I am not sure what I expected when I picked up this book. More of an adventure story, I think, but it turned out to be one of those 'old friends reminiscing' type of stories. I am not a fan of that. The book is well-written and gives a definite sense of time and place as the friends navigate a treacherous path to freedom.

Thank you NetGalley and Radu Guiasu for the ARC.

An autobiographical historical fiction that will teach readers how it was to live under a communist dictatorship as a simple citizen

This debut work of fiction inspired by the author's life is an inspiring blend of two stories that come together seamlessly.

One story focuses on three friends, students during the communist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu. Their adventures through the Romanian mountain wilderness and their relationship are vividly portrayed by the author, who doesn't seem to be a debut fiction writer at all.

Even though the historical part of this book is accurate, the plot doesn't focus on describing the events that shaped Romanian history but tries to make the reader discover the horrors of Ceausescu's dictatorship through the words and experiences of the characters. Their adventure intertwines with the second story, that of a young artist from Bucharest. It's a story of survival with a dash of murder mystery.

However, the tragic backdrop is not all this book is about. The author found a way to add plenty of humor to the story. It is tragic and suspenseful, but also highly entertaining, with plenty of wit and satire.

Overall, this novel has the potential to satisfy many types of readers. Is a blend of tragedy, mystery, adventure, and humor, historically accurate, and a great teaching tool for those who wondered what life was really like in communist Romania.

The 1980s in North American popular culture bring up for many of us the films of John Hughes and the birth of MTV. In his latest novel, "The Faraway Mountains," Radu Guiasu presents an engaging time capsule for a different kind of 80s nostalgia.
The last decade of the Cold War was a surreal period in communist Romania. A North Korean-style nightmare had arrived unexpectedly after more than 15 years of relative liberalization when a fleeting glimpse of the post-war Western culture and values raised false hopes for a return to a free society.
The book describes this reality through the eyes of three senior students of one of the remaining elite high schools in Romania's capital city. The story is set in the beautiful Carpathian Mountains and in Bucharest, a city once called "The Little Paris," at the time dressed in the gray hues of the Eastern Bloc color spectrum. From Kundera to Havel, the communist era writers used humor as a powerful antidote to the surrounding desolation. "The Faraway Mountains" was written 34 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, allowing humor to become a perfect "aide memoire" through classic jokes from that period, absurd situations, and an enchanting collection of descriptive vignettes that absorb and delight.
The prose is elegant and straightforward, the dialogues entertaining, and a message of hope amid confusion and insanity keeps the reader interested in finding the outcome of what seems to be a decisive year in the protagonists' lives.