.

Why? Simple: the weather. It”s fantastic. If there is anything guaranteed to bring out the best in a Brit it is lousy (or rather extreme) weather. Of course, in England, where a stiff, chilly breeze can stop transport, extreme weather means something quite different to what it does in Romania. And that”s where the real joy is: being able to boast about how cold it is to your friends and family back home.

The English are a self-effacing lot: we are brought up to be modest, self-deprecating and unassuming. Underclass Chavs aside (for those of you unaware of what a Chav is take a look at the website www.chavscum.co.uk), Brits of all backgrounds take far more pleasure in telling people how little they have, and how difficult their lives are than boasting about how much they have and what luxuries they can afford. We are ashamed of anything resembling wealth. Even success has only become acceptable quite recently, and even then we still refuse to tell anyone how much we earn, or what ambitions we may have. It just isn”t done.

So what”s that got to do with the weather? Well the weather is the one time we get excited enough about anything to lose our inhibitions and have a good old boasting session. I have spent much of this week telling people in the UK that the temperature here has been as low as minus 20, and that the next time they say it”s cold they should remember they barely know what the word means.

But enough about the English and our obsession with the weather. I was talking to a friend last week who said he had just completed Peter Siani-Davies”s book on the Romanian Revolution I recommended in this column last year, and was wondering if I knew of any other decent books on Romania. I gave him a couple of suggestions off the top of my head, but having thought about it for a bit there are a few I missed. As some of you reading this column may also be interested, here are four of my favourite books about contemporary Romania – or its recent past – that make great introductions to the country and its people.

Romania

Lucian Boia

Reaktion Books, Â?16:95 at amazon.co.uk

This book, written by a professor at the University of Bucharest, is the best general introduction to Romania ever written. Covering history, people, language, identity and culture the book was first published in 2001 and makes great use of Boia”s wit, charm and outstanding mind. It is a roller-coaster of a ride through Romania past and present, told succinctly, and often at great speed. Though it pains me to use a cliche, if you read one book about Romania, make it this one. An updated version was launched in Romania – in Romanian – last year.

Ceausescu and the Securitate: Coercion and Dissent in Romania, 1965-1989

Dennis Deletant

C. Hurst, Â?74:95 at amazon.co.uk

Out of print, hence the extortionate price, the introduction (in which the author explains the trials and tribulations of attempting to get his Romanian wife an exit visa in the early 1970s) to Professor Deletant”s book remains one of the most enlightening chapters ever written on communist Romania. Shocking is that so much of it remains valid today. The rest of the book is a brilliantly researched academic study of the Ceausescu regime, but never comes close to matching the tragic-comic drama of introduction. Beg, borrow or steal a copy if you have to.

You may also like to note that Deletant”s latest book, Hitler”s Forgotten Ally: Ian Antonescu and his Regime, Romania 1940-45, will be published by Palgrave Macmillan later this spring.

Winds of Sorrow: Travels in and Around Transylvania

Alan Ogden

Orchid Press, Â?12:99 at amazon.co.uk

Wistful yet sharp, Alan Ogden is a dear old thing who I had the pleasure to meet some years ago at an otherwise forgettable academic conference. He adores Romania and this collection of essays compiled during his many travels around Transylvania between 1998 and 2004 betrays his love for the fascinating people and picturesque places he encounters. Transylvania has always had a different, often more tragic story to tell than the rest of Romania, and Ogden is one of few foreigners to understand this.

Refuges

Augustin Buzura

Columbia University Press, Â?53:00 at amazon.co.uk

For me, this numbing book remains the ultimate indictment of the Ceausescu regime. A disorienting novel it lays bare the utter duplicity that characterized public and private behaviour in communist Romania. Published – without irony – in Romania 1984 it was so scathing in its criticism that it cost the censor, Georgeta Naidin, her job. Buzura”s prose may bit a bit too bewildering for some, and the awful English translation does not help (read it in Romanian if you can) but if you want to know what life in communist Romania was really like, there is no better book than this.

Craig Turp is the author of a number of books on travel in Central and Eastern Europe. He is also the publisher of In Your Pocket, an independent series of locally produced city guides. He can be contacted at editor@inyourpocket.com.