Very interesting

Bulgaria is a lot less well covered in literature the Romania. Bulgarian emigré Kapka Kassabova has written “Street without a Name: Childhood and Other Misadventures in Bulgaria” (2008), both moving and funny. Ms Kassabova, who studied French, left shortly after the end of communism, to the UK and then to New Zealand, where her French was of little use. This flash-back gives a really good impression of life under communist rule, in the one- or two-room apartment blocks, in the educational system, in the factories. Particularly touching is her description of her scientist father, who has to receive a Dutch delegation. Particularly sad is the part where her father comes back from a congress in The Netherlands, realizing just how far behind the communist block has fallen. ( )

I read this book as a light-hearted introduction to Bulgaria, before travelling. I imagine if you enjoy this type of literature it is probably lovely. ( )

In preparation of my upcoming trip to Eastern Europe I wanted to explore the current cultural climate by reading a few contemporary memoirs. There is not much available about Romania and Bulgaria other than general history books. That is exactly why Kapka Kassabova decided to write "Street Without a Name".

The opening scene of the book takes place in 2006 with Kapka returning to visit her home country after an absence of 17 years. “In the western mind”, she says, “Bulgaria is a country without a face..... the last person who truly wrote and drew Bulgaria into existence was the Austro-Hungarian ethnographer Felix Kanitz. That was in 1860.” She goes on to say that her aim was to “write an interesting story about the drama of the place and its people”. (Pg. 3)

Born in 1973 in Sofia, Bulgaria, the first 17 years of Kapka’s life were in an isolated vacuum behind the Iron Curtain. Her only visual contact with the outside world occurred every four years when the family got to view the Olympics on their black and white screen TV... though only if their sporadic electrical service happened to be working that week. Education was one of the few free things in Bulgaria and college degrees were relatively common. On the other hand, Kapka says, “ The state controlled the media, and the media controlled our ignorance.” (Pg. 113) Even the highly educated citizens lived in poverty, on meager incomes, with little hope of ever escaping the squalor.

In 1989 when the Iron Curtain collapsed, the Kassabova family migrated to New Zealand.

As Kapka visits her home town she recalls many stories about her childhood, her hard working parents, school days, neighborhood, and summer vacations with her grand-parents, living through the Chernobyl nuclear disaster which effected parts of Bulgaria, and the chaos following the fall of Communism.

On subsequent visits Kapka takes the reader through other areas of Bulgaria. Interspersed with nostalgic memories, she shares vivid descriptions of the geography... the mountains, valleys, and the Danube River. She provides bits of rich history, medieval folklore, Bulgaria’s entrance into the European Community, and everything in between. Being part of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires, Bulgaria is a melting pot of people - Armenians, Macedonians, Turks, nomadic Gypsies, Bulgars and Slavs, Christians, Muslims and Jews. Bulgarian history is very interesting, though overwhelming and complex. Kapka shares many random historical anecdotes based on the locations of her travel and it would have helped if a map had been included to trace her journeys from east to west across the expanse of the country from Sofia to the Black Sea.

While a brief outline of Bulgarian history including dates and vital statistics would have made for a helpful introduction, "Street Without a Name" is Informative, enlightening, and entertaining. ( )

A book which can be roughly divided into 2 halves, the first covering the author's childhood and growing up in communist Sofia and the second covering her travels around Bulgaria since emigrating. I read this book during my own travels around Bulgaria. The first half of the book provides a fascinating insight into life under socialism. The second half is spent describing places travelled to and reads more like traditional travel writing which really isn't the book's strength. The author also spends considerable time trying to decide who she is without making any real conclusions and doesn't really add a lot. Overall, a well written book with plenty of interest for someone wishing to understand more relatively recent Bulgarian history. (Bulgaria is also well worth a visit!) ( )