A review by cultbyproxy
Night Train To Lisbon by Pascal Mercier

inspiring reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

sometimes i read a book and question the standard of literature today. other times i am left speechless with the knowledge that i will never be as i was before i absorbed those words and that i am, indeed, a better person for it. 

the journey i have travelled through Pascal Mercier’s writing is incomparable to anything i have ever encountered. a reoccurring quote in Night Train to Lisbon is, 

“nós homens, que sabemos uns dos outros?”, 

the core belief of this novel, as we follow Raimund Gregorius on his journey to unearthing the life of Amadeu de Prado. 

after a chance encounter with a portuguese woman on a bridge on a rainy school morning, Gregorius enters a 2nd hand bookstore and discovers a book written by de Prado in which, “he seems to begin, passage after passage, to dig for all the buried experiences. to be the archaeologist of himself.” upon purchasing the book, Gregorius experiences a great liberation and chooses to leave everything he knows behind, learn português and take a train to Lisboa in search of the author de Prado. 

what he discovers about de Prado, and himself, is so much more than anyone can put into words. this novel is riddled with profound truths and hidden realities and allows us as readers to dig a little deeper into ourselves as well. there is a wisdom like nothing i have ever seen, but also a grief simply unmournable. 

a mourning of past and present, others and self.
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