A review by jonfaith
Requiem: A Hallucination by Antonio Tabucchi

4.0

Much of this novella reads like a sweaty daydream, a grumbling escape from a missed connection: the lament over an object left behind. The plot is anything but simple. A very Tabucchi like figure has a date with destiny, in this case the spirit of Pessoa. Apparently our protagonist didn't trouble himself with a confirmation email, so he's twelve hours early for his luminous encounter. What ensues oscillates between the febrile and the sumptuous. Requiem becomes a cookbook of sorts for the estranged, a meditation on the transition from an authoritarian imperialist regime to a depressed albeit European aspirant.