Путешествие на край комнаты

by Tibor Fischer, Татьяна Покидаева (Translator)

Oceane, successful computer graphics designer and former erotic dancer, likes to travel, but doesn't like to go out. In fact, she never leaves home. She satisfies her wanderlust by bringing the world to her South London flat using courier, satellite, radio, the Internet, and cooperative foreign visitors. Her meticulously constructed lifestyle suits her until she receives a letter from an ex - an ex who died ten years ago. The mystery forces her into action and she seeks out the help of Audley - failed mercenary, former personal trainer, and proprietor of the Dun Waitin Debt Collection Agency. When the first letter is followed by a string of missives, Oceane has to start searching the world to understand her past.

Genres: Fiction, Novels, Contemporary, British Literature, Humor

352 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2003

About the author

Tibor Fischer is a British novelist and short story writer. In 1993 he was selected by the influential literary magazine Granta as one of the 20 best young British writers.

Fischer's parents were Hungarian basketball players, who fled Hungary in 1956. The bloody 1956 revolution, and his father's background, informed Fischer's debut novel Under the Frog, a Rabelaisian yarn about a Hungarian basketball player surviving Communism. The title is derived from a Hungarian saying, that the worst possible place to be is under a frog's arse down a coal mine.

In 2009 Fischer became the Royal Literary Fund writing fellow at City and Guilds of London Art School.

Reviews

[wilted flower · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I had to mention one good quality about myself, it would probably be punctuality. So it's natural to find myself alone in the laboratory because no one can be arsed coming in fifteen minutes early when they'll be excused until five minutes too late. On certain days of this sort, some colleague of mine who's confined largely to the periphery of my social circles and who, for some reason, decided to set off to uni at the arse-crack of dawn will strike up a conversation with me. On the rare morning I'm not contemplating throwing myself out of the nearest window, I might even genuinely enjoy it. But that's really all there is to it. I would never go out of my way to talk to that person and I wouldn't give it any thought after the professor has arrived; it's simply a better use of my time than staring into the void.

Tibor Fischer's 'Voyage to the End of the Room' is that exact same experience, just in a different font.

I will never think about this book again once I'm done writing this review. I don't even remember most of what I read and I've only just put the book down. I read this book only when I had nothing better to do; when I was either so sick of YouTube Shorts that I was ready to microwave my phone or when I couldn't sleep at 3 am because I'd 'napped' from 3pm to 8pm.

So about this book. Plot? What plot? We really don't know her. It's just rambling and ranting and whining. Except it's surprisingly entertaining? It's a good thing that the language is easy to read because that is really the only incentive I had to finish it: "Can I even call myself a reader if I can't finish a book this easy?" That being said, there's no reason for a 251-page-long book to take six days to be finished. Not just any six days, six days out of which five I've been on holiday, lounging around with literally nothing to do.

I was going to give this book three stars because I thought it was better than mediocre. Marginally so, but better nonetheless. But the ending was surprisingly wholesome and I'm just recovering from a depressive episode which has put me in a generous mood so you know what, I'm giving it three point five.

[Ademption · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Our happiness is destruction's coffee-break."

This was getting 4 stars until that ending. Tibor Fischer generally abandons narratives, characters, and complete plots for digressive anecdotes whose philosophical underpinnings are the world is random, and often things seem understandable but they aren't.

This is black humour, which I like all the more because it seems to come from a writer who could pass in society. I imagine Fischer prefers staying in bed, laughing at everyone who has to take the morning train. But on days when he has to take the train, he does so without complaint and without attracting anyone's attention. Fischer seems to dislike wider society or finds it darkly laughable, but he isn't a drunk (Bukowski), a junkie (Burroughs), completely paranoid (Pynchon, Celine), seemingly homeless (Bukowski), or ready to punch someone out for a stray word (Hemingway, Gifford, Bukowski). I imagine him to be an empathetic everyman who loves the few people he knows, and eschews everything else if he can help it. A lovable, loving misanthrope.

I can understand why this book would be rated low. Voyage is black humoured and not obvious. Its disaffected characters are neither covered in garbage, drinking themselves to death, nor looking for a fight. They mostly stay indoors and tell each other stories. Voyage mimics life: a whole lot of nothing, then too much randomness too quickly, bleakly funny vignettes, and answers that make little sense. There are also plenty of laughs and surprising sweetness.

[Jean Ra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Esta es la clase de libros que pueden conseguir desengancharte del hábito de leer novelas. ¿Por qué esta novelita resulta tan absolutamente tediosa? En un principio parece la falta de precisión de Fischer. Si por ejemplo te está hablando de una deuda que la protagonista tiene con una empresa, es incapaz de concretar dicha cifra, como si no hubiese sido posible saber cuánto puede cobrar un diseñador gráfico por un trabajo de freelance. La parte de Barcelona no puede ser más inconcreta. Se menciona el nombre de esa ciudad como podría ser cualquier otra, dado que ninguna de las páginas que ahí transcurren aportan algún detalle que haga pensar que la protagonista (o el autor) han estado ahí, no hay ningún punto que sujete, de consistencia y veracidad al texto. La mayor parte de la novela parece por lo tanto una especie de vacío insustancial escrito con una prosa tan plana y aburrida que bien podría ser la de un best-seller.

La única baza de Fischer parece ser la digresión, de la que se usa y abusa en casi cada dichosa página de las 300 que conforman este bodrio. Parece una acumulación arbitraria de anecdotillas sin fuste, como si el autor se hubiese puesto a escribir la primera ocurrencia que se le pasaba por la cabeza, esperando que así, con esa acomulación simplona banales historietas de humorismo fallido, compensara su falta de dimensión. El escarabajo pelotero ocupa su vida rebuscando en los excrementos para formar pelotas y no por ello es un gran artista. Con esta novela, ése es el tipo de escritor que parece ser Tibor Fischer.

Resulta tan soporífero que el llegar a la última página se convierte en un alivio monumental, pues cada página que se pasado con un esfuerzo titánico digno de medalla. Sólo se lo recomendaría a mi peor enemigo, la verdad.

[JBP · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of a silly one. Of the three Fischer books I've read--this was the least enjoyable. No real plot, just kind of a hodge podge of a story thta is set in a designers house, a sex club in Barcelona and a few other random places. Fischer just kind of goes here and there, some of it connected to the loose story, some of it not. Most of it not that interesting to be frank.

[Riley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't like it. It's really boring and I haven't had the patience to even finish it.. The action is slow, the characters are undefined and it's skips from an action to another too fast.

[Nionio Iren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just finished reading this book and I can't help but feel unfulfilled. I mean we went through all this random story, which i may also was completely implausible most of the time with improbable events, the conclusion of the story is really that? that she finally gets out of the house? really that's all? then what was the point of the whole Barcelona storyline or Audley war storyline?

I understand that the book started with her saying that she never gets out of the house (it's not a spoiler, it is said in like the first 5 pages or so) but come on...

It had a few good quotes and some jokes but all in all it was barely readable, meaning that I had a hard time finishing it. I usually give books a chance (and that's why i didn't drop it when i was sooo done about half-way through the book) just in case i missed something really important in the end. only characters reappearing for no apparent reason and the constant point that the police is never ever ever answering phone calls




Finally, i also felt line most of the story lines were incomplete example so what was up with Walter? Was he alive after all or did someone send the letters for him? etc. etc.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't agree with the previous reviewer that this book is 'non-sensical'; I found it very intelligently presented. Funny, clever and compulsive reading. Amazing main characters in Oceane and Audley as well.

[Tim · Rating 1 out of 5]

The best I can say about this is that it's quick reading. Other than that, it's badly written, tries too hard without giving any sense of what it's trying to do, is full of effortful but pointless and lifeless colour and wackiness... I gave up after about 60 pages, in the middle of the Barcelona section - I used to live there so I was hopefully curious, but nothing. I read a page or two near the end, just to check. I'm confident I didn't miss anything of interest in between.

[elliemedli · Rating 2 out of 5]

ummmmmmm…. occasionally witty writing but this serves as a reminder that not all books you find on the road are worth reading

[Vincent Pollard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I think Tibor Fischer is a good writer I feel like sometimes unbridled creativity is not always a great thing as in the end some of his books touch on so many subjects that they are about nothing in particular. This is one of those. I also felt that he didn’t capture well the female voice of the protagonist. Seemed very much like a female character as imagined by a man.

[Marc Nash · Rating 3 out of 5]

The other 2 Fischer books I read were funny, ebullient and a pleasure to read. This one had a curious mood of melancholia running through it, even though it contains all his usual off-hand barbed humour - the difference between accountants and economists is that the former have to get their figures right.

I think apart from the downbeat mood of several of the scenarios themselves (accidental if inexplicable deaths, a heroine who is agoraphobic, a volunteer fighter in the Yugoslavian Civil War, I think the problem is in the book's structure. We're introduced to Oceane, a successful digital graphic artist who can't leave her flat. Then we are taken back to her 20 year old self adventuring in a Barcelona sex show and the cast of sundry characters she lives with. It's here that she never leaves the building block to even see any of Barcelona and although we are spared the lurid details of the sex shows, the characters are pretty unlikable. This accounts for nearly half-the book. Then we move on briefly to a debt collector she employs to track down strange letters from someone she thought died in her time in Barcelona, but this brief section is then supplanted by the debt collector's own youthful adventures volunteering to serve with the Croatian militias in that bloody civil war in the Balkans. This section is even more depressing because it is irredeemably negative about human behaviour, which while befitting that situation perhaps, Fischer's attempts at injecting his brand of surreal weirdness seem out of place with the subject matter. You can of course portray war as surreal such as "Catch 22" but Fischer doesn't pull it off. The denouement of this section is deus ex machina of the worst sort. The third section sees the debt collector on the quest to pick up the next of the letters, all the while in contact with ocean via online. A remote Pacific island with a feckless local population, it was all just a touch too misanthropic for me, even with the attempted uplifting last line for the two main characters.

I think this was just Fischer having an off day with this book.

[Dirk Lapere · Rating 2 out of 5]

At times thought-provoking and realistic, at times ridiculous and stupid, this book is all over the place. The good parts are just not good enough and often enough to overcome the lack of story, the lack of finish, the lack of structure and the randomness of the writing. Not recommended.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a batty book, full of unexpected twists and turns. delightful and funny. I enjoyed very much.

[Emmapeel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Una vera sòla. Peccato, partiva bene.

[Hattas Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kniha mala potenciál. Prvá časť fantastická, ostatné slabšie. V Barcelone málo sexu a v Jugoške málo násilia.

[Phoenix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reinventing Personal Space

The woman who sat next to me on the subway for 3 days running thought this book was hilarious. So in the tradition of When Harry Met Sally I decided to give this a try. Fischer certainly has a way with words and the ability to evoke quirky scenarios in a matter of fact way. In the opening chapter we meet Oceane, a moderately well off a 30ish graphic designer who lives in a shabby version of London one would never want to visit, let alone live in. She's become a a recluse who never goes out of her building. Instead she commissions the recreation of the outside world in her second apartment down below and has the world brought to her. We also learn that she's been stiffed for a small amount by a largish impersonal firm. The slight has been gnawing on her, so she hires Audley from the Dun Waiting Collections agency who proposes some interesting ways to collect the debt.

The 2nd chapter, "Barcelona" fills in Oceane's back story. She grew up wanting to be a dancer, but also fell into computer graphics at just the right time. Out of money while pursuing an opportunity in dance that really never was, she decides to take up a friend's offer to become a performer at a Spanish sex club. This chapter mixes banality and erotica, though the situational humour is somewhat hit and miss. The scene where Heidi brings down a helicopter with a simple glance is priceless, though Oceane's inner dialog meanders a bit and the serial murders towards the end seemed a bit pointless, except for the punch line where the local inspector pauses to thank people for passing along the business. Characters such as Jorge and Merv (the latter recounts being a reluctant Middle East reporter in Lebanon) are well developed, followed by Rhino and Rutger, two self obsessed performers both flailing at movie careers for very different reasons. Most of the other characters have a moment or two to deliver an observation but are less outstanding.

The rest of the book focuses on Audley, his relationship with his family, the mishaps he experienced trying to join the British war effort in Bosnia and his efforts to retrieve a mysterious letter from the deceased Walter in Chuuk, a state within Micronesia in the Pacific. Oceane, still ensconced in her apartment, follows along via remote camera and computer. Roberto, a mercenary Audley met up with in Bosnia, reappears with a proposition about retrieving the treasure of a late prominent criminal who gained the sympathy of juries by legally changing his name to "Totally Innocent". Fisher often uses this story within a story technique, which gives him flexibility but may indicate a difficulty in sustaining long narrative.

As a side note - the dust jacket, which appears to be derivative of early Picasso is quite intriguing and does a wonderful job of evoking Oceane's fascination with Juan in the middle part of the book. The juxtaposition of the real book, calendar and clock radio with the sketched out human figures are intriguing; the cushion like indentation of Oceane's left arm I find puzzling, yet interesting.

A promising read that did not fully live up to expectations, partly because of the occasional attempts at scatological humour, something I've always disliked, but the wry quips make up for it, which leads me to a refined rating of 3.4/5. Your mileage may vary.

[Simona Moschini · Rating 1 out of 5]

Il cinismo è una grande risorsa, un grimaldello in un certo senso, per un romanziere, un saggista, un filosofo.
Tanto per buttare lì un esempio a chi facesse obiezioni etiche alla mia affermazione: spiega di più, e con maggior espressività, sulla società del consumismo, "Fight Club" di cento saggi sociologici sull'argomento. Come lo fa? Grazie al cinismo. Quindi non mi sarei scandalizzata più di tanto se l'autore del magnifico "Sotto il culo della rana" avesse partorito un romanzo su personaggi inglesi e non contemporanei altrettanto divertente e devastante di quello.
Invece no.

Spreco. Spreco è la prima parola che viene in mente per descrivere questo "Viaggio al termine di una stanza", che dilapida letteralmente ogni occasione di affondare il coltello nella piaga rifugiandosi nella comoda copertina di un manierismo appunto cinico e pensoso ma che puzza di finto lontano un miglio.
Sprecata l'occasione di satireggiare la guerra nell'ex Jugoslavia, che è solo il pretesto per mostrarci un campo base di legionari fanatici e fuori di testa e quello che succede nella testa di un codardo che voleva essere un eroe.
Sprecata l'occasione offerta da un gruppo di lavoratori del sesso nella peccaminosa Barcellona: ci annoieremmo fino alla morte, omicidi compresi, se non ci fosse il cattivo Rutger, peraltro moscissimo anche lui.

Mancanza di convinzione è la seconda.
Ma perché scrivere un romanzo se in quel periodo non avevi niente di interessante da dire? Ma perché tu, scrittore uomo, mi devi andar a scrivere un romanzo narrato in prima persona da un personaggio femminile se poi del cervello femminile non hai capito un'acca? E' così penoso leggere i pensieri sessuali di questa Oceane, così smaccatamente di cartapesta... Una donna non ragiona così, mi spiace. E dire che mi erano tanto piaciuti, Tiborino, i tuoi giocatori di pallacanestro sessuomani e affamati! Ma erano maschi ventenni, ci potevo anche credere: qui no.

Tu non sei Faber del "Petalo cremisi...", sei uomo, etero e stai benissimo nella tua pelle, ma cosa pensano, cosa sentono, che rapporto hanno col loro corpo le donne, non lo sai, non lo immagini e non hai neanche vagamente capito di non poterci arrivare. La prossima volta prima di leggere un tuo libro controllerò da che punto di vista l'hai scritto: non sia mai detto che riesca ancora a divertirmi come con la Rana.

[Matteo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lo consiglierei, perché all'inizio mi ha preso e, sebbene non mi abbia entusiasmato sul finale, ha comunque tenuto botta per gran parte dello stesso. Al di là delle vicende raccontate dalla protagonista Oceane, che vive in un mondo che si è costruita ad hoc, mi sono piaciute le numerose perle raccontate dall'autore. Vicende particolari, costruzioni mentali, considerazioni a volte illuminanti. Ce ne sono parecchie disseminate qua e là nella storia, e sono le cose che maggiormente ho apprezzato.
Complessivamente non è un libro indimenticabile, ma l'autore ha un bel talento. Voto: 6,5.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this up in a charity shop as I needed something to read while in Paris for a few days. Pretty disappointing though. It bills itself as some kind of meditation on the human condition in a world of random events, but is really just a meandering series of loosely-connected episodes. Trying too hard to be post-modern, and ends up being utterly forgettable.

Gets two-stars because the writing style is reasonable. It's not trash, I'll give it that.

[Antonio Iglesias · Rating 3 out of 5]

La protagonista del libro es Oceane una chica que vive en Londres y es un imán de locos. Ella trabajó en Barcelona en un Club erótico donde conoció a una serie de personajes raros y luego hubo una serie de extrañas muertes. La novela es divertida, por las situaciones absurdas que dan y porque los personajes están como un cencerro. No obstante, no mantiene el mismo tono. Al principio me costó entrar, luego mejora y la parte final vuelve a decaer

[Monica Acinom · Rating 1 out of 5]

Che noia. Non commento sul linguaggio, che nell’originale può forse essere interessante (ho comprato la traduzione Italiana ad un mercatino solo perché costava 2€ e la trama prometteva bene) ma il contenuto è un’accozzaglia informe di massime, personaggi, situazioni e riflessioni sulla vita senza alcun fil rouge.
Lasciate perdere.

[Moraru Natalia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cea mai proasta carte citita vreodata. Este pentru prima data când regret ca am citit ceva atât de prost. Păcat de hârtie.

[Colby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary!

[Abigail Swan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read if you enjoy humorous stories about strange events & adventures that don’t really go anywhere, but fascinate you all the same.

[Richard Eason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast, wise, weird, and very funny.

[Marc Tiefenthal · Rating 4 out of 5]

De depressie voorbij vergt een flinke dosis humor. Dit is zo'n boek. Ik heb zo'n dochter. Onschatbare

[Ellie Shively · Rating 5 out of 5]

anyone that doesnt find this book funny, poignant, and really fucking poetic is either stupid, an idiot, or both.

this has been a 5-star goodreads review by ellie, the one true reviewer of books.

[GaiB · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5stars - I have no idea what I just read but I certainly enjoyed it.

[Siv30 · Rating 3 out of 5]

"בקפה ורד יושבת גברת ומספרת סיפור
אוספת רגליה מראה ירכיה לידיעת הציבור
אומרת "פאריס בשנה שעברה
לא בן אדם זה ברור"
פותחת כפתור בחולצה שנראה את הלב השבור".

מי מפחד מגברת לוין, יהונתן גפן

מה יש לה לבחורה צעירה, בעלת קריירה ומצליחה, חוץ מסידרת נעליה, בגדיה וזיכרונותיה, על אורגזמות רבות שחוותה עם גברים שחדרו לתוכה בצעירותה ואיתם שברה שיאים בהנאות בשר?

זיכרון עמום על אהבה, שבטל זמנה עבר קורבנה ועכשיו מתעוררת לתחיה בסידרת מכתבים הקוראים לה מהקבר ושולחים אותה למחוזות רחוקים, בעברה, בזיכרונותיה.

וכמו גברת לוין הפותחת כפתור בחולצה, מתפשטת אושיאנה ומורידה את בגדיה הרוחניים ומספרת לנו את סיפורה של הנשיות הפוסט מודרניסטית. זו שכבר לא מוצאת טעם לצאת מהבית כי "ספק אם אפשר להכיר או ליצור קשר רגשי עם יותר מכמה אלפי בני אדם במשך כל החיים" (203) אז למה להתאמץ?

זו שמרוכזת כל כך בעצמה ובתענוגותיה, שרק "חוויה אורגזמית היא פעילות היחידה ששווה משהו...העונג מתקיים כל עוד את מסוגלת לזכור."(194)

אושיאנה, איננה שטחית או רדודה, שלא תתבלבלו. היא בחורה חדת לשון ואינטיליגנטית לעילא ולעילא. אבל פריזמת היחסים הבינאישיים שלה מבוססת על תקופה בגיל העשרים שלה, בה עבדה במועדון לילה בו עסקה בשיגולים על הבמה.

כן, עבודה מרתקת לבחורה, אבל אני מניחה שאחרי 3 פעמים בלילה על הבמה, מרתק זה עניין יחסי. גם תפיסת היחסים הבינאישיים שמתקבלת בעקבות ניסיון מרנין מהסוג הזה, חורגת מהרגיל.

אחר כך, בעיקר אחרי מערכת יחסים שהיתה ונגמרה לפני 10 שנים, בדומה לדור הפוסט מודרניסטי הנוכחי, גם אושיאנה השתבללה לה מאחורי המסך ולא מצאה סיבה לצאת מחדרה. וירטואלי הוא הכי אחי.

"מסע אל קצה החדר", הוא מסע הזוי, לפעמים משעשע, לפעמים עצוב אל העבר, ההווה והעתיד של אושיאנה. דווקא מה שהפריע לי בו היו התחכמויות היתר של המחבר, שבשלב מסויים הפסיקו להלהיב אותי (כן, אני יודעת שגם הציטוט בכותרת הבלוג הוא משם, אבל דחיל ראבק 262 עמ` כאלה?!!). אחרי שגמרתי להתלהב מהשימושים של המחבר בשפה, חיפשתי משהו אחר.

עוד בעיה שגרמה לי לקרוא אותו יחסית הרבה זמן, הוא העדר העיקביות בעלילה. בדרך כלל אין פסול בקפיצות בזמנים, אבל הקפיצות האלה בנוסף על מעבר בין דוברים וכמובן בתוספת להתחכמויות, פשוט האטו את הקריאה שלי עד עמידה במקום.

בסופו של דבר, הספר באמת מאפיין את העידן הפוסט מודרניסטי בו לתרבות יש משקל כמעט מכריע על החשיבה שלנו ועל האופן בו אנחנו תופסים את עצמנו ואת היחסים שלנו עם הסביבה.

אני משערת שאם ישאלו את אושיאנה, מה יש לך, היא לא תדע להסביר במילים פשוטות, לא מתוחכמות, שפשוט חסרה לה אהבה, חסר לה המגע והחיבוק והרציה.

וכן, אני ממליצה לקרוא בדילוגים המתבקשים (בעיקר בפרק אודילי שהופך מעיק לחלוטין) רק בשביל להגיע למשפט הכי חשוב בספר שנמצא בעמוד האחרון שלו.

"מסע אל קצה החדר", טיבור פישר
הוצאת מטר, 2004, 262 עמ`
תרגום אינגה מיכאלי

[GD · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've loved Tibor Fischer since I read Under the Frog and The Thought Gang in high school, but his books were always so fucking hard to find for some reason. Anyway, I found this one 10 years after it came out, and it's awesome. I think he wrote it about the same time he made his infamous baaaaaad review of Martin Amis' Yellow Dog, and a lot of people think he was just over-bashing Amis to get people to notice him and buy his new book. Maybe that's true, but I don't care.

This book is kind of strange, it starts out with a chick living in this big house, she's got a lot of money and doesn't really need to work, and she spends all her time entertaining herself, and hiring people to decorate her first floor like different countries, and gets natives of those countries to come hang out with her, so she feels like she's travelling when she's not. This is exactly like Huysmans' Against Nature. The next part is her remembering back to her days in Barcelona ten years ago as a live sex show actress, and hanging out with a bunch of weirdoes doing nothing but drugs, and this is like Martin Amis' Dead Babies. Then there's a short part where here personal collector talks about his time joining a war in Yugoslavia for fun. Then a part where the collector goes to Micronesia looking for a letter sent to her by a boyfriend who died years ago, and she follows him with a webcam. Then the collector gets, I don't know, threatened by a guy from his past. The end.

As dumb as this sounds, the book is really, really hilarious. The only thing that bothered me about it was how Fischer keeps repeating parts of sentences again to be funny, but it's kind of tiring, like (I'm not quoting, just making up something similar), "You never expect to turn around and find you've been shot in the ass by a man who hates professional organ movers, but when he turned around he found he'd been shot in the ass by a man who hates professional organ movers." It's effective a few times, but it got a little old. Other than that, though, it's just as funny, dirty, and mean as his other books. I love this writer, and hope to run into him one day in a bar to shoot the shit. I bet he'd crack me up so hard I'd piss my pants.