The latest addition to my website is Augustin Buzura‘s Recviem pentru nebuni și bestii (Requiem for Fools and Beasts). Much of this novel is set after the fall of Nicolae Ceaușescu in 1989 but, as the title tells us, Buzura does not think things have improved much. Matei Popa is the editor of a crusading newspaper and he has received death threats. We follow his story – the two women he loved and lost and the one he is currently seeing. We also follow his early life, so we see Romania under Ceaușescu, Matei and his brother trying to flee Romania and Matei in prison, which he survives. He now tries to find out who is threatening him. Buzura has a clear message – you have to stand up and fight, which is a worthy slogan but can lead to a lot of grief.