Ismail Kadare's 6 favorite books

Ismail Kadare was born in Albania in 1936. His first novel, The General of the Dead Army, established him as a major international voice in literature. His work has since been translated into forty languages, and in 2005 he became the first winner of the Man Booker International Prize, for "a body of work written by an author who has had a truly global impact." He is the recipient of the highly prestigious Principe de Asturias de las Letras in Spain.

One of Kadare's six favorite books, as shared at The Week magazine:

Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol

Gogol's 1842 novel incorporates the two aforementioned masterpieces. The idea originated with the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, who suggested in a letter to Gogol that he should write a novel about the wanderings of a Russian Don Quixote who is at the same time the devil collecting souls. I think it was one of the most ingenious artistic ideas ever. It weaves together two different worlds.

Read about another book on the list.

Dead Souls is one of James Meeks's top ten books on Russia.

--Marshal Zeringue