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Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier | Book Review

“We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there.” Mercier, P., Night Train to Lisbon, London: Atlantic Books, 2009

“In the years afterwards, I fled whenever somebody began to understand me. That has subsided. But one thing remained: I don’t want anybody to understand me completely . I want to go through life unknown. The blindness of others is my safety and my freedom.” Mercier, P., Night Train to Lisbon, London: Atlantic Books, 2019

Magical. Profoundly moving. Overwhelmingly beautiful. Compelling exploration of consciousness and the inner life.

Night Train to Lisbon delights with the written word, very vivid descriptions of the places and characters. The author takes us on a long but a wonderful journey full of thoughts and insightful analysis on death, loneliness, courage and friendship looking at the surrounding world through the prism of many people and from a different time perspective. It is like having a long-awaited meeting with a fellow human being whom one listens with an unsurpassed curiosity and fascination.

“Is the soul a place of facts? Or are the alleged facts only the deceptive shadows of our stories?” Mercier, P., Night Train to Lisbon, London: Atlantic Books, 2019

Pascal Mercier offers an astonishing philosophical narrative about the possibility of truly understanding another person, the ability of words to define our very selves and making a journey into the depths of our shared humanity. Night Train to Lisbon compels a reader to look inwards.

“Sometimes I go to the beach and stand facing the wind, which I wish were icy, colder than we know it in these parts. I wish it would blow all the hackneyed words, all the insipid habits of language out of me so that I could come back with a cleansed mind, cleansed of the banalities of the same talk.” Mercier, P., Night Train to Lisbon, London: Atlantic Books, 2019

The protagonist, Raimund Gregorius, is a professor of classical langauges  at the college in Bern who one day abandons his old life to set out on a train journey to Lisbon. He carries with him a book written by Amadeu de Prado, a Portuguese doctor whose writings explore the ideas of loneliness, death, friendship and loyalty. These notes introduce a philosophical dimension into the narrative which echo Gregorius’s own thoughts and reflections. This book is used by him as a tool for self-discovery and journey inwards.  As he speaks to the people who knew Prado, Gregorius feels he has a lot in common internally with Prado.

One of the themes in Night Train to Lisbon is the exploration of alternate lives , than the one we have chosen, through words, conversations and the life of another man. The narrator poses a question to the reader to imagine what would happen if you questioned everything about your life and started a new existence.

Interestingly, the city of Lisbon is not only a geographical place where most of the narrative takes place, but it is also a character in the book. The occurring question throughout is about the role the place plays in our lives and its impact on who we are and what we can do in our lives.

I would recommend this book to a sensitive reader who enjoys philosophical meanderings about the meaning of life, literature, existentialism, ideas, words and identity. 

It is not an easy read, there are not many dialogues, there is no staggering action. However, if you feel that this is the time to reflect about your role in the world, you should get on the train to Lisbon with Gregorius and Prado. This journey will change your life.

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Book Summary and Reviews of Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier

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Night Train to Lisbon

by Pascal Mercier

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Book summary.

A huge international best seller, this ambitious novel plumbs the depths of our hared humanity to offer up a breathtaking insight into life, love, and literature itself. A major hit in Germany that went on to become one of Europe’s biggest literary blockbusters in the last five years, Night Train to Lisbon is an astonishing novel, a compelling exploration of consciousness, the possibility of truly understanding another person, and the ability of language to define our very selves. Raimund Gregorius is a Latin teacher at a Swiss college who one day—after a chance encounter with a mysterious Portuguese woman—abandons his old life to start a new one. He takes the night train to Lisbon and carries with him a book by Amadeu de Prado, a (fictional) Portuguese doctor and essayist whose writings explore the ideas of loneliness, mortality, death, friendship, love, and loyalty. Gregorius becomes obsessed by what he reads and restlessly struggles to comprehend the life of the author. His investigations lead him all over the city of Lisbon, as he speaks to those who were entangled in Prado’s life. Gradually, the picture of an extraordinary man emerges—a doctor and poet who rebelled against Salazar’s dictatorship.

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Reader reviews.

"As the stories of Gregorius and de Prado draw together, this becomes a moving meditation on the defining moments in our lives, the "silent explosions that change everything." Recommended for all fiction collections." - Library Journal. "An intriguing fiction only occasionally diluted by redundancy and by Mercier's overuse of the metaphor of a train journey." - Kirkus Reviews. "Long philosophical interludes in Prado's voice may not play as well in the U.S., but the book comes through on the enigmas of trying to live and write under fascism." - Publishers Weekly. "Possibly, Mercier's American publisher thinks that his fiction offers the kind of intellectual puzzles and trickery that many readers love in the work of Umberto Eco, but there are no such pleasures to be found here. Night Train to Lisbon never engages the reader, in particular never makes the reader care about Gregorius. It's an intelligent book, all right, but there's barely a breath of life in it." - The Washington Post, Jonathan Yardley. "Reading this book, I was reminded how, years ago in an undergraduate creative-writing class, a young woman blurted out, “Yes, yes, but when do you make the writing grandiose?” “Never!” I answered, perhaps too quickly. For her question pointed to the widespread notion that literary language should be elevated above everyday discourse and elevated in a way that justifies her guileless choice of adjective. To many, if not most, readers today, grandiosity and its associated qualities – pomposity, verbosity, prolixity, pedantry and melodrama – are not off-putting but the hallmarks of great literature." - Los Angeles Times. "Even so, this cannot explain the absence of narrative tension, or Mercier’s grandiose style (eyes shine “like black diamonds” and words are “worn grooves of babble [which] incessantly flash”). They make the novel particularly ponderous." - New Statesman. "Having situated himself on the disputed border between fact and fiction, Pascal Mercier now takes his rightful place among our finest European novelists." - Daily Telegraph.

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According to Grove Press, Night Train to Lisbon has rung up "over two million copies sold worldwide" and has been lavishly reviewed throughout Europe. Pascal Mercier is the pen name of Peter Bieri, a professor of philosophy.

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Pascal Mercier Night Train to Lisbon

This is an interesting and intriguing book, and quite unusual. It's a fairly slowly revealing book, but it keeps up your interest. One of main themes is a love of books and the influence books can have on lives, and I loved that the main character had been so inspired by a book that he changed his life because of it. The love and value and power of literature really shines through in this book, and is perfectly summed up by the quote, ‘There were the people who read and there were the others. Whether you were a reader or a non-reader - it was soon apparent. There was no greater distinction between people’.

Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier available on Amazon  Kindle  Hardback  Paperback  Audiobook

Home » Book Reviews » Pascal Mercier » Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier

This is an interesting and intriguing book, and quite unusual. It’s a fairly slowly revealing book, but it keeps up your interest. One of main themes is a love of books and the influence books can have on lives, and I loved that the main character had been so inspired by a book that he changed his life because of it. The love and value and power of literature really shines through in this book, and is perfectly summed up by the quote, ‘There were the people who read and there were the others. Whether you were a reader or a non-reader – it was soon apparent. There was no greater distinction between people’. 

Gregorious, who is a dedicated, mild-mannered, lonely and very private teacher in Switzerland, sees a woman about to jump off a bridge, and this makes him question the ordinary routine of his life and to wish for a dramatic change. He goes to a Portuguese bookshop to find a textbook to learn Portuguese, and also finds there an old book of thoughts and life lessons written by a Portuguese man called Amadeu de Prado in 1975. He then abandons his class and career and takes the night train to Lisbon in Portugal to find out more about this author. He speaks to strangers there and makes friends and follows a laborious trail towards Prado, learning he was a doctor of extreme intelligence with a crippled father and an obsessive sister, and that he saved the life of one of Salazar’s (the Portuguese dictator) henchman and was then ostracised by the community for this act, so then secretly joined the Resistance. 

The book is a mix of the two characters, Gregorious and Prado, and we gradually learn more about both of them, and their characters are slowly revealed. Prado seems a complex person, highly intelligent and advanced but also prone to low mood, extremely focused and determined and single-minded and driven but often alone, with a father that committed suicide and a sister that seems now to be dangerously obsessed with him. 

The trail Gregorious goes on and the clues he learns and the people he meets are all very interesting. The dictatorship in Portugal is also fascinating, though disturbing and difficult to read at times. I didn’t know much at all about Salazar, who sounds very similar to Spain’s dictator, Franco. Prado’s life lessons and philosophical thoughts in his book are often quoted, and I was fully prepared to be inspired by them and to aim to remember them, but (maybe it was me) they didn’t really grab me or resonate with me or fill me with wonder.

The story ended a bit oddly and frustratingly, I felt, with Gregorious’ health failing and him returning to Switzerland to be admitted into hospital, after he has been accepted by all the people in Lisbon that he sought out for info and them caring for him and depending on him and wanting him to stay, and him having a positive influence on their lives. It almost seems like he is suffering from a similar brain tumour to Prado, and I was left wondering if he survives or not.

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Shelf Awareness for Friday, January 11, 2008

Holiday sales: bumpy ride for general retail, bookstores.

By several measures, general retail sales barely rose during the holiday season. RetailMetrics said sales in December at stores open at least a year were up 0.4% compared to a 3.2% gain in December 2006, while the International Council of Shopping Centers said comp-store sales rose 0.9%. Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal took a positive approach to the news, writing that although this was the worst holiday season in five years, "a sales gain for the industry as a whole in December--albeit slight--lent some reassurance that consumers continue to spend." By contrast, the New York Times reported that the season "ended dismally for most retailers, whose sales tumbled despite deep discounts and extended store hours, stoking fears that the economy is tipping into a recession." Ellen Zentner of the Bank of Tokyo-Misubishi told the Times that sales results "showed that the U.S. economy absolutely tanked in December. Consumer spending drives the economy. What we're left with is no evidence of any kind of consumer momentum going into 2008." On the other hand, Stephen J. Hock, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, told the Journal that the season was "generally a bit weak, but the sky is not falling." He added that consumer spending "will hang in there." Wal-Mart and Costco were among the few gainers, which was attributed to their low prices. The companies' December comp-store sales rose 2.4% and 5%, respectively. Most other major retailers reported losses, including Macy's, down 7.9%; Penney, off 7.5%; Kohl's, down 11.4%. Results for the November-December period were somewhat better at most stores, but still were not as high as sales gains in recent years.

Even luxury stores or stores like Target that draw higher-income consumers felt the draft. Saks, whose comp-store sales were up 0.8% in December, noted that "its well-heeled customers were holding out for discounts," as the Times put it. And John D. Morris of Wachovia Securities commented: "Trading down became contagious." December comp-stores sales at Nordstrom fell 4%; Target fell 5%; Neiman Marcus was up 2.9%.

Barnes & Noble, Borders Group and Books-A-Million offered holiday sales reports with mixed news. At B&N, comp-store sales fell, and the company had to revise earnings downward, leading to a 19.1% drop in its stock price. In Borders's case, comp-store sales rose 2.4%, a healthy figure this season, but profits were hurt by discounting. BAM had flat comp-store sales. Still, book sales at the trio were relatively solid.

During the nine weeks ended January 5, sales at B&N were $1.2 billion, up 4.1% over the same period a year earlier. Sales at stores open at least a year fell 0.4%, dragged down by music sales that were "significantly below forecast." Comp-store sales of books and other non-music products rose 0.8% during the period. At B&N.com sales rose 10.9% to $129.4 million. Because of the holiday results and "January sales trends to date," the company reduced its expectations for earnings for the year by 10 cents a share, from a range of $1.91-$2.09 a share to $1.81-$1.99 per share. Wall Street responded harshly. On an up day for the market, B&N closed at $27.91, down 19.1%, on five times the usual trading volume. --- At Borders, sales in the nine weeks ended January 5 rose 3.9% to $1.1 billion. Sales at U.S. Borders superstores rose 6.5% over the same period last year, and sales at U.S. superstores open at least a year rose 2.4% because of increases in "both customer transaction count and average ticket." Comp-store book sales rose 3.4%, cafe sales were up 16.7%, gifts and stationery rose 10%, but, as with B&N, music sales fell, in Borders's case, 12.9%. Excluding music sales, comp-store sales at U.S. superstores rose 4.3%. Overall sales at Waldenbooks Specialty Retail, which includes Borders Express, fell 15.6% to $192.2 million, reflecting the closing of 136 Walden stores during 2007. The division's comp-store sales rose 0.2%. International sales rose 36.3% to $109.3 million. Comp-store international sales were up 10.8%, mainly because of "strong performance" in Australia. In a statement, CEO George Jones said, "We delivered on our promise to improve comp-store sales performance this holiday season compared to last year in all of our business segments. Through effective use of our now 23.5-million-member Borders Rewards loyalty program, we increased traffic at superstores and continued the positive sales trends experienced during the previous two quarters. Still, the overall holiday shopping environment was intensely promotional and impacted the bottom line more than we anticipated."

Borders closed at $10.18 a share, up 3.9% in double the average volume.

Sales at Books-A-Million in the nine weeks ended January 5 rose 5.3% to $130.8 million and sales at stores open a year were flat. In a statement, BAM president and CEO Sandra B. Cochran said, "The sales environment for the holiday season proved challenging as we confronted softening economic conditions and a value-conscious consumer. Nonetheless, we saw good results in a number of our core book categories as well as strong performances in bargain books and the gift department. Bestsellers for the season included James Patterson's Double Cross , Tony Dungy's Quiet Strength , Glenn Beck's Inconvenient Book and Jan Karon's Home to Holly Springs ."

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Children's Book News: Houghton-Harcourt Moves; O'Dell Award

Harcourt's San Diego, Calif., offices will close June 30, as the consolidation of Houghton Mifflin's and Harcourt's trade divisions continues following Houghton Mifflin's purchase of Harcourt Trade from Reed Elsevier late last year. In an additional staff move, Betsy Groban has been named senior v-p and publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt children's book group. She joined Houghton Mifflin in 2006 as v-p and publisher of the children's book group. Before that, she worked at WGBH as managing director of WGBH Enterprises and at Little, Brown as v-p, associate publisher and director of marketing for the children's book group. Lori Benton, v-p and publisher of Harcourt Children's Books, will leave the company at the end of the month. --- Christopher Paul Curtis has won the 2008 Scott O'Dell Award for Elijah of Buxton (Scholastic), a novel set in 1860 and narrated by an 11-year-old who is a first-generation free-born child, living in the Canadian town of Buxton, roughly 40 miles from Detroit, Mich. The award, established in 1982 by O'Dell (author of The Island of the Blue Dolphins ), honors a work of historical fiction and includes a $5,000 prize for the author. Curtis, no stranger to awards or to historical fiction, won the 2000 Newbery Medal for Bud, Not Buddy , set in Depression-era Michigan, and was awarded a 1996 Newbery Honor for The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 . --- Tim Ditlow, who cast Jim Dale as the voice for hundreds of characters in the Harry Potter books and launched the audio version of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy, is joining Brilliance Audio, now owned by Amazon.com. Ditlow was the longtime publisher of children's audiobook company Listening Library, his family's business, which Random House purchased in 1999. Last May, the company appointed Ditlow v-p, publisher at large for the Random House Audio Group, and he announced in November that he would leave the company at the end of the year. When Amazon bought Brilliance Audio ( Shelf Awareness , May 23), the online retailer said the acquisition would enable it "to work closely with the book publishing community to further expand the number of books produced in audio format and provide customers with an even greater selection of audiobooks."-- Jennifer M. Brown , reporting from the ALA Midwinter Conference in Philadelphia, Pa.

Notes: Another Hundred Indies in 2007; Pulpwood Queens Tour

Some 115 new bookstores joined the American Booksellers Association in 2007, the third year in a row that bookstore openings exceeded 100. ABA CEO Avin Domnitz said, "This is very good news and an indication of a growing trend among communities that are recognizing the unique contributions of local independent businesses. These new ABA member stores offer a one-of-a-kind environment and knowledgeable owners and staff who are dedicated to serving their neighborhoods." For stories about some of the 115 stores and a full list, see Bookselling This Week . --- Another winner in the presidential primaries on Tuesday in New Hampshire was MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, which hosted several events for candidates and was visited by Senator Hillary Clinton, Rep. Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel. Read more about the store and its political adventures in a BTW story . 

The Pulpwood Queen Posse is currently traveling through the South in a "Cowboy Cadillac" (GMC Suburban), visiting bookstores and giving a big hair makeover for the beauty portion of Pulpwood Queen founder Kathy L. Patrick's Big, Blonde, and Beautiful Book Tour. Patrick reports that 10 more chapters of the Pulpwood Queen Book Clubs have formed in the last week. Read her blog to get the full, big, blonde flavor of the tour.

Effective immediately, National Book Network is distributing the following publishers:

• Avari Press , Smoketown, Pa., which publishes fantasy literature and nonfiction works for readers of fantasy literature.
• Pinter & Martin , which is an independent U.K. publisher that specializes in titles on pregnancy and childbirth and psychology.
• Bnei Baruch , Thornhill, Ontario, Canada, which publishes books on the teachings of Kabbalah.

IPG Adds Nine Publishers, Several New to the U.S.

Effective immediately Independent Publishers Group is distributing:

• Baldini Castoldi Dalai editore , Milan, Italy, which publishes fiction, biography, art and photography, sport, film, music and collected essays. Upcoming titles include the fashion biography Being Armani by Renata Molho (June) and the thriller I Kill by Giorgio Faletti (June). This marks Baldini Castoldi Dalai editore's entry into the English-language market. The house has historical roots in Baldini Castoldi, the publishing house founded in 1897.
• Bright Sky Press , Albany, Tex., publishes cooking, gardening, health, history, music, photography and sports titles with connections to Texas, including Barbecue Biscuits & Beans by Bill Cauble and Cliff Teinert and In Praise of Pecans by June Jackson with photographs by Watt M. Casey, Jr. New for the spring: Cooking with Marie by Marie Hejl (April), Clear Vision by Reed Bunzel (April) and Tailwind Both Ways by Laurence M. Lasater (April).
• Clavis Publishing , Hasselt, Belgium, which publishes children's books, including illustrated stories and fairy tales, pop-up books and juvenile fiction. Coming soon: Guido Van Genechten's Ricky (August) and Leo Timmer's Deep Sea Doctor Dean (May). This is the company's first foray into the U.S.
• Duo Press , Forest Hills, N.Y., which publishes children's books that aim to stimulate imagination, play and language skills, focusing on newborn- to preschool-aged children and their parents. Spring titles include: Sounds Funny by Kevin Somers (April) and two titles in the Cool Counting Book series, 123 USA and 123 New York both by Puck and illustrated by Kevin Somers (April).
• The National Maritime Museum , London, the world's largest maritime museum, comprised of three sites: the Maritime Galleries, the Royal Observatory and the Queen's House. Among upcoming nonfiction titles related to the sea, ships, time and the stars: Air, Light and Water by Jenny Gaschke (June) and Tangle of Matter and Ghost by Catherine Lance (April).
• Pendo Press , which is launching its Remember When It Didn't Hurt series with the self-help title, 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back by Esther Gokhale (April). The press is affiliated with the Esther Gokhale Wellness Center.
• Prydwen Press , a small press specializing in picture books. Its first title is The Vanities by the fashion industry art director and illustrator Terence Lawlor.
• Senses Five Press , Hoboken, N.J., which publishes the fantasy and science fiction magazine Sybil's Garage , is releasing its first title, Paper Cities edited by Ekaterina Sedia (April). The press will focus on speculative fiction, poetry, art and essays.
• Tiller Publishing , St. Michaels, Md., which focuses on every aspect of maritime life, from designing and building boats to nautical fiction and sea-inspired cookbooks. Sailing forth in May: In Pursuit of Glory by William H. White and Paul Garnett. The press's bestselling title is Voyaging on a Small Income by Annie Hill.

Media and Movies

Media heat: happy happy.

Tonight 20/20 cheerfully talks with:

• Eric Weiner whose new book is The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World (Twelve, $25.99, 9780446580267/0446580260)
• Sonja Lyubomirsky , author of The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want (Penguin Press, $25.95, 9781594201486/159420148X)

WETA's Author, Author! features a conversation with Kelly DiNardo, author of Gilded Lili: Lili St. Cyr and the Striptease Mystique (Back Stage Books, $24.95, 9780823088898/0823088898). --- Tonight on Larry King Live: Suzanne Somers , whose Ageless: The Naked Truth About Biodentical Hormones (Three Rivers Press, $13.95, 9780307237255/0307237257) is now out in paperback. --- On Sunday on NRP's Weekend All Things Considered: Muhammad Yunus , winner of the Nobel Peace Prize whose new book is Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism (PublicAffairs, $26, 9781586484934/1586484931).

Books & Authors

Book brahmins: douglas preston.

Book Review

Book review: night train to lisbon.

Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier (Grove Press, $25.00 Hardcover, 9780802118585, December 2007)

Book Review: Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier

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Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier

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A- : appealing if drawn out exploration of self and others

See our review for fuller assessment.

   Review Consensus :   No consensus, very differing opinions    From the Reviews : "The novel, as mesmerizing and dreamlike as a Wong Kar-wai film, with characters as strange and alienated as any of the filmmaker�s, is in fact preoccupied with translation, with all that can be lost or gained in the process. But more than that, it is concerned with the power of language to forge and dismantle people�s experiences, desires, and identities. (�) When a character undertakes this level of soul-searching, the temptation to over philosophize can be difficult to resist, and at times, Mercier succumbs, as with his drawn-out life-as-a-long-train-ride metaphor" - Amy Rosenberg, Bookforum "Its subtlest, most appealing accomplishment may be in how other characters respond to Gregorius' precipitous swerve onto the spiritual path. (...) That said, Night Train to Lisbon is a very long, ambitious book that's feverishly overwritten. (...) Think of W.G. Sebald recast for the mass market: stripped of nuance, cooked at high temperature and pounded home, clause after clause. Some of the clumsiness derives from Barbara Harshav's inelegant translation -- we're often aware of her struggle -- but she can't be blamed for the pervasive bloat." - Michelle Huneven, The Los Angeles Times "Mercier�s novel has already sold two million copies since its publication in German four years ago, but it is hampered by an inelegant translation. Even so, this cannot explain the absence of narrative tension, or Mercier�s grandiose style (...). They make the novel particularly ponderous." - Katharine Hibbert, New Statesman "(F)antastical, long-winded and dull (.....) The book was a huge hit in Europe, where the reading public has greater patience for turgid (Mercier might prefer to call it "bombastic") introspection. (...) Mercier�s wording is so dense and overwrought, and Barbara Harshav�s translation so ham-handed, that unpacking each sentence is like decoding a cryptic crossword in hieroglyphs." - Liesl Schillinger, The New York Times Book Review " Night Train to Lisbon , which first appeared in German in 2004 and went on to sell 2 million copies throughout Europe in many different translations, is not a typical best-seller. It is a meditative novel that builds an uncanny power through a labyrinth of memories and philosophical concepts that illuminate the narrative from within, just as its protagonist will discover the shadows of his neglected soul by bringing the story of another man into the light." - Joseph Olshan, San Francisco Chronicle " Night Train to Lisbon is a novel of ideas that reads like a thriller: an unsentimental journey that seems to transcend time and space. Every character, every scene, is evoked with an incomparable economy and a tragic nobility redolent of the mysterious hero, whom we only ever encounter through the eyes of others." - Daniel Johnson, The Telegraph "(O)stentatiously a novel of ideas. (...) It might be that some of the novel's charm has been lost in Barbara Hershav's efficient translation, but the philosophy it expounds is as unoriginal as the plot." - William Brett, Times Literary Supplement "It's a strange book. (...) All of which is interesting enough, but in a rather clinical way. One problem with Night Train to Lisbon is that its plot, if plot is the word for it, consists almost entirely of talk -- talk, talk, talk -- about people and events in the past. The effect of this endless conversation is numbing rather than stimulating. (...) Possibly, Mercier's American publisher thinks that his fiction offers the kind of intellectual puzzles and trickery that many readers love in the work of Umberto Eco, but there are no such pleasures to be found here. Night Train to Lisbon never engages the reader, in particular never makes the reader care about Gregorius. It's an intelligent book, all right, but there's barely a breath of life in it." - Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post "Geradezu atemlos liest man dieses Buch, kann es kaum aus der Hand legen, bevor den Protagonisten sein Weg nicht wieder dorthin gef�hrt hat, von wo aus er an einem Tag, der zunächst wie zahllose andere begonnen hatte, in ein neues Leben aufgebrochen war: nach Bern. (�) Es ist nicht nur Gregorius' abenteuerliche Rekonstruktion der äußeren Ereignisse in Prados Leben, die immer wieder eine knisternde Spannung erzeugt, sondern vor allem der gedankliche Reichtum der Aufzeichnungen des Arztes, deren abschnittsweiser Übersetzung der Leser beiwohnen kann." - Gunther Nickel, Die Welt "Pascal Mercier hat ein beeindruckendes Buch geschrieben, einen Bewusstseinskrimi mit Tiefgang und ohne Gewähr. Eine Gewähr nämlich gibt es nicht, nicht im Lotto und nicht im Leben, es sei denn, man stellt sie sich, kühnerweise, selbst aus und steht für sie ein, gegen die Anmaßungen des vorgeblich besseren Wissens. Die Philosophie, zumindest die große, nicht mit dem Tagesgeschäft des rationellen Bedenkens befasste Philosophie, hat, dank Peter Bieri, der sich seinen Mercier hält, mehr zu sagen, als sie sich zu sagen traut." - Otto A. Böhmer, Die Zeit Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review 's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure.

The complete review 's Review :

        Night Train to Lisbon centres on a high school classics teacher from Berne who has spent almost his entire life -- first as a pupil, then as a teacher -- at the same school in Berne. Raimund Gregorius is a legendary and near-infallible figure in that small world, dedicated entirely to his work, interested only in his Greek and Latin and Hebrew. He was married for a while -- to a former student -- but it's no surprise that that didn't quite work out (even as we first meet him as some passion is awakened in him). Now in his late fifties, he is very set in his ways -- until he encounters woman standing on a bridge on his way to school one morning.        The meeting changes everything, shaking his world to its very roots. Nothing much happens, and she's gone almost as quickly as she came into his life, but then Gregorius is almost entirely a mind-person and to know that she is Portuguese is enough to set a whole train of events into motion. Leaving even his books behind he heads into town after class, completely out of character. He winds up in a Spanish bookstore -- familiar because Spanish had been his former wife's field -- and stumbles across a Portuguese book there, written by an Amadeu de Prado and published in 1975, 'A Goldsmith of Words'. The bookseller reads out some of the passages and translates them for Gregorius, who then knows he has to have the book, even though he can't read Portuguese.        He is transfixed by it, and transformed. Without much thought he packs his bags and is ready to set off for Portugal. He has some doubts, but ultimately is determined, and soon enough he's in Lisbon.        Gregorius is determined to learn the story of the author and the book, as well as the language. He throws himself into the tasks with vigour, helped along by some acquaintances he makes along the way, who also hand him off to others. He's almost scared by his own initiative, repeatedly ready to turn around but then staying after all, and when he does venture back to Berne it's only briefly, as he realises he still has more to do before he's ready to face and continue with his life again.        The author of the mystery-book was a doctor; after treating one of the worst figures in the Salazar-regime he does penance by trying to help out the resistance. Gregorius meets several people close to the doctor, and between their stories and the passages from the book interspersed throughout the story, learns more about this remarkable figure.        For Gregorius it's also an opportunity to contemplate the roads he didn't choose: as a youth he was tempted by Isfahan and Persian, but decided to stick to the safer, closer classics, only now to think about those early dreams again. He looks at some of the determining moments from his youth, wondering: what if he had acted differently on occasion.         Night Train to Lisbon is a dreamy, sleepless sort of novel: Gregorius' schedule is a far cry from the clearly defined schoolday-schedule . He walks for hours, stays up late into the night -- less in insomnia (which one of the few friends he has suffers from, conveniently allowing Gregorius to reach him at any time) than in a sort of dream-state, his actions often almost sub- (or super- ?) conscious.        Mercier seems to describe almost every footstep Gregorius makes in detail, giving the book a steady rhythm. Some of what happens seems almost too simple and obvious: Gregorius needs a pair of glasses made, and when he gets his eyes checked gets a prescription with which he can suddenly see more clearly -- yet it's his one close Berne friend, the Greek eye doctor Doxiades, whom he had always trusted his vision too, and who had apparently prescribed the old, too-weak ones. Words and names play an obvious role for the philologist, but even with that and, for example, the repeated extended chess games Gregorius gets involved in the novel is anything but purely intellectual and dry: down to Gregorius' students or the woman who teaches him Portuguese, as well as those who knew Amadeu de Prado, Mercier offers rich characters and frequently inspired small details and events. The novel often reads as much as a mystery as a story of finding oneself.        It's a long trip of self-discovery -- and of trying to discover another (in this case the Portuguese doctor) -- but Mercier manages to sustain the reader's interest. Gregorius is exacting -- and it turns out the doctor was too: someone describes the way he would read, saying that after he was done with a book there wouldn't be any letters left in it, that he consumed the very print off the pages along with the meaning. Mercier seems to want to be as precise and comprehensive, and it practically works. He also offers no easy answers or certainty, the arc ultimately feeling realistic even if the premise seems at first so very unlikely.        An impressive effort, and worth the effort.

About the Author :

       Swiss author Pascal Mercier (actually: Peter Bieri) was born in 1944 and also teaches philosophy.

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Friday 28 June 2013

Book review: night train to lisbon by pascal mercier.

‘Given that we can live only a small part of what there is in us – what happens with the rest?’ 

7 comments:

Boy, I will write this title down.

Thanks for the comment! Night Train to Lisbon really is worth the time - enjoy it!

This was one of my favourite books from our book club. If you love languages and history and Portugal and definitely books, this is a MUST. I am still debating whether I want to see the movie or not. I can't make up my mind, this book is just so beautiful, I don't want it ruined. On the other hand, this book is just so beautiful, it would make a fantastic film. Mmmh. Anyway, if you're interested, you can read my modest blogpost about it here . Have a good week. Marianne from Let's Read

Yes, Night Train to Lisbon is a wonderful book. I re-read it before reviewing and didn't regret it one moment. About the film... I haven't seen it, either, but I doubt that it can compete with the novel. It needs a genius of a director to catch the essence of such a philosophical book which is set above all in the inner world of the protagonists (Gregorius and de Almeida Prado). I don't think that I'll watch it. Thanks for the comment Marianne and have a good week, too.

Thank you so much for your observations of the book Night Train to Lisbon. I have watched, and paused, the film dozens of times to listen to all of Amadeu"s quotes and found the film to be my all time favorite. Now I must settle into the book forgetting it's condensed story but remembering the unforgettable imagery.

I CHOSE THIS NOVEL FOR MY LOCAL BOOK GROUP...i HAVE FOUND IT A DIFFICULT BUT REWARDING READ BUT AM WORRIED WHAT THE OTHER READERS OF THE GROUP WILL THINK OF IT. It RESONATES WITH ME PERSONALLY AS I MADE A Dramatic CHANGE IN MY LIFE 50 yrs ago.

Fantastic post. Really enjoyed reading it and it held my attention all the way through! Keep it up. Read my Latest Post

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Night Train to Lisbon: A Novel Hardcover – December 21, 2007

• Print length 496 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Grove Press
• Publication date December 21, 2007
• Dimensions 6.25 x 1.5 x 9.25 inches
• ISBN-10 0802118585
• ISBN-13 978-0802118585
• See all details

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Editorial Reviews

From publishers weekly, from the washington post.

Copyright 2008, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Night train to lisbon, grove press, chapter one.

Excerpted from NIGHT TRAIN TO LISBON by PASCAL MERCIER Copyright © 2004 by Carl Hanser Verlag Muenchen Wien. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grove Press (December 21, 2007)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0802118585
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0802118585
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.56 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.5 x 9.25 inches
• #10,660 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction
• #46,111 in Literary Fiction (Books)

About the author

Pascal mercier.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

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Customers say

Customers find the book thought-provoking and fascinating. They say the movie is better than the book. Readers describe the pacing as challenging, complex, and intense. However, some find the narrative quality awkward and hard to follow at times. Opinions differ on the character development, length, and the book's documentation.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the book thought-provoking. They say it's a cerebral novel with profound and unnerving questions. Readers also describe the book as inspiring and a marvelous erudite twister.

"...a mystery, and if you can get through the vanity of its' depths, quite interesting ." Read more

"'Night Train to Lisbon' is a rare achievement of philosophical thinking , in a setting of revolution...." Read more

"...Much of the book is filled with beautiful prose which is deeply philosophical and poses questions that make us examine our own belief system...." Read more

"loved ever line of it, especially the philosophical insights , but also the compelling story." Read more

Customers find the book better than the movie. They say the film is excellent and more alive.

"...The film based on this novel is excellent .Jarlon Magee" Read more

"I first read the book and loved it. I was pleased with the movie version . Jack Huston and Jeremy Irons are excellent in their lead roles...." Read more

"...Torn. What Amadeu (character) says is just so deep and good " Read more

"...The film was good but the book is so much more." Read more

Customers find the pacing of the book challenging, complex, and intense. They say it's an adventure on several levels, with two many participants to follow. Readers also mention the book is an outstanding book about relationships, especially father-son. They describe it as an intelligent romance mixed with drama and philosophy.

"this is a complex and intense read...." Read more

"...it sets so many thoughts in motion as you go along, but it is a challenging book that will make you think - about your own life and rutines, about..." Read more

"...you have gone down the wrong road, turn back." It gets a tad overwrought at times though—even to the point of tediousness at times...." Read more

" Two many participants to follow . It's a good story for middle-aged men. An easy to follow and absorb. Good to evaluate your own life time experience" Read more

Customers have mixed opinions about the character development. Some mention it's outstanding and profound, while others say the characters are impossible and they can't connect with them.

"...The characterisation is psychologically profound ...." Read more

"...There are passages that must be savored, not merely read. The characters are complex , and at times, maddening...." Read more

"...lots of talking about a man, Amadeu de Prado, but this character never really comes alive ...." Read more

"...Jack Huston and Jeremy Irons are excellent in their lead roles . The others were also very good...." Read more

Customers have mixed opinions about the length of the book. Some find it well-documented, informative, and illustrative, while others say the inner dialogs are too long and ponderous.

"... Lisbon is described so well that the reader almost feels at home there, himself...." Read more

"I thoroughly enjoyed this book, though it was long and sometimes a bit challenging to keep up with...." Read more

"...The film was good but the book is so much more ." Read more

"...My only problem with the book was the very long inner dialogs of our professor. If you are a philosopher, this book is for you." Read more

Customers have mixed opinions about the pacing of the book. Some mention it's best read slowly and at intervals, while others say it'll be boring.

"This is a slow read about profound ideas ...." Read more

"It's not a fast read by any measure , but worth the time spent with it -- while reading, and I suspect long after...." Read more

"This book is best read slowly and at intervals, in my opinion...." Read more

"What a pleasure to read a novel of ideas. Not a quick read , but a very satisfying one...." Read more

Customers find the book boring, poorly written, and unsatisfying. They say it's not worth the effort and the text is sometimes gibberish.

"The writing in this book is competent, but not compelling . The story arc, while intriguing at first, gradually drifts into a tiresome loop...." Read more

"...The writing--at least in translation--was nowhere exceptional and often irritating. Much of Prado's writing consists of questions...." Read more

"...Many thought it isn't worth the effort . A few of us differed...." Read more

"...I find it boring and laborious to read." Read more

Customers find the narrative quality of the book awkward, maddening, and hard to follow at times. They also mention there are a couple of storylines that are not resolved. Readers also mention the book is full of tedious amateurish philosophical soliloquies that slow down the plot.

"...The premise of the plot seemed improbable ...." Read more

"...is positive testimony to its charms, but there are awkward problems with its narrative structure and the style eventually becomes quite..." Read more

"...is that the different characters' philosophies are belabored and slow down the plot to the point of exasperation...." Read more

"...enjoyed this book, though it was long and sometimes a bit challenging to keep up with ...." Read more

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NIGHT TRAIN TO LISBON

by Pascal Mercier & translated by Barbara Harshav ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2008

An intriguing fiction only occasionally diluted by redundancy and by Mercier’s overuse of the metaphor of a train journey.

An elegant meditative book teaches a painfully ironic life lesson in German-Swiss author Mercier’s searching 2004 novel, a critically acclaimed international bestseller being published in the United States for the first time.

He who learns the lesson is 50ish Raimund Gregorius, a philologist who teaches Latin, Greek and Hebrew at a Swiss high school—until an unknown woman excites the scholar’s interest in an obscure book of philosophical observations penned by an equally unknown Portuguese author. Impulsively abandoning his academic responsibilities, Gregorius acquires the rare volume, ponders its contents and travels to Lisbon to research the life of its “vanished” author. He discovers that Amadeu de Prado, a would-be priest who became a renowned physician, had led an even more complex life as a member of the resistance movement opposing Portugal’s notorious dictator Antonio Salazar. The story emerges from Gregorius’s meetings: with Prado’s aged sister Adriana, the stoical though not uncritical preserver of his memory; a contemplative priest with whom the nonbelieving doctor had often debated theology; the brilliant and beautiful colleague Estefânia, who may have been Prado’s true soul mate; and the Resistance comrade Vítor Coutinho, who discloses the “evil” act (saving the life of a vicious secret police official) that motivated Prado to forsake the life of the mind for that of a man of violent action. The nearer Gregorius comes to the truth of Prado’s passionate commitment, the more insistent becomes the question he asks himself: “Had he perhaps missed a possible life, one he could easily have lived with his abilities and knowledge?” It’s the age-old intellectual’s dilemma, considered in a compelling blend of suspenseful narrative and discursive commentary (quoted from Prado’s text).

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2008

ISBN: 978-0-8021-1858-5

Page Count: 496

Publisher: Grove

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2007

LITERARY FICTION

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More by Pascal Mercier

BOOK REVIEW

by Pascal Mercier ; translated by Shaun Whiteside

by Pascal Mercier translated by Shaun Whiteside

THINGS FALL APART

by Chinua Achebe ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 23, 1958

This book sings with the terrible silence of dead civilizations in which once there was valor.

Written with quiet dignity that builds to a climax of tragic force, this book about the dissolution of an African tribe, its traditions, and values, represents a welcome departure from the familiar "Me, white brother" genre.

Written by a Nigerian African trained in missionary schools, this novel tells quietly the story of a brave man, Okonkwo, whose life has absolute validity in terms of his culture, and who exercises his prerogative as a warrior, father, and husband with unflinching single mindedness. But into the complex Nigerian village filters the teachings of strangers, teachings so alien to the tribe, that resistance is impossible. One must distinguish a force to be able to oppose it, and to most, the talk of Christian salvation is no more than the babbling of incoherent children. Still, with his guns and persistence, the white man, amoeba-like, gradually absorbs the native culture and in despair, Okonkwo, unable to withstand the corrosion of what he, alone, understands to be the life force of his people, hangs himself. In the formlessness of the dying culture, it is the missionary who takes note of the event, reminding himself to give Okonkwo's gesture a line or two in his work, The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger .

Pub Date: Jan. 23, 1958

ISBN: 0385474547

Page Count: 207

Publisher: McDowell, Obolensky

Review Posted Online: April 23, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1958

More by Chinua Achebe

by Chinua Achebe

Awards & Accolades

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Kirkus Reviews' Best Books Of 2019

New York Times Bestseller

IndieBound Bestseller

NORMAL PEOPLE

by Sally Rooney ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 16, 2019

Absolutely enthralling. Read it.

A young Irish couple gets together, splits up, gets together, splits up—sorry, can't tell you how it ends!

Irish writer Rooney has made a trans-Atlantic splash since publishing her first novel, Conversations With Friends , in 2017. Her second has already won the Costa Novel Award, among other honors, since it was published in Ireland and Britain last year. In outline it's a simple story, but Rooney tells it with bravura intelligence, wit, and delicacy. Connell Waldron and Marianne Sheridan are classmates in the small Irish town of Carricklea, where his mother works for her family as a cleaner. It's 2011, after the financial crisis, which hovers around the edges of the book like a ghost. Connell is popular in school, good at soccer, and nice; Marianne is strange and friendless. They're the smartest kids in their class, and they forge an intimacy when Connell picks his mother up from Marianne's house. Soon they're having sex, but Connell doesn't want anyone to know and Marianne doesn't mind; either she really doesn't care, or it's all she thinks she deserves. Or both. Though one time when she's forced into a social situation with some of their classmates, she briefly fantasizes about what would happen if she revealed their connection: "How much terrifying and bewildering status would accrue to her in this one moment, how destabilising it would be, how destructive." When they both move to Dublin for Trinity College, their positions are swapped: Marianne now seems electric and in-demand while Connell feels adrift in this unfamiliar environment. Rooney's genius lies in her ability to track her characters' subtle shifts in power, both within themselves and in relation to each other, and the ways they do and don't know each other; they both feel most like themselves when they're together, but they still have disastrous failures of communication. "Sorry about last night," Marianne says to Connell in February 2012. Then Rooney elaborates: "She tries to pronounce this in a way that communicates several things: apology, painful embarrassment, some additional pained embarrassment that serves to ironise and dilute the painful kind, a sense that she knows she will be forgiven or is already, a desire not to 'make a big deal.' " Then: "Forget about it, he says." Rooney precisely articulates everything that's going on below the surface; there's humor and insight here as well as the pleasure of getting to know two prickly, complicated people as they try to figure out who they are and who they want to become.

Pub Date: April 16, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-984-82217-8

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Hogarth

Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019

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Review: Old-Fashioned, Deeply Unadventurous ‘Night Train To Lisbon’ Starring Jeremy Irons, Melanie Laurent & More

Jessica kiang.

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In the very finest tradition of Euro-pudding, director Bille August ‘s “ Night Train To Lisbon ” adapts an international bestselling book, takes place against the picturesque backdrop of a European capital, is half-told in flashback through a turbulent and dramatic period of history, and stacks the cast with notable European thesps. These include: Jeremy Irons , Jack Huston , Charlotte Rampling , Christopher Lee, Tom Courtenay representing the U.K.; from Germany, Martina Gedeck and August Diehl ; Bruno Ganz of Switzerland; Lena Olin of Sweden; and Mélanie Laurent from France. However, bar Irons, this Babel tower of actors all play Portuguese nationals, and so while the films is told through English, they all speak with Portuguese accents. Irons, however, plays Swiss, which obviously means he employs his usual mellifluous British tones. A little silly though all this is, it’s not actually particularly injurious to our understanding of the story, but it does give you an idea of the messiness and, well, inefficiency of the approach.

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Raimund Gregorius (Irons) is a stuffy Swiss schoolteacher (whose loneliness and intellectualism are leadenly established by an early scene of him playing chess against himself) who prevents a narratively unnecessary young woman from committing suicide on his way to work one day. She flees, but in the pocket of the coat she leaves, Gregorius finds a book written by Amadeu de Prado, a Portuguese doctor during the era of Salazar’s right-wing dictatorship. He is entranced by the philosophy of de Prado’s writings, and when a ticket for the titular night train falls from the book’s pages, Gregorius finds himself doing the first spontaneous thing he’s done in a very long time, and climbing aboard. Once in Lisbon, he tracks down the de Prado home, meets de Prado’s sister (Rampling) only later to discover that Amadeu is dead, though his sister refers to him as if alive.

Through a string of unconvincing contrivances involving the local optician he visits (Martina Gedeck), who just so happens to have an uncle who was central to the story he’s so interested in, Gregorius begins to piece together Amadeu’s tale—one that we see unfold progressively in flashback. That story of love, betrayal and revolutionary politics is actually much more interesting than the modern-day component, and so the players there—Huston as Amadeu, Laurent as the revolutionary Estefania whose photographic memory makes her a valuable asset to the cause, August Diehl as the friend and third point in the love triangle—all fare a little better than their older counterparts.

The main issue with the contemporary story is how ploddingly told it is. Gregorius seems forever pinging back and forth between places he’s already been to talk to people he’s already met, to get one tiny further scrap of the historical story. Perhaps this is a faithful reflection of how things occur in the novel, but really, transposed to film it’s just a lot of Jeremy Irons standing on doorsteps and walking down hallways, to ask something he easily could have asked the last time he was here. And seeing as all he’s really doing is talking to people and occasionally quoting from the book he has found so inspiring, these sections can feel unnecessarily verbose, with, on occasion, one actor speaking his lines almost before the other has finished, as though they know they’ve got a lot to get through. Couple this with the clashing accents, sometimes from people playing the same character at different times in their lives (Lena Olin is the older Mélanie Laurent; Bruno Ganz is the older August Diehl, etc.), and the overtly philosophical or political nature of what they are saying, and the dialogue can feel very stilted indeed.

But there are pleasures and small surprises. Huston, a favorite of ours for his brilliant turn as Richard Harrow in “ Boardwalk Empire ,” impresses here even with two eyes: his Amadeu is an appropriately romantic hero, just the right balance of tortured idealist, deep thinker, revolutionary, and fool in love. Laurent is given less to do, but makes the most of her truncated screen time, while cameos from the likes of Bruno Ganz and Christopher Lee do perk things up if only because we’re just so genuinely fond of other performances these men have given.

Mostly though, it’s a shame the lion’s share of the screen time (or what certainly feels like it) is given to Gregorius’ modern-day story. Irons is a watchable actor but here his character has an arc of such minute change (from repressed guy in ugly glasses to ever so slightly less repressed guy in cooler glasses), that it’s hard to avoid a massive “oh who cares” during the painfully predictable final scene. And these problems are compounded by the fact that the book Gregorius finds so life-changing is, judging from the excerpts we’re given, full of aphorisms that are maybe about the level of a “ Little Book of Philosophical Doodads ” that we might leave in the bathroom. Perhaps the writings themselves should have been left a mystery to the audience. Perhaps the Gregorius storyline could have been left out altogether, or simply used to bookend. Perhaps Irons could have been given a sassy robot sidekick. Who knows how many ways there could have been to make this film a little more colorful, a little more lively and surprising.

As it is, when at one point Gregorius states that he thinks his wife left him because she found him “boring,” we have to agree with her, despite the fact we’re presumably supposed to see his dullness as evidence of deep sensitivity or fine intellectualism or something. No, Gregorius’ tamped-down, buttoned-up professor is so dry that the decision to return to him time and time again just when things are hotting up in the historical story seems an almost perversely deliberate choice by August to turn us away from anything that might in the slightest raise the pulse. What we’re left with is bloodless, far too genteel, and perfectly content to continually tell where a little show ing would be nice; “Night Train to Lisbon” ends up a deeply unadventurous adventure story. [C]

This is a reprint of our review from the 2013 Berlin Film Festival.

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