

Eldorado was part of the Euregio Literatuur Prijs some years ago. This is a project that encourages people to read six selected titles, two each from Dutch/Flemish, French and German authors. It's a great way to get to know little know authors/books.
Original Title: Eldorado
This was the biggest surprise of the bunch of books I read for the Euregio Literatuur Prijs. I didn't expect much of it, so it actually blew me away.
It's about a very pressing matter, illegal immigrants trying to get to little Italian island and make their way from there to the rest of Europe. Besides the very slim chances of success it's also very dangerous. The main character is part of the Italian Border Control (which I can see must be an enormous hard and difficult job), but as the story advances he looses his touch with life.
I thought it was very interesting to read, what a job like that can eventually do to a man. The writing was nice too, like I said I didn't really expect this book to be anything, and it's even better then when it actually turns out to be quite good. Such a shame it's so unknown (according to GR: 172 ratings).
Note: I read a Dutch translation of this book.