A book, a nook

I've recently read a book by a Portuguese author, nor translated into English, which is quite well known here despite his young years.

In this book he created a tale of a mysterious man who would receive clients in his propriety and they would leave without much information shared with the employees. The narrator is an assistant to that man and between philosophical and political debates, they would also fulfill an agenda the employee sometimes found difficult to manage. in the meantime, the mysterious man's grandchildren would also carry on with their lives and the narrator was captivated by the oldest granddaughter, who was quite interested in tightrope walking, although her allure went beyond that.

I liked reading this book because the writing style is appealing and this being my second read by him, I was ready for the style, which made it easier. But the author clearly does a lot of research and his work, I can see, is very heavy on background facts, historical content and politics. For me, this is fine, as I tend to like the philosophical questions and the character's reflections but I can see why some readers would find this to be boring or confusing too.

Actually, the plot does have a lot going on but comparing with the other book by him I read, I found this one to be easier to follow, perhaps because the characters were more appealing and the issues they were dealing with more interesting (hypnotism, tightrope walking, socialism and fascism discussions, etc., ). Still, to me it also feels as if the author wanted to convey an almost fatalist tone and there are hints about it which, in my opinion, practically didn't happen. I see how this tactic of making something seem more dire or more serious can create anticipation but, sadly, the end wasn't as surprising (for me) as I thought the story deserved/could have been done.

Grade: 7/10

-//-

Since some of you might not have hears about this book - which, since I've read it, belongs to my reader's diary, I'm leaving a cute image to cheer you up.

I found it here and as usually happens with these types of images, it's very easy for me to imagine myself reading there... if only it was as easy to implement it in my house and were I to have a similar view..but alas, just having the nook would be great!

Happy reading!