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rolandosmedeiros's review against another edition
4.0
Antes de deixar o livro esfriar, e, dar o tempo de lê-lo fechado, na mente, enumerarei minhas primeiras impressões ainda frescas, de bate pronto: é um pequeno grande livro, míseras cem páginas, mas dotadas de estilo, e, com diversos tempos como tema, lembranças, deja-vu, falha de memória, sonho; tudo baseado em histórias reais contadas a ele por amigos — no final há dedicatória e tudo. Os contos, são bastante estilísticos, e não há aquela disparidade gritante tão incômoda (tanto de tamanho quanto de qualidade) em livros de contos. O maior deles é justamente o melhor: "Núvens"; e o último é memorável pelo narrador lhe dar uma volta caso você tente encurralá-lo, qualquer tentativa de acompanhá-lo é frustrada (no bom sentido); e, pelo que entendi, implica em um looping de personagem-narrador alheio ao seu papel.
pedroanacleto's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
vitocorleone's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
marciazinha's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
nateisdreaming's review against another edition
5.0
Another stunning, heartbreaking collection from Tabucchi -- who is one of my favorite writers. Ugh. I love everything I've read of his; although it goes in tiers. This is definitely upper tier Tabucchi. The writing is something you can savor and take your time with. Its so simple yet mysterious; so warm and melancholy.
I read most of these stories in public -- and took my time, using this as a book to pick up between other books. Its traveled with me through Mexico, southeastern U.S., and Portland where I live. Two or three times I've had to stop myself from sobbing in a public coffee shop. His outlook on humans is so generous, yet critical -- it really chokes me up.
The cover is a little worn out, and I like to imagine that sand from a Mexican beach is embedded in it. Given Tabucchi's quasi-travelogue style of writing, I also like to think he would be happy about that.
There's nine stories in here -- and there were a couple I liked less than others; but the majority were captivating. My favorite story in here is called "Clouds" and there's a couple others that rise to that same peak. All of the stories are great though. And its a book you could breeze through, if you wanted.
Highest recommendation.
I read most of these stories in public -- and took my time, using this as a book to pick up between other books. Its traveled with me through Mexico, southeastern U.S., and Portland where I live. Two or three times I've had to stop myself from sobbing in a public coffee shop. His outlook on humans is so generous, yet critical -- it really chokes me up.
The cover is a little worn out, and I like to imagine that sand from a Mexican beach is embedded in it. Given Tabucchi's quasi-travelogue style of writing, I also like to think he would be happy about that.
There's nine stories in here -- and there were a couple I liked less than others; but the majority were captivating. My favorite story in here is called "Clouds" and there's a couple others that rise to that same peak. All of the stories are great though. And its a book you could breeze through, if you wanted.
Highest recommendation.
hbakkar's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful and melancholic. No one does the short story form better than Antonio Tabucchi!
hadia_bakkar2020's review
4.0
Beautiful and melancholic. No one does the short story form better than Antonio Tabucchi!
hadia_bakkar's review
4.0
Beautiful and melancholic. No one does the short story form better than Antonio Tabucchi!
jeeleongkoh's review
5.0
I am grateful to translators Martha Cooley and Antonio Romani for introducing me to the short fiction of Antonio Tabucchi. Time Ages in a Hurry collects nine stories: "The Circle," "Drip, Drop, Drippity-Drop," "Clouds," "The Dead at the Table," "Between Generals," "Yo me enamore del aire," "Festival," "Bucharest Hasn't Changed a Bit" and "Against Time." The stories are closely observed, often revolving around two people in conversation. The late Italian writer is profoundly concerned with the passing of time and its effects on memory, desire and fantasy. In the very poignant "Drip, Drop," a man waits beside his dying aunt, who has taken custody of not only him as a young boy, but also the childhood memories that he was too young to remember.
The stories do not remain in Italy but range across Europe and beyond. "The Circle" is narrated from the perspective of a woman from the Maghreb who grew up in Paris, and is now married into a rich and illustrious family of Germans, possibly Jewish, living in Geneva. "Between Generals" tell the story of the Soviet invasion of Hungary through the point of view of an Hungarian general who spent "the best days of [his] life" in Moscow with the Russian general he fought against. In "Bucharest Hasn't Changed a Bit," a son, who still lives and works in Europe, visits his senile father in Tel Aviv who cannot forget the old family home in Bucharest.
The last story "Against Time" is, at least in part, an ars poetica, as the translators said during the book launch at the Center for Fiction, New York City. The narrator becomes a character in his own story, following the trail of his protagonist from Italy to Athens and then to Crete, to an old monastery. In an epiphany at the end, the narrator understands:
To write down what is first conceived in the mind is not to be sucked back into an imagined past, but to render the story into a human future to come.
The stories do not remain in Italy but range across Europe and beyond. "The Circle" is narrated from the perspective of a woman from the Maghreb who grew up in Paris, and is now married into a rich and illustrious family of Germans, possibly Jewish, living in Geneva. "Between Generals" tell the story of the Soviet invasion of Hungary through the point of view of an Hungarian general who spent "the best days of [his] life" in Moscow with the Russian general he fought against. In "Bucharest Hasn't Changed a Bit," a son, who still lives and works in Europe, visits his senile father in Tel Aviv who cannot forget the old family home in Bucharest.
The last story "Against Time" is, at least in part, an ars poetica, as the translators said during the book launch at the Center for Fiction, New York City. The narrator becomes a character in his own story, following the trail of his protagonist from Italy to Athens and then to Crete, to an old monastery. In an epiphany at the end, the narrator understands:
Everything changed perspective, in a flash he felt the euphoria of discovery, a subtle nausea, a mortal melancholy. But also a sense of infinite liberation, as when we finally understand something we'd known all along and didn't want to know: it wasn't the already-seen that was swallowing him in a never-lived past, he instead was capturing it in a future yet to be lived.
To write down what is first conceived in the mind is not to be sucked back into an imagined past, but to render the story into a human future to come.
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