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grunbean's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Unexpected.
I think the blurb of the book does not do it justice. I would say that what it was advertised as is not necessarily what the book is.
It took a while for me to get into this. It has a lot of history and politics in it. I was a little disappointed that more of it wasn’t about these ‘clinics of the past’. However, that’s likely from the poor description of what you’re picking up.
I like it. Particularly in the last third of the book. It hits you with an interesting development. It would probably be more appealing to a person with a greater appreciation for European history and politics.
I think the blurb of the book does not do it justice. I would say that what it was advertised as is not necessarily what the book is.
It took a while for me to get into this. It has a lot of history and politics in it. I was a little disappointed that more of it wasn’t about these ‘clinics of the past’. However, that’s likely from the poor description of what you’re picking up.
I like it. Particularly in the last third of the book. It hits you with an interesting development. It would probably be more appealing to a person with a greater appreciation for European history and politics.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dementia
Minor: Genocide, Grief, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Abortion, Gun violence, War, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Murder
samsearle's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dementia
Minor: Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Violence
znvisser's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
This book managed to utterly intrigue and completely bore me at the same time. The narrator (or dare I say author?) uses fiction to explore some interesting ideas about the loss of memory and time, but it takes its time doing so. Well into the first part I was desperately starting to wonder if it was going to lead us somewhere, hoping the other four parts would be different, but unfortunately, insufficiently so. I loved the premise of this book but sadly most of this stays in the 'ideas' realm; the main character lacks any character and while history and philosophy are applied in an interesting way, the plot isn't rich enough to keep me in it either. Very dry. Not unhappy to have read this, but definitely happy it's done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Dementia
Moderate: Violence
steveatwaywords's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I have not been particularly enamored of all the Booker winners, but finding Gospodinov has been a real joy, and the rest of his works are now on my TBR list! Meta-fictional, musing, wrestling with the angst of nostalgia, challenging Europe's political pasts, citing Foucault as a marker that perhaps we are all in many ways delusional, victims of a societal dementia--somehow Gospodinov builds a labyrinth of uncertainties which echo too truly our recent crises of political and psychological identity.
It may be worthwhile to know just a bit about 20th century European politics, especially of Eastern Europe, but Gospodinov's explanations of our various decades past serve well even for those completely unfamiliar. Still, as I traveled Bulgaria and studied its history while I read, I found those sections of the novel particularly fulfilling.
I won't offer spoilers (for the directions this novel takes are half its fun), but I was captured by the breadth of Gospodinov's ambition: just when you think this is a novel of mental health care, for instance, it turns left to find you in a surreal space of narrator misperception; when you believe it may be a political satire (and there is much of this), it turns again to challenge its own premises.
As I read, I was reminded of Umberto Eco (though not nearly as academic or elusive) and even the traditions of Gothic horror, of a postmodern mad scientist diagnosing our collective schizophrenia: and what is worse, I very often believed him/them (?). Part fantastic tale, part a culturally apocalyptic harbinger, <i> Time Shelter</i> offers us what we believe we want: and that is the terror in it.
It may be worthwhile to know just a bit about 20th century European politics, especially of Eastern Europe, but Gospodinov's explanations of our various decades past serve well even for those completely unfamiliar. Still, as I traveled Bulgaria and studied its history while I read, I found those sections of the novel particularly fulfilling.
I won't offer spoilers (for the directions this novel takes are half its fun), but I was captured by the breadth of Gospodinov's ambition: just when you think this is a novel of mental health care, for instance, it turns left to find you in a surreal space of narrator misperception; when you believe it may be a political satire (and there is much of this), it turns again to challenge its own premises.
As I read, I was reminded of Umberto Eco (though not nearly as academic or elusive) and even the traditions of Gothic horror, of a postmodern mad scientist diagnosing our collective schizophrenia: and what is worse, I very often believed him/them (?). Part fantastic tale, part a culturally apocalyptic harbinger, <i> Time Shelter</i> offers us what we believe we want: and that is the terror in it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Racism
Minor: Torture
All scenes which are content sensitive are told in the context of 20th century European history.abisnail564's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia
Moderate: Violence and War
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