Time Shelter

You need a few pages to get into his writing style, but once in it, I found it fascinating. I don't understand everything, and I think that is meant to be so, it is all up to interpretation. I loved learning new facts about Bulgaria and just having it mentioned so much in a book. Futhermore, I enjoyed the topic of the past and ehat it really means, how important is it? Opened up a void in my mind where I perceive that topic a lot differently now.

“Time Shelter” starts off with an introduction to the eccentric character of “Gaustine”. A man who harbours grandeur ideas about the past and helping people with memory loss connect with the present by using the past as a medium, “a clinic of the past” if you will.
Though the book begins with the noble intentions of providing a respite to old people suffering from memory loss, it eventually proceeds to be a satirical comment on the society.
While reading this book one thing became clear to me, that this book is clever and a little too aware of its own premise. This is definitely one of the books I'll re-read.
Unfortunately, the open-ended conclusion, while reflecting the author's preference, left me looking for a more concrete resolution.

Bookclub [UoG] read: 3.5* rounded up to 4.

There were times I enjoyed this and times I nearly put it down for good. Perhaps I don't know enough about Bulgaria, maybe I'm not smart enough.

The concept, as it began, with the Time Shelters as a support for those living with dementia, was inspired and beautiful. I've since learned that versions of these exist around the world, which gives me a bit more faith in humanity.

When the world began to split apart (no spoilers here) my interest waned. I struggled through the last third having enjoyed the beginnings. This put a damper on my overall feeling about the book.

Whether it was a book about the future or the past, it was ultimately a book of stories. A book which worships words and other books. While the concepts were sometimes a struggle, the ease of reading - some chapters were two to a page - made this very hard to put down.

This gave me intense Crime and Punishment vibes. I loved it. Dense, juicy, crunchy prose around a beautiful and refractive look at Bulgarian (and generally, Eastern European) society and politics while sharply commenting on the General Human Condition. WOW!!

Time Shelter, the International Booker winner of 2023 and a Bulgarian novel written by Georgi Gospodinov, deals with the human psychology that craves the certainty of the past and aspires to break the uni-directional behaviour of time. The future is inevitable, ambiguous, and uncertain, and our march towards it is frightening. But the past is familiar and comforting, and our nostalgia associated with the past invites us towards it. Time Shelter explores this craving for the past and the unescapable consequences when we try to modify the present in an attempt to return to the past.

Smart and clever. Maybe too Northern Europe for me? Kind of dark and severe.