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brahms_in_joburg's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
charsiew21's review
The plot summary makes the book easier to read than it actually is/was (for me)
mmemonstre's review
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
thebobsphere's review against another edition
5.0
Sometimes life has a weird way of synchronising. Just last night I watched Mia Hansen-Løve’s One Fine Morning, which consists of a Philosophy Professor suffering from a neurological disease. In other words we have a mind that was active and dedicated to thinking suddenly wasting away. However he can remember the past well.
Time Shelter poses the question on whether creating an environment which is based on the memories of a patient can restore the brain cells. Thus two people, one of them being the book’s narrator, create a clinic where the decorate a room according to the patient’s favourite year. This section of the novel is about the setting up of the clinic, teething problems, varieties of memories and some chapters dedicated to different patients. most notably one who was accused of state crimes and his interlocuter who visits him.
The part of the book is about how selective memory can be, that we are masters of the past and that a country’s history is rooted in a person’s memory be it good or bad. There’s also some meditations on death and how it is viewed in a country like Switzerland, which is where this clinic is based. This part reminded me of a Stefan Zwieg story: it is told simply, with crumbs of the bizarre worming in, yet it sounds credible,
The next half of the book changes tone; Some members from the EU visit the narrator and the brainchild of the clinic and propose a referendum in where a European country vote for their favourite year and that country reverts to it. Thus a continent regresses, so to speak. it sounds dystopian but Gospodinov makes it sound credible,
This section is about how a return to the past is not necessarily a good thing. The narrator’s native land of Bulgaria reverts to socialism and it’s limitations, while countries such as Germany are divided again, not to mention the Balkan states. Other places such as Italy becomes an imitation of Fellini’s la Dolce Vita, something totally unrealistic. In a certain way time begins to repeat itself. In the beginning of the book the narrator stresses that Europe changed on first September 1939, when Germany invaded Poland and as the book ends there are the stirrings of a reoccurrence of those events.
I think Time shelter is a fantastic novel. I oved the ideas, deeper themes and narrative voice. Essentially it is a novel of ideas but lots of interesting ones which would be interesting to see replicated – at least in the first part. I can see Time Shelter as having a cultural impact if more people read it. Out of the shortlisted International Booker Novels I have read so far (I have one more to go) I think I would like this one to win – It is creative, influential, and, more importantly a read that will reveal more surprises on rereading.
kieraburrows's review
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
Very good book. Funny and extremely interesting. The writer was clearly very knowledgable and managed to give the average reader an insight into Alzheimer’s and memory loss