m_lieto 's review for:

Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov

3.25

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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“Age is the great equalizer”

I just finished this one, and I have some mixed feelings! This is a beautiful book with a story that unfolds with warmth, like visiting your childhood home for the first time in decades. There is wonderful writing on display here. It works as a deep exploration of memory and how it fades in and out of our brains, and in the end becomes what we all want most. There are tons of quotable lines, and the opening of this book is ENTHRALLING! 

Ultimately, I found this a very unfocused and often confusing story. On one hand, it is an exact recreation of how jisjointed reminiscence in real time is. But on the other it makes for a very uneven experience. I found the middle and most of the last third to be a slog through tangents going too long about the past coming back to life. The ‘European referendum’ section is sometimes easy to read, but I did not care for it- I just wanted it to be over quite honestly! I feel that this would be SO much more impactful if I was a European (or even Bulgarian like the author), but I am not, and it did not deliver for me. I almost DNFed this book, but I am glad I carried on - it gets good again in the end. The ending is pretty moving and fitting for this book, if a little predictable. 

This novel has some shining moments, but for me it is bloated (by almost 50 pages IMO) and often unfocused. I like this novel and what it is doing, but I did not enjoy this as much as I hoped I would. That being said, it does have a truly excellent first third. Almost worth the read just for that!