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imijen's review against another edition
4.5
And again back to the shelves of books, to convince myself that the world is bound and ordered.
(p.274, Part 5 - Chapter 39)
Well! That was a wild ride. This book is not for those of you who hate non-linear, rambling, chaotic, surreal, fragmentary, stream-of-consciousness type of fiction. The "plot" is pretty insignificant and, by design, nonsensical. It's unsettling and satisfying at the same time. There was a moment in the middle when I thought it really had lost me, but after that ending (incredible!), thinking back, it makes a bit more sense ... sort of! But that's the point, I think.
Time Shelter is all about the human tendency to find comfort in the past. When the present is too incoherent, ominous, foreboding, the past is where people find their shelter:
[...] for us the past is the past, and even when we step into it, we know that the exit to the present is open, we can come back with ease. For those who have lost their memories, this door has slammed shut once and for all. For them, the present is a foreign country, while the past is their homeland. The only thing we can do is create a space that is in sync with their internal time.
(p.40, Part 1 - Chapter 11)
The past and nostalgia may be comforting and helpful to individuals, but what happens when a whole society is imprisoned by the allure of the past, glorifying narratives that may or may not be "true"?
The book is at its most disorientating when it zooms out, to society as a whole (well, European society). I think this was the part of the book that lost me. Apologies if this next paragraph ends up not making much sense. I'm trying to write without spoilers and it was already hard to follow in the book.
I understand that this part of the book was a critique on the European right-wing nationalism of today, and the tendency to use glorification of certain moments of the past, as a political tool in the present. But the way Gospodinov tried represent this tendency was truly outlandish, and I struggled to wrap my head round it. I can see how there are individuals or groups in society that latch onto certain points in the past (particularly, points in the 20th century) as quote-unquote "better" than today, but is that true for the majority of citizens? Especially those the most marginalised. I think "nostalgia", on this societal scale anyway, is actually quite unfamiliar to the marginalised. The 20th century was horrendous for the vast majority of them at various different points (maybe every point?), so wanting to do something quite like this, even just as a theoretical exercise, seems baffling to me.
Furthermore, there were definitely some historical and political references that went over my head, as well as numerous references to other literature. I can see a re-read of this in the future being useful, now I know the overriding theme of the book.
Personally, I think the book was most successful when it focused on individual stories. Either that of the narrator, or other unnamed characters he may or may not have met. I read, re-read, and wrote down so many wonderful passages from these parts of the book. A lot of difficult themes are covered; aging, illness, and death. This passage, on grief, as an example, felt very real to me:
When people with whom you've shared a common past leave, they take half of it with them. Actually, they take the whole thing, since there's no such thing as half a past. It's as if you've torn a page in half lengthwise and you're reading the lines only to the middle, and the other person is reading the ends. And nobody understands anything.
(p.196, Part 3 - Chapter 20)
I also love reading meta books on writing itself, so this book definitely scratched that itch for me.
All in all, an overwhelming read with a lot to process, and I can see my rating changing as I mull over the numerous ideas it presented. Very much recommended though, as I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it before.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia and War
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
m4rtt4's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
the first 100 pages of this book were the best piece of literature I've read this year (or in a long time), then the story kind of lost itself in the middle (it felt like the author was trying to cram too much facts and reality into such an unrealistic small space) and then the ending almost managed to save the situation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia
Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, and War
orlagal's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
strangeblueeyes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dementia
clarissarh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content and Dementia
Moderate: Gun violence and War
hollyrebecca's review against another edition
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Our narrator and Gaustine open a Time Shelter, a safe space for those suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s in which they find themselves back in a room from their childhood. The stories heard from the residents of the Time Shelter bring us back in time to relive their memories.
This book was fascinating to read with its rapidly shifting tales jumping through time and space. There was a slight element of fantasy with Gaustine seemingly travelling through time.
It’s unclear, but this read to me as an exploration through the mind of an author and his character “Gaustine”. So much of what happens in this book was an allegory for historical events our narrator appeared to live through. Eventually, the author starts to age and seemingly suffers from dementia himself, causing the end of the novel to devolve quickly. The change from clear connections between tales at the start of the story, to disjointed stories by the end reflect the disconnected pathways in the mindset of one with dementia.
I personally struggled with the written book and ended up switching to an audiobook after reading 60 pages. Definitely worth finishing reading as it’s a very well written book.
This book was fascinating to read with its rapidly shifting tales jumping through time and space. There was a slight element of fantasy with Gaustine seemingly travelling through time.
It’s unclear, but this read to me as an exploration through the mind of an author and his character “Gaustine”. So much of what happens in this book was an allegory for historical events our narrator appeared to live through. Eventually, the author starts to age and seemingly suffers from dementia himself, causing the end of the novel to devolve quickly. The change from clear connections between tales at the start of the story, to disjointed stories by the end reflect the disconnected pathways in the mindset of one with dementia.
I personally struggled with the written book and ended up switching to an audiobook after reading 60 pages. Definitely worth finishing reading as it’s a very well written book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Dementia
himpersonal's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I cannot explain why I liked this book so much given there is very little plot she even less action. Yet I still sacrificed sleep to finish this tonight. I suppose I take Alzheimer’s more seriously because it runs on both sides of my family, and I like the idea of potentially resolving it by revisiting time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Antisemitism, Dementia, and Death of parent
htsrokin's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Beautiful prose and thought provoking ideas about memory and the dangers of nostalgia but I felt a little disconnected by the characters and narrative
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia
Moderate: War
bluejayreads's review against another edition
I really wanted to actually finish this book - mainly because I was just so close to finishing it and it felt like I might as well push through. But eventually I gave up. Life's too short to read bad books, or those that probably aren't bad but are definitely dull and beyond my comprehension. This feels like a book that might be assigned in a class on post-World War II Europe. That's not a bad thing. If I'd been reading it with an instructor's guidance and through some sort of historical-critical lens, I might have had a chance at understanding what the heck was happening here. But without some additional guidance, it feels like something that Eastern Europeans who grew up in the 1970s-1980s would find relatable, funny, and/or true to life, but that I just didn't get as an American who grew up in the 2000s. And that definitely didn't help my enjoyment, because without that understanding this book is just dull. The initial concept, setting up rooms as if they're from previous decades as an experimental dementia treatment, was interesting. But the unnamed narrator kept going on long tangents about European history and attitudes, to the point where the entire Part 4 of the book is just a discussion of what year or decade the majority of people in each European country think is the best. There are also some weird and confusing elements that feel almost like they're trying to be magical realism but not quite succeeding, or maybe are metaphors that I just don't get. Either way, it all felt very boring and pointless. Or perhaps I just don't have enough context or background information or intelligence or something to understand the point.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dementia
Minor: Mental illness and War
chelseyg's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia
Moderate: Xenophobia and War