Fionnuala’s review of Time Shelter > Likes and Comments
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Fionnuala, I am glad your confidence in yourself as a reader came back at the end, not having finished this book I imagine being something you rarely experience. It is quite telling that the majority of the members of your book group didn't continue but that the book sparked engrossing discussions nonetheless - I heard such happen too in the reading group I participate in, books which simply pleased all strangely not leading to the best discussion. 'Novels and stories offer deceptive consolation about order and form' - deceptive it might be, such consolation might just help to get us through the night - not as an escape, but as a more intense and aesthetic distillation of the mess that is life.
Ilse wrote: "...It is quite telling that the majority of the members of your book group didn't continue but that the book sparked engrossing discussions nonetheless - I heard such happen too in the reading group I participate in, books which simply pleased all strangely not leading to the best discussion...."
Our group has frequently had the same experience as yours, Ilse—finding nothing to discuss in a book we all liked.
This one certainly does not fall into that category. It truly is a book in which all the stories, the happened and the unhappened, float around us in the primordial chaos, shouting and whispering, begging and sniggering, meeting and passing one another by in the darkness... The issue for me is that normally I love to tease out the meaning of books that offer such challenges but here I simply became another unmoored element in the chaos.
And yes, it left me needing the consolation of a book with more 'order and form'. So I'm reading Lessons by Ian McEwan—but his 'order and form' is beginning to stifle me :-(
I'm craving more Smollett:-)
Nick wrote: "Been on my reading list a little while."
Do try it, Nick. You may be the right reader for it.
At least you had the (reading) synchronicity of the very last line, Fionnuala! :)
Nice coincidence - 1st September. I had to go look up which review - where I said the same thing about - the author, refuting an arc - presenting events as in real-life where we don't know how things "will turn out" - Margaret Drabble's The Radiant Way - and boy was that tedious to read - a whole hodge podge of data. I think I prefer the "deceptive consolation about order and form". Great review Fionnuala.
Teresa wrote: "At least you had the (reading) synchronicity of the very last line, Fionnuala! :)"
And as you can see, Teresa, I grabbed onto it and hitched it to the review before it could escape into times past!
I'm lucky that my group meets on the last Thursday of the month so that this synchronicity could occur:-)
Laura wrote: "Nice coincidence - 1st September. I had to go look up which review - where I said the same thing about - the author, refuting an arc - presenting events as in real-life where we don't know how thin..."
I went looking for that Drabble review but couldn't find it, Laura. I'll look again later.
Anyway, thanks for reading this and confirming that it makes some sense to you as a reader.
Fionnuala, I am so glad you had your book group with which to discuss this book. Having someone to share these feelings sometimes helps sort through the chaos or at least keeps us from feeling alone in the morass.
And I have found, like you and Ilse, that these types of works do spark the best discussions.
I will keep your thoughts in mind when I eventually get to this one.
And I think you are one of the most astute readers with whom I am acquainted; no need to ever doubt yourself in that respect.
I'm not sure I'm up for the challenges of a book that leaves me feeling muddled - I get so cranky! :D However, I am intrigued nevertheless. Perhaps I'll save it for a time I can read in tandem with other reader(s) so that I have the same good fortune of a lively discussion afterwards! Terrific review, Fionnuala :)
Lisa wrote: "...I have found, like you and Ilse, that these types of works do spark the best discussions.
I will keep your thoughts in mind when I eventually get to this one..."
A book that motivates a good discussion is valuable indeed, Lisa.
I hope you do read this book because I'm sure you'll bring to it some of the wisdom I've noticed in your reviews, and that wisdom may pull it together for you.
Candi wrote: "I'm not sure I'm up for the challenges of a book that leaves me feeling muddled - I get so cranky! :D However, I am intrigued nevertheless. Perhaps I'll save it for a time I can read in tandem with other readers..."
We have a right to feel cranky when we spend hard-carved hours turning the pages of someone's 'manuscript' only to experience frustration and confusion, Candi.
I'd weigh the confusion of this one against the potential for discussion it offers, and I wish you wide-awake buddy readers when you read it!
I cannot empathise more with you on this one, Fionnuala! This book is very memorable for me, but unfortunately for all possible wrong reasons. For starters, the most memorable experience was the feeling of dread and desire for it to end, but it was beginning and beginning again. And never cohered in any sense. When it has “began” for the n-th time, i understood that it would be just that- stories “happened and unhappened” and a didactic allegory lacking originality and bordering stereotyping. All the pity, as when it has began for the first time, I actually found it poignant. If only he ended after the first part…Anyway, I am glad that you restored your reading confidence in full. It might be just the type of a book which works for some readers and makes some other miserable with the lack of style, elegance and originality…
Katia wrote: "..For starters, the most memorable experience was the feeling of dread and desire for it to end, but it was beginning and beginning again. And never cohered in any sense. When it has “began” for the n-th time, i understood that it would be just that- stories “happened and unhappened” and a didactic allegory..Anyway, I am glad that you restored your reading confidence in full."
That describes my experience very well, Katia, and the members of my book-group, while they didn't phrase it in those terms, were clear about its lack of clarity. As I've said earlier, I don't mind lack of clarity, I like the challenge of pushing the veils of a complex narrative aside, and finding out what lies behind them. Here, apart from the obvious allegory, I didn't find anything I understood behind those many veils. A lot of allusions to Proust, yes, and lost time, and regained time, but they were just that, so many scattered allusions. If there was a new and unique aspect to them, I missed it. Perhaps I expected too much, I don't know.
And, by the way, I haven't had my reading confidence fully restored, even if I found something that seemed to echo my experience in the epilogue. I still feel a bit defeated by the whole thing.
Not very encouraging but not too deterring, either. I'm determined to read this, as I find its theme fascinating. I hope it will compensate for the book's obscurity.
Hang on with Lessons, Fionnuala. Yes, it's stiffling at times but McEwan is apt at tying it all together in the end.
Violeta wrote: "Not very encouraging but not too deterring, either. I'm determined to read this, as I find its theme fascinating. I hope it will compensate for the book's obscurity.
Hang on with Lessons, Fionnuala..."
Your series of Taschen reviews on the history of 20th century advertising are a great preparation for one aspect of this book, Violeta—the part where apartments are created filled with furniture and products from particular decades, the premise being that people with memory issues would be transported back to those times the minute they stepped in the door.
Thanks for the encouragement re the McEwan. It's improving for me:-)
Fionnuala wrote: "Your series of Taschen reviews on the history of 20th century advertising are a great preparation for one aspect of this book, Violeta—the part where apartments are created filled with furniture and products from particular decades, the premise being that people with memory issues would be transported back to those times the minute they stepped in the door."
Fionnuala, you are spot on with this remark! I have a soft spot for any attempt to reconstruct the past, the theme of the book seems irresistible. I'm a bit intimidated by yours and other reviews but I'll give it a try.
You were brave, Fionnuala, for reading-on. I'm glad you were somewhat rewarded for your effort in the end. You really work hard on your book-relationships, I admire that quality in you, for me I'm more of a speed dating guy, book-wise.
Fionnuala wrote: "Katia wrote: "..For starters, the most memorable experience was the feeling of dread and desire for it to end, but it was beginning and beginning again. And never cohered in any sense. When it has ..."
Please, don’t feel so much “defeated” by this book, Fionnuala! Dare I say that if such a talented and astute reader like you, who tackled “Finnegans wake” and many other much more challenging texts than this book, feels this way - it is more likely the problem with the book than with your reading experience. I can from my side, underwrite every single word in your comment. Only I felt frustrated and a bit infuriated at the end that he waisted my time for nothing rather than defeated.
I think he tried to connect too many things under one roof and failed to do so. He tried to connect the political trends in Europe with personal experiences of old age. But in its core, he does not show how this connection works or contrast. So the connection between the two parts becomes very superficial and never properly realised through the text. For the politics, he ends up bringing old stereotypes about the certain selection of countries without saying anything new. Even his native Bulgaria ends up as a stereotype of the corrupted, nostalgic and a bit xenophobic Eastern European country. Maybe it is the case, but is it something new observed by him or how was it processed in his writing? I suspect this book works better on the western audience than on the local. But I do not have any factual knowledge to support my suspicion.
As for allusions, it seems he is driven by a big number of the iconic texts. However, none of them were properly processed into something uniquely his. So his intertextuality at best is superfluous and at worst demonstrates the lack of originality or clarity of purpose.
Apart from Proust, he “alludes” to Borges’s story “Borges and I” with the ambiguity of his narrator. This is from Borges:
“Besides, I am destined to perish, definitively, and only some instant of myself can survive in him. Little by little, I am giving over everything to him, though I am quite aware of his perverse custom of falsifying and magnifying things”
But what Gospodinov’s character adds to this debate/idea? I am not sure..
Even “happened and unhappened” business is more or less a reference to Kundera’s writing (I believe it was in “unbearable lightness of being”):
“What happens but once, might as well not have happened at all. If we have only one life to live, we might as well not have lived at all..”
Also I’ve lost count how many famous writers’ names are mentioned in this book and for what purpose? I personally found it almost patronising to my taste…
Anyway, I would not write such a long comment if I would not have a hope that it would make you feel better about your feelings re: this text. Please have your reading confidence fully back - I am sure you have a lot of deserving challenges ahead:-)
It seems to me this book made it difficult for you just to ensure you will finish your reading on 31st August. Spooky. Well done for sticking to it.
A "Time Shelter" for people wanting to hide from the present!
Wow, Fionnuala - I love that idea, also a great plan to perhaps help those with dementia to spark some recall of the past perhaps? I know when we used to show mum pictures of my brother and I was young kids, it would spark something in her - when she had dementia at the end.
But imagine escaping the fast pace of today and sit in a room with a record player, B&W TV, radios - even Mum and Dad sitting there smoking inside!!! That would be a blast from the past. I loved your review as usual Fionnuala an d that list line of your review is nothing short of spooky!! Great stuff :))
Violeta wrote: "Fionnuala, you are spot on with this remark! I have a soft spot for any attempt to reconstruct the past, the theme of the book seems irresistible. I'm a bit intimidated by yours and other reviews but I'll give it a try..."
Come back and tell us when/if you review it, Violeta. I'm guessing that a lot of us here would be curious about your opinion of Time Shelter.
Ulysse wrote: "You were brave, Fionnuala, for reading-on. I'm glad you were somewhat rewarded for your effort in the end. You really work hard on your book-relationships, I admire that quality in you, for me I'm more of a speed dating guy, book-wise..."
How many pages before you move on, Ulysse? Now I'm imagining a lot of sad books lying around your house wondering if it was their jacket you didn't like or if it was something they said;-)
Katia wrote: "As for allusions, it seems he is driven by a big number of the iconic texts. However, none of them were properly processed into something uniquely his. So his intertextuality at best is superfluous and at worst demonstrates the lack of originality or clarity of purpose...."
Early in the book I noticed that there were many big literary names mentioned, and I even began marking them but then I gave up because they became too frequent. I do remember thinking Gospodinov did something interesting with his Hemingway reference but that was the only one that I could see the point of.
Katia wrote: "..Anyway, I would not write such a long comment if I would not have a hope that it would make you feel better about your feelings re: this text. Please have your reading confidence fully back - I am sure you have a lot of deserving challenges ahead:-)."
Thanks for that wish, Katia—it does make me feel better. And as you predict, I've moved on and feel ready for new challenges:-)
Yves wrote: "It seems to me this book made it difficult for you just to ensure you will finish your reading on 31st August. Spooky. Well done for sticking to it."
Coincidences like that often find me, Yves. My reading life frequently throws up something that connects with my real life, significant or trivial as the connections may turn out to be. I think the reading gods, whom I sacrifice time to every day of my life, treat me very favorably on the whole:-)
Mark wrote: "A "Time Shelter" for people wanting to hide from the present! Wow, Fionnuala - I love that idea, also a great plan to perhaps help those with dementia to spark some recall of the past..."
Yes, it is a great idea, Mark, and your story of using photographs to help your mother remember is very moving.
I wasn't convinced that fitting apartments with state of the art furniture and products from certain decades would work so well though. Many people in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s didn't live in homes with all the latest stuff. Instead they lived with a clutter of inherited items from previous decades and even from the previous century. That's why showing your mother photos of her own past worked. They were specifically about her life.
Fionnuala wrote: "How many pages before you move on, Ulysse? Now I'm imagining a lot of sad books lying around your house wondering if it was their jacket you didn't like or if it was something they said;-)"
The slightest blurb and I'm gone!
Wether our book club members like a book doesn’t matter. All that matters is a good discussion…I think, Fionnuala…
You're very wise, Paula. The discussion is the most important thing about being in a book group.
Ulysse wrote: "The slightest blurb and I'm gone! .."
Aha! That explains why you never seem to read anything remotely contemporary, Ulysse.
I suppose I have an appetite for 'deceptive consolation' as well, and would feel bereft if I'd invested hours in a book and had that withheld. But at least your review was interesting!
Fionnuala wrote: "Aha! That explains why you never seem to read anything remotely contemporary, Ulysse."
Can't lie: I'm into older books.
I’ll bet that discussion “made” the book, Fionnuala. It’s always good to discuss a book with others. With a title like that it does sound interesting.
Left Coast Justin wrote: "I suppose I have an appetite for 'deceptive consolation' as well, and would feel bereft if I'd invested hours in a book and had that withheld. But at least your review was interesting!"
I think my own appetite for narrative lies somewhere between the consolation of order and the chaos of complete disorder, so I was surprised not to get more from this book which sits exactly in that between place. A mystery. Thanks for reading, Justin.
...made me doubt myself as a reader for the very first time.
Have you ever read Patrick Modiano? I had that same feeling that there was something big there and i was just missing it.
Ulysse wrote: "Fionnuala wrote: "Aha! That explains why you never seem to read anything remotely contemporary, Ulysse."
Can't lie: I'm into older books."
:-)
David wrote: "I’ll bet that discussion “made” the book, Fionnuala. It’s always good to discuss a book with others. With a title like that it does sound interesting."
You're right, David. There are fine books that don't offer anything much to discuss but then there are books like this one that just demand a discussion.
Left Coast Justin wrote: "...made me doubt myself as a reader for the very first time."
Have you ever read Patrick Modiano? I had that same feeling that there was something big there and i was just missing it."
Now that's interesting, Justin. I read one Modiano a couple of years ago but never picked up another one—though I tend to binge on an author when they really thrill me. Which one did you read? The one I read was this one:
So You Don't Get Lost in the Neighborhood
I enjoyed reviewing it though...
I am very pleased that the epilogue restored your faith in yourself as a reader, Fionnuala. Having read so many of your reviews, I would not ever have doubted this about you. Truly. And how rare it is to experience a coincidence in date (Sep 1)! I love it when these things happen.
Laysee wrote: "I am very pleased that the epilogue restored your faith in yourself as a reader, Fionnuala..."
Well, it kind of gave me permission to experience the book as a chaotic jumble, Laysee—which is close to how I did experience it.
I'm not sure what the author's real intention was with that epilogue though. If you read the book, I'd be curious about your reaction.
I had to laugh reading this review, Fionnuala. It is one of those books I argued myself into rating more highly than my enjoyment of it justifies it (contorted way of saying: I disliked it, but could see some value in it).
I particularly laughed at this: "I could no longer visualize the narrator—and doubted if I'd ever seen him clearly at all." Yes, indeed. And doubly so for Gaustine, who never really appeared on the page for me at all.
I'm a bit stymmied by this book's success. In Canada this summer, it was in all the "new release" shelves. A constant reminder. Of my failure? Of Gospodinov's?
I looked at your review again, Emily. You gave your write-up a bit more time and thought than I did. I don't like writing glib reviews but I just didn't want to spend any more of my precious time on this book.
It's been promoted madly here too, by the way. An International Booker winner tag just sells so well!
Do try it, Nick. You may be the right reader for it."
Who knows. Though the premise doesn't really appeal to me, Fi, I can see its narrative perspective, but the end quote you posted sounds like a lecture.
If there's 2nd hand ones roaming about in the coming year, I may find a copy. I always think these days like Cesar Aira in Artforum before chasing a book down. Is it "Artforum Worthy"!
Fionnuala, I read In the Cafe of Lost Youth. I remember very little about it now.....I guess if something doesn't make sense to me my memory doesn't know where to put it.
Fionnuala wrote: "Early in the book I noticed that there were many big literary names mentioned, and I even began marking them but then I gave up because they became too frequent."
That kind of throwing around names wouldn’t work for me either, Fionnuala. This book’s premise sounds quite compelling, but after reading your review and some others here on Goodreads I’m not so sure about its execution. Thank you for sharing your insights.
Glad to hear that although this book wasn’t everyone’s favourite, it managed to sparkle lively discussions with your book-group members. Sometimes even a less favourable book helps us to know us better as readers and I know you are already a very talented one. Wishing you exciting new reading challenges and serendipities! :)
Left Coast Justin wrote: "Fionnuala, I read In the Cafe of Lost Youth. I remember very little about it now.....I guess if something doesn't make sense to me my memory doesn't know where to put it."
The title of yours could have been the title of mine, Justin. A café featured in the one I read, and there was a search for the lost fragments of the main character's youth.
I'm really intrigued by Modiano's ability to compose so many different narratives using the same small group of elements. I've got one volume of his autobiography. I think I'll read it before any more of his fiction.
Maryana wrote: "..Glad to hear that although this book wasn’t everyone’s favourite, it managed to sparkle lively discussions with your book-group members..."
And for once, I was in synch with the majority of the group, Maryana. The usual scenario is that I'm in a small minority who didn't admire the book while everyone else loved it—or vice versa.
But I would hate to have put you off reading Gospodinov. You might be one of the readers who gets it.
By the way, while replying to the previous comment about Patrick Modiano, and with your recent McCullers review in mind, I remembered that Modiano claimed to have been greatly influenced by The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. When you think of all the cafés that feature in his work, he must have admired The Ballad of the Sad Café too.
Fionnuala wrote: "Maryana wrote: "..Glad to hear that although this book wasn’t everyone’s favourite, it managed to sparkle lively discussions with your book-group members..."
And for once, I was in synch with the ..."
That’s intriguing about your book-group dynamics, Fionnuala. Looking forward to more of your book-group stories! And no worries, I might read Godspodinov sometime in the future, although right now my time for reading is quite limited and there are many other authors and books queuing up. I haven’t even regained time with Proust ;)
Thank you for mentioning the connection between Modiano and McCullers. I wonder how and if McCullers had progressed as a writer, so it seems that in addition to Japanese kissaten I’ll be spending more time in cafés across the world.
Thanks for the gift of a new word, Maryana. A kissaten sounds as lovely as its name!
I am way behind on GR and just read your review, Fionnuala. I am personally sorry it didn't work for you because I am very fond of this novel for many reasons. I understand that his fragmentary style is not to everyone's taste but I am glad to see that Violeta will still give it a try. Though we come from the opposite ends in connecting to Gospodinov's book, all the same I enjoyed reading your review. It's written with interesting reflections and exemplary grace rather than venom we sometimes encounter in negative reviews.
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Ilse
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Sep 01, 2023 01:08PM
Fionnuala, I am glad your confidence in yourself as a reader came back at the end, not having finished this book I imagine being something you rarely experience. It is quite telling that the majority of the members of your book group didn't continue but that the book sparked engrossing discussions nonetheless - I heard such happen too in the reading group I participate in, books which simply pleased all strangely not leading to the best discussion. 'Novels and stories offer deceptive consolation about order and form' - deceptive it might be, such consolation might just help to get us through the night - not as an escape, but as a more intense and aesthetic distillation of the mess that is life.
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Ilse wrote: "...It is quite telling that the majority of the members of your book group didn't continue but that the book sparked engrossing discussions nonetheless - I heard such happen too in the reading group I participate in, books which simply pleased all strangely not leading to the best discussion...."Our group has frequently had the same experience as yours, Ilse—finding nothing to discuss in a book we all liked.
This one certainly does not fall into that category. It truly is a book in which all the stories, the happened and the unhappened, float around us in the primordial chaos, shouting and whispering, begging and sniggering, meeting and passing one another by in the darkness... The issue for me is that normally I love to tease out the meaning of books that offer such challenges but here I simply became another unmoored element in the chaos.
And yes, it left me needing the consolation of a book with more 'order and form'. So I'm reading Lessons by Ian McEwan—but his 'order and form' is beginning to stifle me :-(
I'm craving more Smollett:-)
Nick wrote: "Been on my reading list a little while."Do try it, Nick. You may be the right reader for it.
At least you had the (reading) synchronicity of the very last line, Fionnuala! :)
Nice coincidence - 1st September. I had to go look up which review - where I said the same thing about - the author, refuting an arc - presenting events as in real-life where we don't know how things "will turn out" - Margaret Drabble's The Radiant Way - and boy was that tedious to read - a whole hodge podge of data. I think I prefer the "deceptive consolation about order and form". Great review Fionnuala.
Teresa wrote: "At least you had the (reading) synchronicity of the very last line, Fionnuala! :)"And as you can see, Teresa, I grabbed onto it and hitched it to the review before it could escape into times past!
I'm lucky that my group meets on the last Thursday of the month so that this synchronicity could occur:-)
Laura wrote: "Nice coincidence - 1st September. I had to go look up which review - where I said the same thing about - the author, refuting an arc - presenting events as in real-life where we don't know how thin..."I went looking for that Drabble review but couldn't find it, Laura. I'll look again later.
Anyway, thanks for reading this and confirming that it makes some sense to you as a reader.
Fionnuala, I am so glad you had your book group with which to discuss this book. Having someone to share these feelings sometimes helps sort through the chaos or at least keeps us from feeling alone in the morass. And I have found, like you and Ilse, that these types of works do spark the best discussions.
I will keep your thoughts in mind when I eventually get to this one.
And I think you are one of the most astute readers with whom I am acquainted; no need to ever doubt yourself in that respect.
I'm not sure I'm up for the challenges of a book that leaves me feeling muddled - I get so cranky! :D However, I am intrigued nevertheless. Perhaps I'll save it for a time I can read in tandem with other reader(s) so that I have the same good fortune of a lively discussion afterwards! Terrific review, Fionnuala :)
Lisa wrote: "...I have found, like you and Ilse, that these types of works do spark the best discussions.I will keep your thoughts in mind when I eventually get to this one..."
A book that motivates a good discussion is valuable indeed, Lisa.
I hope you do read this book because I'm sure you'll bring to it some of the wisdom I've noticed in your reviews, and that wisdom may pull it together for you.
Candi wrote: "I'm not sure I'm up for the challenges of a book that leaves me feeling muddled - I get so cranky! :D However, I am intrigued nevertheless. Perhaps I'll save it for a time I can read in tandem with other readers..."We have a right to feel cranky when we spend hard-carved hours turning the pages of someone's 'manuscript' only to experience frustration and confusion, Candi.
I'd weigh the confusion of this one against the potential for discussion it offers, and I wish you wide-awake buddy readers when you read it!
I cannot empathise more with you on this one, Fionnuala! This book is very memorable for me, but unfortunately for all possible wrong reasons. For starters, the most memorable experience was the feeling of dread and desire for it to end, but it was beginning and beginning again. And never cohered in any sense. When it has “began” for the n-th time, i understood that it would be just that- stories “happened and unhappened” and a didactic allegory lacking originality and bordering stereotyping. All the pity, as when it has began for the first time, I actually found it poignant. If only he ended after the first part…Anyway, I am glad that you restored your reading confidence in full. It might be just the type of a book which works for some readers and makes some other miserable with the lack of style, elegance and originality…
Katia wrote: "..For starters, the most memorable experience was the feeling of dread and desire for it to end, but it was beginning and beginning again. And never cohered in any sense. When it has “began” for the n-th time, i understood that it would be just that- stories “happened and unhappened” and a didactic allegory..Anyway, I am glad that you restored your reading confidence in full."That describes my experience very well, Katia, and the members of my book-group, while they didn't phrase it in those terms, were clear about its lack of clarity. As I've said earlier, I don't mind lack of clarity, I like the challenge of pushing the veils of a complex narrative aside, and finding out what lies behind them. Here, apart from the obvious allegory, I didn't find anything I understood behind those many veils. A lot of allusions to Proust, yes, and lost time, and regained time, but they were just that, so many scattered allusions. If there was a new and unique aspect to them, I missed it. Perhaps I expected too much, I don't know.
And, by the way, I haven't had my reading confidence fully restored, even if I found something that seemed to echo my experience in the epilogue. I still feel a bit defeated by the whole thing.
Not very encouraging but not too deterring, either. I'm determined to read this, as I find its theme fascinating. I hope it will compensate for the book's obscurity.Hang on with Lessons, Fionnuala. Yes, it's stiffling at times but McEwan is apt at tying it all together in the end.
Violeta wrote: "Not very encouraging but not too deterring, either. I'm determined to read this, as I find its theme fascinating. I hope it will compensate for the book's obscurity.Hang on with Lessons, Fionnuala..."
Your series of Taschen reviews on the history of 20th century advertising are a great preparation for one aspect of this book, Violeta—the part where apartments are created filled with furniture and products from particular decades, the premise being that people with memory issues would be transported back to those times the minute they stepped in the door.
Thanks for the encouragement re the McEwan. It's improving for me:-)
Fionnuala wrote: "Your series of Taschen reviews on the history of 20th century advertising are a great preparation for one aspect of this book, Violeta—the part where apartments are created filled with furniture and products from particular decades, the premise being that people with memory issues would be transported back to those times the minute they stepped in the door."Fionnuala, you are spot on with this remark! I have a soft spot for any attempt to reconstruct the past, the theme of the book seems irresistible. I'm a bit intimidated by yours and other reviews but I'll give it a try.
You were brave, Fionnuala, for reading-on. I'm glad you were somewhat rewarded for your effort in the end. You really work hard on your book-relationships, I admire that quality in you, for me I'm more of a speed dating guy, book-wise.
Fionnuala wrote: "Katia wrote: "..For starters, the most memorable experience was the feeling of dread and desire for it to end, but it was beginning and beginning again. And never cohered in any sense. When it has ..."Please, don’t feel so much “defeated” by this book, Fionnuala! Dare I say that if such a talented and astute reader like you, who tackled “Finnegans wake” and many other much more challenging texts than this book, feels this way - it is more likely the problem with the book than with your reading experience. I can from my side, underwrite every single word in your comment. Only I felt frustrated and a bit infuriated at the end that he waisted my time for nothing rather than defeated.
I think he tried to connect too many things under one roof and failed to do so. He tried to connect the political trends in Europe with personal experiences of old age. But in its core, he does not show how this connection works or contrast. So the connection between the two parts becomes very superficial and never properly realised through the text. For the politics, he ends up bringing old stereotypes about the certain selection of countries without saying anything new. Even his native Bulgaria ends up as a stereotype of the corrupted, nostalgic and a bit xenophobic Eastern European country. Maybe it is the case, but is it something new observed by him or how was it processed in his writing? I suspect this book works better on the western audience than on the local. But I do not have any factual knowledge to support my suspicion.
As for allusions, it seems he is driven by a big number of the iconic texts. However, none of them were properly processed into something uniquely his. So his intertextuality at best is superfluous and at worst demonstrates the lack of originality or clarity of purpose.
Apart from Proust, he “alludes” to Borges’s story “Borges and I” with the ambiguity of his narrator. This is from Borges:
“Besides, I am destined to perish, definitively, and only some instant of myself can survive in him. Little by little, I am giving over everything to him, though I am quite aware of his perverse custom of falsifying and magnifying things”
But what Gospodinov’s character adds to this debate/idea? I am not sure..
Even “happened and unhappened” business is more or less a reference to Kundera’s writing (I believe it was in “unbearable lightness of being”):
“What happens but once, might as well not have happened at all. If we have only one life to live, we might as well not have lived at all..”
Also I’ve lost count how many famous writers’ names are mentioned in this book and for what purpose? I personally found it almost patronising to my taste…
Anyway, I would not write such a long comment if I would not have a hope that it would make you feel better about your feelings re: this text. Please have your reading confidence fully back - I am sure you have a lot of deserving challenges ahead:-)
It seems to me this book made it difficult for you just to ensure you will finish your reading on 31st August. Spooky. Well done for sticking to it.
A "Time Shelter" for people wanting to hide from the present!Wow, Fionnuala - I love that idea, also a great plan to perhaps help those with dementia to spark some recall of the past perhaps? I know when we used to show mum pictures of my brother and I was young kids, it would spark something in her - when she had dementia at the end.
But imagine escaping the fast pace of today and sit in a room with a record player, B&W TV, radios - even Mum and Dad sitting there smoking inside!!! That would be a blast from the past. I loved your review as usual Fionnuala an d that list line of your review is nothing short of spooky!! Great stuff :))
Violeta wrote: "Fionnuala, you are spot on with this remark! I have a soft spot for any attempt to reconstruct the past, the theme of the book seems irresistible. I'm a bit intimidated by yours and other reviews but I'll give it a try..."Come back and tell us when/if you review it, Violeta. I'm guessing that a lot of us here would be curious about your opinion of Time Shelter.
Ulysse wrote: "You were brave, Fionnuala, for reading-on. I'm glad you were somewhat rewarded for your effort in the end. You really work hard on your book-relationships, I admire that quality in you, for me I'm more of a speed dating guy, book-wise..."How many pages before you move on, Ulysse? Now I'm imagining a lot of sad books lying around your house wondering if it was their jacket you didn't like or if it was something they said;-)
Katia wrote: "As for allusions, it seems he is driven by a big number of the iconic texts. However, none of them were properly processed into something uniquely his. So his intertextuality at best is superfluous and at worst demonstrates the lack of originality or clarity of purpose...."Early in the book I noticed that there were many big literary names mentioned, and I even began marking them but then I gave up because they became too frequent. I do remember thinking Gospodinov did something interesting with his Hemingway reference but that was the only one that I could see the point of.
Katia wrote: "..Anyway, I would not write such a long comment if I would not have a hope that it would make you feel better about your feelings re: this text. Please have your reading confidence fully back - I am sure you have a lot of deserving challenges ahead:-)."
Thanks for that wish, Katia—it does make me feel better. And as you predict, I've moved on and feel ready for new challenges:-)
Yves wrote: "It seems to me this book made it difficult for you just to ensure you will finish your reading on 31st August. Spooky. Well done for sticking to it."Coincidences like that often find me, Yves. My reading life frequently throws up something that connects with my real life, significant or trivial as the connections may turn out to be. I think the reading gods, whom I sacrifice time to every day of my life, treat me very favorably on the whole:-)
Mark wrote: "A "Time Shelter" for people wanting to hide from the present! Wow, Fionnuala - I love that idea, also a great plan to perhaps help those with dementia to spark some recall of the past..."Yes, it is a great idea, Mark, and your story of using photographs to help your mother remember is very moving.
I wasn't convinced that fitting apartments with state of the art furniture and products from certain decades would work so well though. Many people in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s didn't live in homes with all the latest stuff. Instead they lived with a clutter of inherited items from previous decades and even from the previous century. That's why showing your mother photos of her own past worked. They were specifically about her life.
Fionnuala wrote: "How many pages before you move on, Ulysse? Now I'm imagining a lot of sad books lying around your house wondering if it was their jacket you didn't like or if it was something they said;-)"The slightest blurb and I'm gone!
Wether our book club members like a book doesn’t matter. All that matters is a good discussion…I think, Fionnuala…
You're very wise, Paula. The discussion is the most important thing about being in a book group.
Ulysse wrote: "The slightest blurb and I'm gone! .."Aha! That explains why you never seem to read anything remotely contemporary, Ulysse.
I suppose I have an appetite for 'deceptive consolation' as well, and would feel bereft if I'd invested hours in a book and had that withheld. But at least your review was interesting!
Fionnuala wrote: "Aha! That explains why you never seem to read anything remotely contemporary, Ulysse."Can't lie: I'm into older books.
I’ll bet that discussion “made” the book, Fionnuala. It’s always good to discuss a book with others. With a title like that it does sound interesting.
Left Coast Justin wrote: "I suppose I have an appetite for 'deceptive consolation' as well, and would feel bereft if I'd invested hours in a book and had that withheld. But at least your review was interesting!"I think my own appetite for narrative lies somewhere between the consolation of order and the chaos of complete disorder, so I was surprised not to get more from this book which sits exactly in that between place. A mystery. Thanks for reading, Justin.
...made me doubt myself as a reader for the very first time.Have you ever read Patrick Modiano? I had that same feeling that there was something big there and i was just missing it.
Ulysse wrote: "Fionnuala wrote: "Aha! That explains why you never seem to read anything remotely contemporary, Ulysse."Can't lie: I'm into older books."
:-)
David wrote: "I’ll bet that discussion “made” the book, Fionnuala. It’s always good to discuss a book with others. With a title like that it does sound interesting."You're right, David. There are fine books that don't offer anything much to discuss but then there are books like this one that just demand a discussion.
Left Coast Justin wrote: "...made me doubt myself as a reader for the very first time."Have you ever read Patrick Modiano? I had that same feeling that there was something big there and i was just missing it."
Now that's interesting, Justin. I read one Modiano a couple of years ago but never picked up another one—though I tend to binge on an author when they really thrill me. Which one did you read? The one I read was this one:
So You Don't Get Lost in the Neighborhood
I enjoyed reviewing it though...
I am very pleased that the epilogue restored your faith in yourself as a reader, Fionnuala. Having read so many of your reviews, I would not ever have doubted this about you. Truly. And how rare it is to experience a coincidence in date (Sep 1)! I love it when these things happen.
Laysee wrote: "I am very pleased that the epilogue restored your faith in yourself as a reader, Fionnuala..."Well, it kind of gave me permission to experience the book as a chaotic jumble, Laysee—which is close to how I did experience it.
I'm not sure what the author's real intention was with that epilogue though. If you read the book, I'd be curious about your reaction.
I had to laugh reading this review, Fionnuala. It is one of those books I argued myself into rating more highly than my enjoyment of it justifies it (contorted way of saying: I disliked it, but could see some value in it). I particularly laughed at this: "I could no longer visualize the narrator—and doubted if I'd ever seen him clearly at all." Yes, indeed. And doubly so for Gaustine, who never really appeared on the page for me at all.
I'm a bit stymmied by this book's success. In Canada this summer, it was in all the "new release" shelves. A constant reminder. Of my failure? Of Gospodinov's?
I looked at your review again, Emily. You gave your write-up a bit more time and thought than I did. I don't like writing glib reviews but I just didn't want to spend any more of my precious time on this book. It's been promoted madly here too, by the way. An International Booker winner tag just sells so well!
Do try it, Nick. You may be the right reader for it."Who knows. Though the premise doesn't really appeal to me, Fi, I can see its narrative perspective, but the end quote you posted sounds like a lecture.
If there's 2nd hand ones roaming about in the coming year, I may find a copy. I always think these days like Cesar Aira in Artforum before chasing a book down. Is it "Artforum Worthy"!
Fionnuala, I read In the Cafe of Lost Youth. I remember very little about it now.....I guess if something doesn't make sense to me my memory doesn't know where to put it.
Fionnuala wrote: "Early in the book I noticed that there were many big literary names mentioned, and I even began marking them but then I gave up because they became too frequent."That kind of throwing around names wouldn’t work for me either, Fionnuala. This book’s premise sounds quite compelling, but after reading your review and some others here on Goodreads I’m not so sure about its execution. Thank you for sharing your insights.
Glad to hear that although this book wasn’t everyone’s favourite, it managed to sparkle lively discussions with your book-group members. Sometimes even a less favourable book helps us to know us better as readers and I know you are already a very talented one. Wishing you exciting new reading challenges and serendipities! :)
Left Coast Justin wrote: "Fionnuala, I read In the Cafe of Lost Youth. I remember very little about it now.....I guess if something doesn't make sense to me my memory doesn't know where to put it."The title of yours could have been the title of mine, Justin. A café featured in the one I read, and there was a search for the lost fragments of the main character's youth.
I'm really intrigued by Modiano's ability to compose so many different narratives using the same small group of elements. I've got one volume of his autobiography. I think I'll read it before any more of his fiction.
Maryana wrote: "..Glad to hear that although this book wasn’t everyone’s favourite, it managed to sparkle lively discussions with your book-group members..."And for once, I was in synch with the majority of the group, Maryana. The usual scenario is that I'm in a small minority who didn't admire the book while everyone else loved it—or vice versa.
But I would hate to have put you off reading Gospodinov. You might be one of the readers who gets it.
By the way, while replying to the previous comment about Patrick Modiano, and with your recent McCullers review in mind, I remembered that Modiano claimed to have been greatly influenced by The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. When you think of all the cafés that feature in his work, he must have admired The Ballad of the Sad Café too.
Fionnuala wrote: "Maryana wrote: "..Glad to hear that although this book wasn’t everyone’s favourite, it managed to sparkle lively discussions with your book-group members..."And for once, I was in synch with the ..."
That’s intriguing about your book-group dynamics, Fionnuala. Looking forward to more of your book-group stories! And no worries, I might read Godspodinov sometime in the future, although right now my time for reading is quite limited and there are many other authors and books queuing up. I haven’t even regained time with Proust ;)
Thank you for mentioning the connection between Modiano and McCullers. I wonder how and if McCullers had progressed as a writer, so it seems that in addition to Japanese kissaten I’ll be spending more time in cafés across the world.
Thanks for the gift of a new word, Maryana. A kissaten sounds as lovely as its name!
I am way behind on GR and just read your review, Fionnuala. I am personally sorry it didn't work for you because I am very fond of this novel for many reasons. I understand that his fragmentary style is not to everyone's taste but I am glad to see that Violeta will still give it a try. Though we come from the opposite ends in connecting to Gospodinov's book, all the same I enjoyed reading your review. It's written with interesting reflections and exemplary grace rather than venom we sometimes encounter in negative reviews.
