Kapka Kassabova

I'm due to visit the exact area covered by this book in a few months' time: my very first time in this part of the world. This book has done a lot to whet my appetite, give me some grounding in the complex history and culture of the area, and make me understand how very much there is to find out. This is no simple time line, involving a single ethnic strand. This area has for many many centuries been a stopover for people crossing to and from Europe in every possible direction: an area to conquer and subvert: and area to impose ideas from major world religions upon (though till recently, these religious groups largely lived together in harmony. More recently, attempts were made, specifically by Communist rule, to quash ancient cultures.

How to explain all this? Kassabova doesn't attempt a text book. Instead, she journeys round the region, looking up old family friends, making new connections, and generally getting to know a wide range of people. And she tells their stories, and those of their families. In this way she illuminates the history of the area, and more specifically shows the impact of political, religious and economic change on the lives of those involved. This is a story of people who call themselves Albanians, Macedonians, and Greeks. It's also the story of their landscapes and the towns and communities in which they live. It's fascinating.… (más)

Капка Кассабова посетила натуральный медвежий угол Европы, пограничье Болгарии, Греции и Турции. Интересное, но несколько деморализирующее чтение о людях и землях, где почти ничего хорошего никогда не происходило, точно не происходит, и судя по всему не произойдет. И тем не менее бестселлер продаж.… (más)

Description of the book from the Preface: “This book tells the human story of the last border of Europe. It is where Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey converge and diverge, borders being what they are. It is also where something like Europe begins and something else ends which isn’t quite Asia” Preface xv

“The journey I describe here is circular and follows the contours of natural realms within the the border zone. I started on the Black Sea at the edge of the enigmatic Strandja ranges where Meditranean and Balkan currents meet; descended west into the border plains of Thrace with its corridors of traffic and trad; entered the passes of the Rhodope Mountains where every peak is legend and every village is not what it seems and ended on the mirror side of the beginning – Strandja and the Black Sea.” Xviii

Born in Bulgaria and having spent her childhood there, author Kapka Kassabova returned to Bulgaria twenty five years after leaving.

She especially was interested in exploring the border regions which were completely off limits during her childhood during the Cold War. Now, instead of Soviets jealously guarding their citizens from leaving Soviet territory with watchtowers and machine guns, the borders are much more lightly patrolled, although there are still guards to catch those refugees traveling through Bulgaria trying to sneak into in to Greece thus into Europe.

I was very glad for the map at the front of the book as I have no knowledge of this region. Nevertheless, as she traveled, even the map could not keep me totally oriented. By following a specific route instead of a given era, I would find chapters with Roman ruins, the ancient alleged burial place of the goddess Bastet and stories of cold war deaths cheek by jowl with even more ancient practices as well as stories of and by current inhabitants.

I learned a bit of Bulgarian history and geography as well as a bit about the people living there past and
present, so I would call it a successful travelogue in those respects. However, something about the writing and mixed eras made it hard for me to see the enchantment of the region and easy for me to put down.

3 stars - enjoyed it, good but not spectacular… (más)