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27th out of 126 books
—
69 voters
Landscape Painted with Tea
By the author of the highly acclaimed literary bestseller "Dictionary of the Khazars, " "Landscape Painted with Tea, " Milorad Pavic's second novel, is a tale of mysterious quest that is part modern Odyssey and part crossword puzzle. It begins with the story of a brilliant but failed architect in Belgrade and his search for his father, an officer who vanished in Greece dur...more
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
October 1st 1991
by Vintage
(first published 1988)
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You might ask yourself: "Isn't it a bit too much to expect, that a reader should become an author at the very end of the book?" - "Would it be too much to expect a person solving crossword puzzles to make use of a pencil?" While possibly a poor translation of the Serbian original, the quote should suffice as a glimpse into the unique relationship the book and it's characters have with the reader (while certainly no metafiction). In fact, it is the first novel which made me pick up a pencil and u...more
Hmmmm. I wanted to like this book more. The author is a poet and it shows. This book is densely packed with arresting images, entertaining descriptions and entirely unpredictable events. I don't mind a disjointed plot, twisted time sequences, and surrealism in general, but by the end, I just didn't care anymore. While it was sometimes beautifully written and always inventive, the last third of the book or so I found I was having to force myself to get back to it, as the author seemed to become l...more
I wanted to like this book. However, reading this book was like walking in water up to my thighs in the ocean. The words were weighty, written as, it appeared, to purposefully impede my progress. Every once in awhile a wave of amazing insight would push against me, bringing some novelty of freshness.
The story felt disjointed at its worst, interesting, but not compelling at its best. Sometimes it seemed that the translation might have been missing something or that a colloquialism or cliche just...more
The story felt disjointed at its worst, interesting, but not compelling at its best. Sometimes it seemed that the translation might have been missing something or that a colloquialism or cliche just...more
Jun 05, 2009
Scarlett Sims
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
pretentious people
Shelves:
post-modern,
leisure
I heard about this book from an article about the 10 worst indexes (it was for school but don't think it wasn't fascinating). It had some interesting things going on pertaining to the nature of the relationship between book and reader and was in some ways a concept novel; my problem is that either I didn't get it or it just wasn't executed well. There were times when I thought the book was doing some really interesting things and times when I had absolutely no idea what was going on. It was a ha...more
Dec 04, 2008
Nathan Eilers
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
those who are brave and interested
Shelves:
fiction,
translation
Unlike any book I've read. Pavic begins with an interesting and straight-forward account of a son seeking his father. Then he splits his book into several narratives, weaving among them as he chooses.
The most amazing aspect of this book is that it's structured like a crossword puzzle. You can read the book cover-to-cover in the usual way, or you can skip ahead and read the chapters that all pertain to one narrative. Great prose and good story. I ended up finishing this book after the class I rea...more
The most amazing aspect of this book is that it's structured like a crossword puzzle. You can read the book cover-to-cover in the usual way, or you can skip ahead and read the chapters that all pertain to one narrative. Great prose and good story. I ended up finishing this book after the class I rea...more
Kind of like Marquez in eastern Europe, this book switches off and on between playful, haunting, and tragic, and ends up just being downright cool in its characterization and narrative patterns which keep the reader delightfully engaged in spite of the heavy mystery that pervades many of the books most beautiful moments. The reader is asked at one point to fall in love with one of the characters, and the last two thirds of the book are arranged as a crossword puzzle. Worth the trip.
Jun 22, 2011
Jan-Maat
added it
You have to solve a crossword puzzle to read the ending of this book.
Architect's life falls apart so he goes on the road searching for his father who disappeared during WWII. The road eventually leads him to Mt Athos with various digression through time and memory and puzzles which contribute towards the final puzzle which contains the ending of the book.
The novel is constructed in such a way that chapters can be read out of order.
Fun.
Architect's life falls apart so he goes on the road searching for his father who disappeared during WWII. The road eventually leads him to Mt Athos with various digression through time and memory and puzzles which contribute towards the final puzzle which contains the ending of the book.
The novel is constructed in such a way that chapters can be read out of order.
Fun.
May 29, 2012
Bennievermeer
added it
Along with Borges and Cortázar, the Serbian writer Milorad Pavić was a great experimenter in non-linear narratives, creating dense labyrinths of prose, full of historical and mythical stories, parables and anecdotes and strange Balkan magic.
http://www.brnrd.net/blog/archive/200...
http://www.brnrd.net/blog/archive/200...
This was the only novel in our house that I hadn't read and wasn't a Chinese novel when I wanted to start a new book the other day. Though I think we have it because it has something to do with dictionaries and thus Colin's thesis. Hummm. I really must read more books this semester. Be read I mean not look at pictures of buildings with text next to it. I'll do more of that too, but one must be diverse.
Interesting book at the end of the day. More than anything it was immensely confusing, but in t...more
Interesting book at the end of the day. More than anything it was immensely confusing, but in t...more
Милорад плетёт свой узор, и из него получается то словарь, то кроссворд, то книга-перевёртыш, то ящик для письменных принадлежностей... А то и вовсе пейзаж, нарисованный чаем.
This was definitely something really new for me. A very unique language.
Sep 28, 2010
Vines
is currently reading it
Poetry through and through. Every senntence in this novel is a punchline.
Como examinar la sustancia misma de los sueños...
I'm not sure how to understand this book-- but I'm thoroughly enjoying it all the same. Some really creative use of language here.
Later: still not sure how I feel about this one. The presence of pseudo-folklore/folkloric practices got to be old pretty quickly.
Later: still not sure how I feel about this one. The presence of pseudo-folklore/folkloric practices got to be old pretty quickly.
I decided to read this book years after I read and re-read "The Dictionary of the Khazars"—which happens to be one of the best and most interesting books I've read. In the case of "Landscape…", though, the hyper baroque style lacked the depth and History research that supported "The Dictionary…". Thus, the habit of incorporating oxymorons and unrelated concepts into the same sentence became somewhat excessive and distracting.
But still, Pavic was quite a respectable writer, and we'll miss him an...more
But still, Pavic was quite a respectable writer, and we'll miss him an...more
Мудилово.
Aug 16, 2012
Boris
added it
A Trip!!!
This book has taken a long (for me, very long) time to read. It could be just that I’m teaching four classes, I’ve had out-of-town visitors, etc. And the compulsive knitting has eaten away at my reading time. But it’s also that this book jumps around narratively, and it’s tough to grab onto the next thread of narrative when you’re already sleepy. Strange, dark, dreamy, sensual, disjointed. Mt. Athos to LA.
Bizarre, but beautifully poetic. Loved the first half. The second half took a turn for the weird, but it made sense at the end.
Update: this book has stuck with me and I often think of the meaning of the monastics and the community/individual dynamic.
Update: this book has stuck with me and I often think of the meaning of the monastics and the community/individual dynamic.
Najviša ocjena. Naš Milorad Pavić je poznatiji po Hazarskom Rječniku, ali mislim da je Predeo bolji. Knjigu sam čitao u avionu, pridremao, i neko mi mazno. Vala, neka mu, barem če pročitati nešto što valja.
Finally admitting I'm not going to finish this. A shame, because I've so enjoyed some of Pavić's other work, but this one just isn't going to happen for me. Not sure why.
I think I'll need to read it at least two more times to understand it better.
When I finished it I wanted to scream, though.
When I finished it I wanted to scream, though.
Mar 07, 2010
Ike
added it
I am never going to finish this book. Entirely too much nonsense. It worked with the Khazars, but not here.
Jan 29, 2011
Doroti
is currently reading it
интересен разказ с много тънък и приятен хумор.
Each sentence is a pleasure to read
May 23, 2013
Amousecalledgerald
is currently reading it
May 21, 2013
Salvador
marked it as to-read
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Milorad Pavić was a Serbian poet, prose writer, translator, and literary historian.
Pavić wrote five novels which were translated into English: Dictionary of the Khazars: A Lexicon Novel, Landscape Painted With Tea, Inner Side of the Wind, Last Love in Constantinople and Unique Item as well as many short stories not in English translation.
More about Milorad Pavić...
Pavić wrote five novels which were translated into English: Dictionary of the Khazars: A Lexicon Novel, Landscape Painted With Tea, Inner Side of the Wind, Last Love in Constantinople and Unique Item as well as many short stories not in English translation.
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Again, if you like books about architects (and don't mind a little objectivist canon thown in), read "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. Your father...more
Apr 06, 2008 08:06pm