23 used & new from £0.01
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
Night Train to Lisbon
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

Night Train to Lisbon (Paperback)

by Pascal Mercier (Author)
2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


2 new from £6.02 20 used from £0.01 1 collectible from £15.00
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover 10 used & new from £4.57
Paperback £7.99 £4.40 88 used & new from £0.01
Audio Download (Unabridged) £35.70 £24.99

Special Offers and Product Promotions

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Guernica

Guernica

by Dave Boling
3.9 out of 5 stars (37)  £4.25
The Angel's Game

The Angel's Game

by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
3.5 out of 5 stars (80)  £7.75
The Secret Scripture

The Secret Scripture

by Sebastian Barry
3.7 out of 5 stars (81)  £3.99
The Elegance of the Hedgehog

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

by Muriel Barbery
3.6 out of 5 stars (113)  £4.58
Cathedral of the Sea

Cathedral of the Sea

by Ildefonso Falcones
3.2 out of 5 stars (50)  £3.99
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback
  • Publisher: Atlantic Books (1 Feb 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1843547120
  • ISBN-13: 978-1843547129
  • Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.6 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 118,520 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Review

"'One reads this book almost breathlessly, can hardly put it down... A handbook for the soul, intellect, and heart.' Die Zeit (Germany) 'This excellent novel is a lesson in life and lucidity.' La Quinzaine Literaire (France) 'A sensation. The best book of the last ten years... A novel of incredible clarity and beauty.' Bucher (Germany) 'One of the great European novels of the past few years.' Page des libraires (France)"


Image magazine, February 2008

'If you liked carlos Ruiz Zafron's The Shadow of the Wind you'll love the international bestseller, Night Train to Lisbon.'
See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
Search inside this book:

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(2)
(4)
(4)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(2)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Night Train to Lisbon
94% buy the item featured on this page:
Night Train to Lisbon 2.5 out of 5 stars (35)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
2% buy
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 4.0 out of 5 stars (276)
£3.95
The Girl Who Played with Fire
2% buy
The Girl Who Played with Fire 4.4 out of 5 stars (170)
£3.95
The Angel's Game
1% buy
The Angel's Game 3.5 out of 5 stars (80)
£7.75
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

35 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:
 (5)
2 star:
 (4)
1 star:
 (15)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
2.5 out of 5 stars (35 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars when a book's already sold 2M surely you can afford a decent translator?, 3 Aug 2008
By E. A. Duns (devon UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
If Pascal Mercier ever had to read his book in 'English' HE'D be giving Atlantic a piece of his formidable mind. Ugly words like 'gotten' may be the norm in the USA but don't belong in a work like this, and like the other reviewers I feel that this poor translation does not do the book justice. And just when you're getting excited by one of the brilliantly thought-provoking passages, along comes another teeth-gnashing typo to take the edge off.
Having got that off my chest, I have to say that this book rises above the translator's poor endeavour, and if you're patient and prepared to 'read between the errors' provides a great deal of food for thought. It's certainly made me ask some pertinent questions of my own life.
Lucky German readers will have had a pretty amazing experience.
Comment Comments (2) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Terrific but for the translation blues, 30 Jul 2008
By Rebsarooley (Lancashire UK) - See all my reviews
Gaia is absolutely right. I'm pretty sure this is a terrific book, and my impression is that it is quite poetically written. The translation, though, is lumpy and seems to rob the prose of the lyricism I'm sure is there. The typos and proof reading errors are just unforgivable, and again make the reading hard and annoying going (a simple spell check test would have picked up some of the many words which run together). If it weren't for the intriguing nature of the story, I'd say don't buy this at all until the publisher has sorted out the basics above.
However, if this is the only translation / version available to you, then persevere. The founding premise is beguiling: middle aged man has surprising experience and walks away from his comfortable life... and catches a train to pursue the thoughts of a troubled, enchanting, and long dead soul. He's not an absconder in the Stonehouse sense, so don't come to this looking for adventure. Come prepared to be provoked into thinking, sometimes slightly spooked and annoyed, and to remember that it wasn't so long ago that Portugal was not the holiday haven it is today.
Just don't buy it if rotten line-editing and makes you mad... you'll be frothing!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Night Train to Lisbon, 26 May 2008
By Gaia (Brussels, Belgium) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Night Train to Lisbon (Hardcover)
I wish I could read German - the language in which this book was originally written! An interesting story which I will reread some day - I had to rush it a bit as was under time-pressure to pass it on to someone else.
However, it must be said that it was pretty hard going because of the mediocre quality of the translation (requiring a re-reading of a number of sentences and passages in order to [try to] extract the true meaning) and the not inconsiderable number of typos and punctuation errors.
Given the importance of words/use of language as a central theme of the story, I really do wonder just how much was lost in this translation!
In a nutshell, not an easy read - you will need to invest some time to get the most out of it. However, do persevere - it is definitely time well spent as the plot and setting are quite intriguing!
What a shame that the publisher didn't pay more attention to details such as these - they are so very basic and potentially easily remedied.
Sort out these problems and I would give it five stars! Somehow, I think enrolling at the Goethe Institute might be the answer!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars A TRAIN WRECK
A dreadful turgid pile of pretentious pomposity. Others have noted the many crass Americanisms that plague this quintessentially European stinker of a novel, but the awful editor... Read more
Published 8 hours ago by Bingo

1.0 out of 5 stars A shadow of 'Shadow of the Wind'
So what a con-trick! Like others I bought this book on the basis of a comparison with 'Shadow of the Wind' - a truly excelllent read. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mark Franklin

5.0 out of 5 stars Endearing and Thought-provoking
This is a book the reader will either love or despise. It never sets out even vaguely to be an action-packed page turner, so look elsewhere if that's what you want. Read more
Published 1 month ago by N. M. Clube

5.0 out of 5 stars Big, big shame about the translation. Nevertheless...


I borrowed Night Train to Lisbon from the local library but was only half - maybe less - than halfway through - when I was off to France on holiday. Read more
Published 1 month ago by J. Jago

4.0 out of 5 stars Tragically bllighted by American translation
I am part way through the audio version, beautifully read, but like other reviewers I am severely irritated by the American translation, and yes that horrible American word... Read more
Published 1 month ago by S. may

4.0 out of 5 stars Internal journey in Lissabon
The Classics teacher Raimund Gregorius is very set in his ways; he's been teaching at the gymnasium in Bern for a couple of decades now and has his daily routines. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Charles Deckers

1.0 out of 5 stars I've read some dross, but this is special..
It's one of those books that you stick with just incase you are labelled as not smart enough to understand it. Read more
Published 2 months ago by S. D. Smith

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for Me: Maybe Not For Others
I have to say that I was not surprised to see so many negative reviews of this book. Frankly it is just the sort of thing I normally hate. Read more
Published 2 months ago by H. meiehofer

1.0 out of 5 stars Tedious and inconsequential.
I must agree with the negative reviews already published. It is nothing like 'Shadow in the Wind'(which I love), it does not read like a thriller, it is supremely put-downable (I... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Keith Andreetti

1.0 out of 5 stars A shoddy piece of work
I am amazed that anybody has read the whole book. No only is the translation completely unfathomable,and the errors and typos unforgivable, but the author himself seems not to be... Read more
Published 3 months ago by The Reader

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
erranda 3 May 2009
› See all discussions...  
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject









i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.