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Cu puţin timp înaintea coborîrii extratereştrilor printre noi
Romanul are drept tema centrala ironia: fata de romanul clasic, fata de temele lui majore, fata de literatura, in general. Protagonistul, un tinar mereu in cautarea nefericirii, pentru a gasi motivatia autocompatimirii, este prins in diverse situatii ce penduleaza intre comic si tragic, trecind prin grotesc, iar personajele care-l secondeaza ascund povesti asemenea. Rezultatul e o carte ce se citeste dintr-o suflare – o proza despre voluptatea ratarii si despre comedia suferintei.
„In romanul de fata avem chiar o fina parodie a modelului underground, o satira din interiorul realist al lumii studentesti, cu rasfringerea eroului «damnat» in oglinda propriului ridicol. Am scris cu reala placere despre prima editie a acestei carti ce reprezenta debutul editorial al lui Lucian Dan Teodorovici. Acum, el revine cu o versiune revazuta si consistent adaugita, cu acelasi titlu simpatic-extravagant (specialitatea autorului) si cu fragmente narative explicind si mai bine structura psihologica si motivatiile protagonistului." (Daniel Cristea-Enache)
„In romanul de fata avem chiar o fina parodie a modelului underground, o satira din interiorul realist al lumii studentesti, cu rasfringerea eroului «damnat» in oglinda propriului ridicol. Am scris cu reala placere despre prima editie a acestei carti ce reprezenta debutul editorial al lui Lucian Dan Teodorovici. Acum, el revine cu o versiune revazuta si consistent adaugita, cu acelasi titlu simpatic-extravagant (specialitatea autorului) si cu fragmente narative explicind si mai bine structura psihologica si motivatiile protagonistului." (Daniel Cristea-Enache)
- GenresRomanian Literature
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
About the author
Lucian Dan Teodorovici
23 books155 followersLucian Dan Teodorovici is a Romanian writer, scriptwriter and theatre director. He is also the general manager of the National Museum of Romanian Literature Iași, and the International Festival of Literature and Translation (FILIT). In 2025, he was awarded the title of “Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” by the French Republic, for “his contribution and commitment to culture”.
Olga Tokarczuk (the winner of Nobel Prize for Literature 2018): “I recently read ‘Matei Brunul’, Lucian Dan Teodorovici’s novel, and I was amazed by the way the author was able to describe a chapter in history quite familiar to us, the Polish people, namely the experience of the communism and the Stalinism. Teodorovici’s language and approach are very fresh and unusual.”
David Lodge (world-acclaimed writer and literary critic, in his Preface to the English edition of the novel “Matei Brunul”): “A novel exquisitely comic and movingly tragic by turns, while its shifting perspectives in time and narrative point of view keep the reader constantly involved in the story. It is a remarkable achievement by a writer who was born in 1975 and had no personal experience of the era it describes, bearing comparison with classics of the genre such as Milan Kundera’s The Joke”.
Published volumes:
• Cu puţin înaintea coborîrii extratereştrilor printre noi (Shortly before the Extraterrestrials Descended Among Us), novel, Iaşi: OuTopos, 1999 (2nd revised and expanded edition, Iaşi: Polirom, 2005);
• Lumea văzută printr-o gaură de mărimea unei ţigări marijuana (The World Seen through a Hole the Width of a Spliff), short stories, Tîrgu-Jiu: Constantin Brâncuşi Foundation Press, 2000;
• Circul nostru vă prezintă: (Our Circus Presents, novel, Iaşi: Polirom, 2002 (2nd revised edition, Iaşi: Polirom, 2007);
• Atunci i-am ars două palme (Then I Clouted Him Twice), short stories, Iaşi: Polirom, 2004;
• Celelalte poveşti de dragoste (The Other Love Stories), novel, Iaşi: Polirom, 2009;
• Matei Brunul (Matei the Brown), novel, Iaşi: Polirom, 2011;
• Unu+ unu (+ unu...): niște comedii, theatre, Bucharest: Cartea Românească, 2015;
• Cel care cheamă câinii, novel, Iaşi: Polirom, 2017.
• Silvestru și Marele Dictator (Sylvester and the Great Dictator), children book, 2020.
• Mustața lui Dali și alte culori (Dali’s Mustache and Other Colors), paintnovel in coll. with the artist Felix Aftene, 2020.
• Pe unde înoată urechinii (Where the Earequins are swimming), novel, 2026.
He was awarded with several national and international prizes for literature. His books are translated and published in more than ten countries around the world (USA, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Turkey, Serbia, Republic of Macedonia etc.).
Olga Tokarczuk (the winner of Nobel Prize for Literature 2018): “I recently read ‘Matei Brunul’, Lucian Dan Teodorovici’s novel, and I was amazed by the way the author was able to describe a chapter in history quite familiar to us, the Polish people, namely the experience of the communism and the Stalinism. Teodorovici’s language and approach are very fresh and unusual.”
David Lodge (world-acclaimed writer and literary critic, in his Preface to the English edition of the novel “Matei Brunul”): “A novel exquisitely comic and movingly tragic by turns, while its shifting perspectives in time and narrative point of view keep the reader constantly involved in the story. It is a remarkable achievement by a writer who was born in 1975 and had no personal experience of the era it describes, bearing comparison with classics of the genre such as Milan Kundera’s The Joke”.
Published volumes:
• Cu puţin înaintea coborîrii extratereştrilor printre noi (Shortly before the Extraterrestrials Descended Among Us), novel, Iaşi: OuTopos, 1999 (2nd revised and expanded edition, Iaşi: Polirom, 2005);
• Lumea văzută printr-o gaură de mărimea unei ţigări marijuana (The World Seen through a Hole the Width of a Spliff), short stories, Tîrgu-Jiu: Constantin Brâncuşi Foundation Press, 2000;
• Circul nostru vă prezintă: (Our Circus Presents, novel, Iaşi: Polirom, 2002 (2nd revised edition, Iaşi: Polirom, 2007);
• Atunci i-am ars două palme (Then I Clouted Him Twice), short stories, Iaşi: Polirom, 2004;
• Celelalte poveşti de dragoste (The Other Love Stories), novel, Iaşi: Polirom, 2009;
• Matei Brunul (Matei the Brown), novel, Iaşi: Polirom, 2011;
• Unu+ unu (+ unu...): niște comedii, theatre, Bucharest: Cartea Românească, 2015;
• Cel care cheamă câinii, novel, Iaşi: Polirom, 2017.
• Silvestru și Marele Dictator (Sylvester and the Great Dictator), children book, 2020.
• Mustața lui Dali și alte culori (Dali’s Mustache and Other Colors), paintnovel in coll. with the artist Felix Aftene, 2020.
• Pe unde înoată urechinii (Where the Earequins are swimming), novel, 2026.
He was awarded with several national and international prizes for literature. His books are translated and published in more than ten countries around the world (USA, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Turkey, Serbia, Republic of Macedonia etc.).
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 7, 2016
Cum sa calculez ratingul acestei carti? Subiectul il gasesc neatractiv: un tanar mereu nefericit, mereu lipsit de speranta si in situatii mai degraba penibile. Practic, in carte nu se intampla mai nimic: cateva vizite in baruri, la cateva chefuri, in genunchi pentru iubita hipiota. Asa ca nimic care sa imi placa. Insa modul in care e scris acest roman este absolut incredibil: nu cred ca am citit proza contemporana mai bine scrisa. 190 de pagini scurse in doua sesiuni de sub o ora. Oare unde a invatat LDT sa scrie atat de bine?! Dar nu e numai aceasta. Daca stau sa analizez tema romanului, gasesc ca este unul foarte actual: inutilitatea vietii pe care generatia tanara o experimenteaza, lipsa de directie si sens a vietii, lipsa de valori, lipsa de modele autentice de urmat, tendinta de autodistrugere in totusi ceea ce se constituie a fi comoditatea unei vietii meschine. Hai, ca ma duc sa termin si Circul.
October 23, 2012
I can describe it as the novel of the generation that had their youth and teenager years during the '90s in Romania. This depicts the respective generation brilliantly, and since I am part of it, I felt as one of the characters from the novel. I recommend it to anyone that would like to get a glimpse of the Romanian Contemporary literature. This could be a great entry point, as with other novels from Lucian Dan Teodorovici, depends on what you find available translated in your language.
March 20, 2022
A fost o carte foarte... nu-i un termen foarte bun, dar îmi vine să spun ”drăguță”. Din start mi-a plăcut, și am citit-o în două-trei ore. Foarte amuzantă, foarte ridicolă, dar și foarte sobră (ironic, beția fiind una dintre motivele centrale ale poveștii). Eu zic că arată foarte bine capacitatea autorilor români de a lua uzualul, banalul și clișeicul și de a-l transforma în ceva care stârnește mult mai multă gândire.
May 3, 2022
Scrisă cu umor, dinamică, se citește ușor.
December 3, 2024
M-a făcut să râd, dar mi-au şi dat lacrimile puțintel, so a 10/10 for me
April 17, 2020
Unul dintre cei mai buni povestitori din literatura română actuală. Am terminat cartea în 2 zile. Nu e genială, nici perfectă, dar plină de umor și tâlc. M-a ținut captiv în poveste până la final, mare lucru pentru un volum de debut. Voi mai căuta și alte cărți de LDT.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews