The European Championships of soccer kicked off last Friday. After two years of qualification matches, sixteen countries qualified for the tournament. Poland and Ukraine serve as tournament hosts. Spain won in 2008 and hope to defend their title. Each country offers its own unique approach to the game. Spain dances through its opposition. Italy defends well and looks for counterattacks. The Germans work like a machine. The Dutch end up arguing with each other. The championship final is July 1. I plan to supplement my watching with some novels from participating countries.
Group A
- Poland: Olga Tokarczuk’s Primeval and Other Times
- Greece: Nikos Kazantzakis’ At the Palaces of Knossos
- Russia: Vladimir Sorokin’s The Ice Trilogy
- Czech Republic: Patrik Ouednik’s Case Closed
Group B
- Portugal: Jose Saramago’s All the Names
- Denmark: Peter Hoeg’s The Quiet Girl
- Holland: Cees Nooteboom’s In the Dutch Mountains
- Germany: Herta Muller’s The Land of Green Plums
Group C
- Croatia: Josip Novakovich’s April Fool’s Day
- Ireland: Belinda McKeon’s Solace
- Spain: Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s The Shadow of the Wind
- Italy: Alessandro Baricco’s Without Blood
Group D
- Ukraine: Irene Zabytko’s Sky Unwashed
- Sweden: Henning Mankell’s Faceless Killers
- England: Tom McCarthy’s C
- France: Benoit Duteurtre’s The Little Girl and the Cigarette
