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A Russian doctor recounts the story of Dostoyevsky trying to battle his gambling addiction while on a summer break with his wife in Baden-Baden (Germany). The lengths his goes to fuel his habit.... A book that only got out towards the end of communism....and we are much the richer for it.

Historical fiction about two Austrian impressionist painters: Klimt and Schiele. Both of them were pretty outrageous and what they got up to....fascinating book though.

This merges history writing with the finer prose of narrative.... anyone read it?

There is a Marx biography by a man called Weehan, I think. It is brilliant.

"While on honeymoon in Trieste, Adolf infected his wife with syphilis." The Pornographer of Vienna by Lewis Crofts

The Gold Bug by Edgar Allan Poe Teach Yourself Portuguese....!!

...while day in day out he is known for his humorous and learned banter... and his omnipresence on BBC screens... I ultimately believe it will be his books for which we will remember him. agree?

In an era when authors were writing ever greater and longer books to depict social change in all its entirety... Chekhov managed to take just a few pages and grasp the entire human conflict... the purest predicament of mankind. And hit the nail on the head. He just has to be your favourite....

Graves is the master of historical fiction with the emphasis on fiction... i love the way he puts capturing the character of Claudius as the ultimate aim of the book and not necessarily enslaving himself to historical accuracy. This leaves us walking away with the most exquisite impression of...

I finished reading this yesterday. Thoughts? I loved Schindler's Ark... for obvious reasons... and there can be no doubts as to Keneally's skill... but I stil havent made up my mind about this one. It seems too political (lots of veiled Sadam references). Nevertheless, I thought it was a very...

Has anyone read this? I picked it up last week and have just started reading it. It's the fictionalised story of Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt, the two Austrain artists. It reads as though Nabokov and Vonnegut Jnr sat down over a bottle of whisky and decided to brutalise Girl With A Pearl...

heavy but light Demian is certainly a cool book. Seen as par to fhis entire work, it fits in to his development and is unfrotunately overshadowed by some more accomplished stories. That said, I love its freshness.... court somewhere between his early prose and his later works which get a bit...

repeated readings? I agree... this is a great book.... but unlike other great books the more I read it the less I like it. I find some of the language and imagery doesnt hold up to multiple readings. It is perhaps not what Kundera wanted... which is therefore my bad... but I think some of his...

Sorry, dont know it. but if you like it you might like CRAZY by Genjamin Lebert (I think). Originally in German... but a true story and great stuff.... heart-warming.

bookishwormish lands... Ditto! Bring on the books!

Guy Deutscher Without a doubt one of the best non-fiction books of the last years has been Guy Deutscher's The Unfolding of Language. Quite remarkable!