Masterful in its simplicity, Chronicle in Stone is a touching coming-of-age story and a testament to the perseverance of the human spirit. Surrounded by the magic of beautiful women and literature, a boy must endure the deprivations of war as he suffers the hardships of growing up. His sleepy country has just thrown off centuries of tyranny, but new waves of domination inundate his city. Through the boy's eyes, we see the terrors of World War II as he witnesses fascist invasions, allied bombings, partisan infighting, and the many faces of human cruelty-as well as the simple pleasures of life. Evacuating to the countryside, he expects to find an ideal world full of extraordinary things, but discovers instead an archaic backwater where a severed arm becomes a talisman and deflowered girls mysteriously vanish. Woven between the chapters of the boy's story are tantalizing fragments of the city's history. As the devastation mounts, the fragments lose coherence, and we perceive firsthand how the violence of war destroys more than just buildings and bridges.

伊斯梅尔•卡达莱(Ismail Kadaré，1936-)，阿尔巴尼亚著名作家，写小说和诗歌。他的许多作品都在讽刺和批判专制社会，其中一些出版之后曾一度遭禁。目前定居法国，用法文写作，而作品则在全世界传播。他的《亡军的将领》《破碎的四月》《梦幻宫殿》等作品已经翻译成了汉语。25年，他从加西亚•马尔克斯、君特•格拉斯、米兰•昆德拉、纳吉布、马哈福兹、大江健三郎五位诺贝尔文学奖得主中脱颖而出，获得首届布克国际文学奖，并成为诺贝尔文学奖的热门人选。

李玉民，1963年毕业于北京大学西方语言文学系，1964年留学法国勒恩大学。现为首都师范大学教授，著名翻译家。从事法国文学翻译二十余年，译著六十余种，两千余万字。其中名著众多，有半数作品属首次译介。其译作“译文洒脱，属于傅雷先生的那个传统。”(柳鸣九语)。他编选主译的《缪塞精选集》获得20年国家图书奖；翻译的纪德小说《忒修斯》获得《世界文学》杂志20年度“思源”翻译奖二等奖；翻译的《上学的烦恼》2010年获得第二届傅雷翻译出版奖。