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Night Train To Lisbon Paperback – 1 Feb. 2009
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- Print length448 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherAtlantic Books
- Publication date1 Feb. 2009
- Dimensions12.9 x 2.6 x 19.8 cm
- ISBN-101843547139
- ISBN-13978-1843547136
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Review
Book Description
Pascal Mercier's haunting novel of the paths not taken, the choices not made, the lives not lived, Night Train to Lisbon has captured the hearts of readers across Europe, with over two million copies sold worldwide.
'A treat for the mind. One of the best books I have read in a long time.' Isabel Allende
From the Back Cover
'If you liked Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind, you'll love international bestseller, Night Train to Lisbon.' Image
Raimund Gregorius is a mild-mannered, middle-aged professor of ancient languages. One morning, as he is teaching, he is seized by a restlessness that drives him to abandon his classroom then and there - shocking his students, and surprising even himself. His unusual impulsiveness is driven by two chance encounters - with a mysterious Portuguese woman in a red coat; and with a book he finds hidden in a dusty corner of a second-hand bookshop, the journal of an enigmatic Portuguese aristocrat, Amadeu de Prado.
With the book as his talisman, Raimund boards the night train to Lisbon on a journey to find out more about Prado, whose words haunt and compel him. Gradually, a picture of an extraordinary man emerges: a difficult, brilliant, charismatic figure, a doctor and a poet, and a rebel against Salazar's dictatorship. And as Prado's story comes to light so, too, Gregorius himself begins his life anew. Hurtling through the dark, Night Train to Lisbon is a rich tale, wonderfully told, propelled by the mystery at its heart.
'A meditative novel that builds uncanny power... Night Train to Lisbon maintains a remarkable immediacy that makes for a rare reading pleasure.' San Francisco Chronicle
'One reads this book almost breathlessly, hardly able to put it down... A handbook for the soul, mind and heart.' Die Welt
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Atlantic Books; Main edition (1 Feb. 2009)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 448 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1843547139
- ISBN-13 : 978-1843547136
- Dimensions : 12.9 x 2.6 x 19.8 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: 97,637 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 819 in Film & Television Tie-In
- 1,063 in Adventure Travel (Books)
- 1,607 in Romantic Action & Adventure
- Customer reviews:
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As Gregorius discovers more about Prado’s troubled life and the people who mattered most to the doctor, he also analyses his own life, making daring changes in his dress and habits. Moral decisions about saving the life of a tyrant and endangering individuals for the common good are raised in Prado’s book and in his actions. Gregorius makes meaningful relationships with those he meets in Lisbon and cannot decide whether to settle there or return to Switzerland.
This is a long, thought-provoking book with only a little reported action. Gregorius is both empathetic and frustrating. The other characters, and how they were moulded by experience, are fascinating and I enjoyed reading about places in Portugal and Spain which are familiar. The history of Portugal, stagnating under the police state of Salazar’s dictatorship has always interested me so I welcomed this window into the lives of people who lived through it.
This is the story about a man who does what everyone dreams of doing, just stopping in the middle of his working day and walking away. He goes off to do something spontaneous, something that he wants to do that interests him. Who hasn't dreamed of leaving the rat race and just being your own master?
The main character loves books and decides to find out more about the author of a book he falls in love with, so it is a story about a story.
Not only is the subject matter extremely intriguing, it made me put the book down and think deeply about what is being written. The language is also beautiful. Yes there are mistakes, but don't let them trouble you. The inner book is about language and philosophy. You get to learn small nuggets of info about Portugal's past. So for me, who knew nothing about Portuguese history, this was fascinating.
I have been so taken with this book, that I have signed up for a Portuguese language course, its something I've been toying with for a long time. I took this as a sign.
Don't get me wrong this book was not an easy read, I did have to concentrate and make an effort, but I find books like this all the more worthwhile.
This is one of the best books I have ever read. A sweeping statement I know, but I have not made it lightly. I have read a lot of books and a wide variety of subject matters, most books I forget shortly after they are finished. This book will stay with me forever, and I will be reading it again and again.
The novel starts off well - a fussy, ageing teacher of the Classics in a Swiss school (he should really be a prof in a top university, in his and in the opinion of the author), walks out of his classroom having seemingly prevented a young Portuguese woman from killing herself (who among teachers and lecturers has not at some time felt like walking out, never to return?). He finds a book in the pocket of her coat and sets of for Lisbon to find-out more about the author, who played a minor part in the anti-Salazar resistance. Here authorial-intrusion takes over - if you have recently been reading Kant, Schopenhauer, Santayana (no relation to Carlos - different spelling anyway), there is a small chance that you will take to his work. If you have come to it, like this reviewer, from the film, there is a big chance you will hate it. Literature is replete with works that have dealt with profound philosophical questions while at the same time keeping the reader enthralled - think of some of Thomas Mann's works; Hugo does it by concealing the moral and other dilemmas in the actions and words of believable characters, while telling a story. In the later 20th century, no one has done it better (in English) than Anthony Burgess. Ultimately this is a disappointing novel. Not only that, on a 'quality control' issue: the Kindle edition is replete with typos and/or a translation that is clumsy in the extreme. Recommendation: since not enough is told about the Salazar dictatorship (in the Uk), the film is a good introduction to the brutality in which our government was complicit.
Top reviews from other countries
There is a movie by the same name, directed by Bille August, which is also enjoyable and far tighter than the book. The book has a number of characters who do not appear in the movie, but flesh out the time and characters more fully. The movie, on the other hand, adds scenes not in the book which feel true to the central theme of the book, the quest for a life of words and honesty, chess, and the vitality of youth.
It's worth noting that the book is dense and many sentences have to be read and reread to be fully appreciated. Worth the effort.




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