Night Train To Lisbon

Product Information

well this was not the book I intended to read! It was reserved for me at the library (in place of a different book with the same title) for one of my reading groups.

Night Train to Lisbon: A Novel: Mercier, Pascal, Harshav Night Train to Lisbon: A Novel: Mercier, Pascal, Harshav

NOBREZA SILENCIOSA. SILENT NOBILITY. It is a mistake to believe that the crucial moments of a life when its habitual direction changes forever must be loud and shrill dramatics, washed away by fierce internal surges. This is a kitschy fairy tale started by boozing journalists, flashbulb-seeking filmmakers and authors whose minds look like tabloids. In truth, the dramatics of a life-determining experience are often unbelievably soft. It has so little akin to the bang, the flash, of the volcanic eruption that, at the moment it is made, the experience is often not even noticed. When it deploys its revolutionary effect and plunges a life into a brand-new light giving it a brand-new melody, it does that silently and in this wonderful silence resides its special nobility.” The text of Amadeu’s writing is filled not with mere nuggets of wisdom but with a mother lode of insight, introspection, and an honest, self-conscious person’s illuminations of all the dark corners of his own soul.... Mercier has captured a time in history—one of time times—when men must take a stand. Despite all of this, I found the story compelling. Gregorius’ investigation reveals lives lived in fear under the dictatorship of Salazar, leader of the Estrada Novo, the authoritarian government that ruled Portugal with an iron fist until 1974. I knew nothing about this terrible period in Portuguese history.I remember too when I was eighteen or nineteen, and a friend of a friend committed suicide, I was mad. How could she do that? I could use another life, you know! Bücher, die von Büchern handeln, von Menschen, die versuchen die Geschichte von Büchern auf den Grund zu gehen, sprechen mich sehr an. Nach Der Schatten des Windes und Besessen war dieser Roman ein weiteres Werk, in dem der Protagonist mehr oder weniger durch Zufall an ein altes Buch gelangt, sich in die autobiografische Geschichte verliebt und auf die Suche nach Spuren des Autors macht. We are all patchwork, and so shapeless and diverse in composition that each bit, each moment, plays its own game. And there is as much difference between us and ourselves as between us and others” Das einzige, das mich doch am Rande sehr interessiert hat, waren die historischen Bezüge des Romans und der handelnden Personen zum portugiesischen faschistischen Regime von Salazar, das Konzentrationslager Campo do Tarrafal auf der Insel Santiago auf den Kapverden, der Schlächter von Lissabon Mendes und der Widerstand, dem einige der Protagonisten wie Amadeu angehörten, der schließlich zur Nelkenrevolution führte.

Night Train to Lisbon (film) - Wikipedia Night Train to Lisbon (film) - Wikipedia

I recalled the words of the author Kazantzakis in the person of his character Zorba, "Everyone needs a little madness or he never dares cut the rope & be free". How was it possible that a man who lived so very methodically could suddenly experience a mid-life or late-in-life crisis and take a plunge into the unknown like the one suggested by the earthy Kazantzakis character? I don’t really know how I feel about this book but I didn’t want to put it down and it made me think about a lot of different issues. It’s quite extraordinary in its own way and, although much of it is based on unlikely premises, quite original. That’s why I’ve given it 4 stars. Carson Weatherell is a privileged young American woman traveling in Europe in 1936, courtesy of her aunt and uncle who live abroad and have kindly offered to show her the sights. On an overnight train to Lisbon, she meets Alec Breve, a young British scientist traveling with a group of colleagues. Carson finds that she's enjoying herself for the first time since she left New York Harbor, and quite possibly for the first time in her life. Is the soul a place of facts? Or are the alleged facts only the deceptive shadows of our stories?” Mercier, P., Night Train to Lisbon, London: Atlantic Books, 2019 Words and names play an obvious role for the philologist, but even with that and, for example, the repeated extended chess games Gregorius gets involved in the novel is anything but purely intellectual and dry: down to Gregorius' students or the woman who teaches him Portuguese, as well as those who knew Amadeu de Prado, Mercier offers rich characters and frequently inspired small details and events.Mercier seems to describe almost every footstep Gregorius makes in detail, giving the book a steady rhythm. He becomes curious about Prado and, once in Lisbon, decides to speak to those who knew him, to find out more about his life. Almost without exception, Prado’s friends and family are open to discussing their relationship with Prado. Unlikely? Yes, it’s all very unlikely and yet.... A lot of Prado’s scribbles deal with our inherent inability to know other people, and of the struggle to know our own selves as honestly as possible. Even language is suspect as too weighted down with the overused dross of cliché to give us the key to this honesty. And yet, the protagonist is a teacher and lover of dead languages. If we take away language, what do we have? As the story progresses, the protagonist starts to experience increasing bouts of dizziness, as if he is losing his sense of place in the world. But just how are we supposed to react to this? He looks at some of the determining moments from his youth, wondering: what if he had acted differently on occasion.

Night Train to Lisbon (Mercier) - LitLovers Night Train to Lisbon (Mercier) - LitLovers

a b c Johnson, Daniel (24 February 2008). "Throwing in one life to look for another". Telegraph (UK) . Retrieved 10 March 2021.He throws himself into the tasks with vigour, helped along by some acquaintances he makes along the way, who also hand him off to others. It's a long trip of self-discovery -- and of trying to discover another (in this case the Portuguese doctor) -- but Mercier manages to sustain the reader's interest. There were people who read and there were the others. Whether you were the a reader or a non-reader was soon apparent. There was no greater distinction between people.” Its subtlest, most appealing accomplishment may be in how other characters respond to Gregorius' precipitous swerve onto the spiritual path. (...) That said, Night Train to Lisbon is a very long, ambitious book that's feverishly overwritten. (...) Think of W.G. Sebald recast for the mass market: stripped of nuance, cooked at high temperature and pounded home, clause after clause. Some of the clumsiness derives from Barbara Harshav's inelegant translation -- we're often aware of her struggle -- but she can't be blamed for the pervasive bloat." - Michelle Huneven, The Los Angeles Times

Book Marks reviews for Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal All Book Marks reviews for Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal

Another neighbourhood that is worth visiting is Belem, to know the famous tower of the same name, the Monument to the Discoverers or the beautiful Jerónimos monastery and taste the typical Belem cakes. Of the Portuguese gastronomy, you should not miss any of its fish, such as cod or grilled sardines, accompanied by local wine. To do some shopping, it is worth visiting the Feira da Ladra market, where you can find objects of all kinds in its antique stalls. There is more than a little resemblance in Night Train to Paris to the work of Jose Saramago, Portuguese Nobel laureate, especially in his The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis and both Pascal Mercier, this book's author and Saramago seem to be influenced by Portugal's Fernando Pessoa, a writer who used what are termed heteronyms to give voice to competing artistic spirits. In fact, there is a quote from Pessoa at the beginning of Mercier's novel that might be seen as a kind of preamble, suggesting that "in the vast colony of our being, there are many species of people who think & feel in different ways."Night Train to Lisbon delights with the written word, very vivid descriptions of the places and characters. The author takes us on a long but a wonderful journey full of thoughts and insightful analysis on death, loneliness, courage and friendship looking at the surrounding world through the prism of many people and from a different time perspective. It is like having a long-awaited meeting with a fellow human being whom one listens with an unsurpassed curiosity and fascination. Usually available as either four or six berth carriages, couchettes transform from ordinary seating during the day to padded bunks (two or three on top of one another) during the night.