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Flesh-Coloured Dominoes
When Baroness Valtraute von Bruegen’s officer husband’s body is severed in two she is delighted to find that the lower half has been sewn onto the upper body of the humble local Captain Ulste. She conceives a child only to see the return of her husband in one piece. A beautifully written surrealist novel cum political allegory, Flesh-Coloured Dominoes transports the reader between 18th Century Baltic gentry and the narrator’s life in the modern world. The connection between the two narratives gradually becomes clear in a mesmerising fantasy of love, lust and loss as Skijunš creates a work of sublime art that is funny, moving, enlightening and philosophical in equal measure.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
8 people are currently reading
330 people want to read
About the author
Zigmunds Skujiņš
43 books14 followersRakstnieks, viens no ievērojamākajiem 20. gadsimta otrās puses latviešu prozaiķiem, izcils novelists, romānu, kinoscenāriju, lugu un eseju autors. Dzimis 1926. gada 25. decembrī Rīgā. Mācījies Rīgas Valsts tehnikumā un Jaņa Rozentāla mākslas vidusskolā. 1946.–1960. g. līdzstrādnieks avīzē “Padomju Jaunatne” un žurnālā “Dadzis”, 1960.–1962. g. un 1968.–1973. g. prozas konsultants Latvijas Rakstnieku savienībā, 1992.–1995. g. Latvijas Radio un televīzijas padomes pirmais priekšsēdētājs. Z. Skujiņš ir viens no visvairāk tulkotajiem latviešu rakstniekiem, viņa darbi izdoti vācu, angļu, krievu, bulgāru, čehu, slovāku, ungāru u. c. valodās vairāk nekā septiņos miljonos eksemplāru.
Born in Rīga in 1926, Zigmunds Skujiņš was one of the most outstanding Latvian writers. Among his best-known works are the novels Columbus' Grandsons (1961), Nudity (1970), Bed with a Golden Leg (1984) and "Flesh-Colored Dominoes" (1999), though he also cotributed to the canons of Latvian drama and poetry.
Skujiņš's first short story appeared in 1948. His books are among the most widely read and published, many works have been adapted for cinema and theater, and many translated (into English, German, French, Russian, Lithuanian, Czech, Georgian, and other languages).
Born in Rīga in 1926, Zigmunds Skujiņš was one of the most outstanding Latvian writers. Among his best-known works are the novels Columbus' Grandsons (1961), Nudity (1970), Bed with a Golden Leg (1984) and "Flesh-Colored Dominoes" (1999), though he also cotributed to the canons of Latvian drama and poetry.
Skujiņš's first short story appeared in 1948. His books are among the most widely read and published, many works have been adapted for cinema and theater, and many translated (into English, German, French, Russian, Lithuanian, Czech, Georgian, and other languages).
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
October 28, 2017
Let me just get this out of the way first – the goodreads description for this book (which is also the jacket copy for the Arcardia paperback) is terrible. It manages to not only include a (arguable) falsity in it’s insanely brief plot description, the small part of plot it describes is also only a small portion of the book that I would argue isn't even the main plotline; then, on top of those, it is a mis-characterization of the novel to describe it as “surrealistic”. It is a work of historical fiction with magical realist elements (even the foreword of the book correctly identifies it as magical realism). The “political allegory” descriptor is accurate though.
I have a tendency to not read jacket copy on books I’m about to read – I’ll glance them over at bookstores, and I’ll look at them when browsing books online, but when I finally get around to a book I tend to not want to know what I’m getting into. My habit is typically to flip the book over and read these when I’m about halfway through a book. There is no particular reason why I do this, but I’m always curious to see if the provided description aligns with what I’m reading (this is especially true with experimental novels). So I only read the jacket copy of this when I was around page 150. It annoyed me, if that’s not obvious.
Enough of the random asides. The book itself – ignoring shitty descriptions – is pretty good. It focuses on a few generations of a Latvian family, mostly though the 20th century (though some sections’ focus are a bit older). The majority of the book focuses on Baroness Valtraute von Bruegen (maybe 30%) and the years leading up to and encompassing the Russian, than German, than Russian again occupations of Latvia (maybe 40%) with the rest of the book being a quick dash through the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st century. The chapters are short breezy reads, and despite much of the novel being set during three different occupations, it is mostly a gentle and pleasant read. It does at times feel like it’s pulling its punches, but overall it seems content with a positive tone, and makes for an easy read.
The brevity of the novel means it never gets very deep into any of the historic events it’s rushing through – the initial Russian Occupation is covered through a couple of anecdotes contained in a single chapter – so it’s not an especially deep work of historic fiction. The major characters are well written, and mostly likeable, and should be considered the strength of the novel. The few magic realist moments are nice, but are much too rare; though I will say the “political allegory” aspects of the work are intelligent and well executed. This is probably the only work of Latvian fiction I’ve read as of now, so it has that going for it; and I wouldn’t not recommend it, I just wouldn’t suggest any sort of rush towards reading it.
I have a tendency to not read jacket copy on books I’m about to read – I’ll glance them over at bookstores, and I’ll look at them when browsing books online, but when I finally get around to a book I tend to not want to know what I’m getting into. My habit is typically to flip the book over and read these when I’m about halfway through a book. There is no particular reason why I do this, but I’m always curious to see if the provided description aligns with what I’m reading (this is especially true with experimental novels). So I only read the jacket copy of this when I was around page 150. It annoyed me, if that’s not obvious.
Enough of the random asides. The book itself – ignoring shitty descriptions – is pretty good. It focuses on a few generations of a Latvian family, mostly though the 20th century (though some sections’ focus are a bit older). The majority of the book focuses on Baroness Valtraute von Bruegen (maybe 30%) and the years leading up to and encompassing the Russian, than German, than Russian again occupations of Latvia (maybe 40%) with the rest of the book being a quick dash through the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st century. The chapters are short breezy reads, and despite much of the novel being set during three different occupations, it is mostly a gentle and pleasant read. It does at times feel like it’s pulling its punches, but overall it seems content with a positive tone, and makes for an easy read.
The brevity of the novel means it never gets very deep into any of the historic events it’s rushing through – the initial Russian Occupation is covered through a couple of anecdotes contained in a single chapter – so it’s not an especially deep work of historic fiction. The major characters are well written, and mostly likeable, and should be considered the strength of the novel. The few magic realist moments are nice, but are much too rare; though I will say the “political allegory” aspects of the work are intelligent and well executed. This is probably the only work of Latvian fiction I’ve read as of now, so it has that going for it; and I wouldn’t not recommend it, I just wouldn’t suggest any sort of rush towards reading it.
November 1, 2018
Lo confesso, comprai questo libro perché fu uno dei primi a comparire tra i risultati per "letteratura lettone in italiano", ricerca fatta dal momento che mi apprestavo ad andare in erasmus a Riga, la capitale.
E vi dirò che ho trovato proprio quello che cercavo: complice anche l'averlo letto proprio qui, in Lettonia, dove si svolge e dove è stato scritto, ha soddisfatto il mio intento di trovare un romanzo che descrivesse la mentalità del popolo che mi avrebbe ospitato.
Una doppia saga familiare, un romanzo storico dal respiro fantastico e surreale, Skujins riesce a fornire un affresco tutt'altro che superficiale di ciò che vuol dire "essere lettoni", riesce a delineare, e forse proprio grazie al suo lavoro, preservare, l'identità di un popolo che da sempre ha subito la dominazione altrui.
Sebbene vi siano a mio avviso alcune parti sovrabbondanti e altri dettagli storici sconosciuti a noi, che siamo troppo lontani da quelle zone e da quegli avvenimenti, lo ritengo uno di quei romanzi per i quali alla fine, ripensandoci ed analizzandoli nel complesso, ti ritieni soddisfatto e molto semplicemente contento, per aver inoltre scoperto qualcosa di bello, di originale, di un po' hipster.
E vi dirò che ho trovato proprio quello che cercavo: complice anche l'averlo letto proprio qui, in Lettonia, dove si svolge e dove è stato scritto, ha soddisfatto il mio intento di trovare un romanzo che descrivesse la mentalità del popolo che mi avrebbe ospitato.
Una doppia saga familiare, un romanzo storico dal respiro fantastico e surreale, Skujins riesce a fornire un affresco tutt'altro che superficiale di ciò che vuol dire "essere lettoni", riesce a delineare, e forse proprio grazie al suo lavoro, preservare, l'identità di un popolo che da sempre ha subito la dominazione altrui.
Sebbene vi siano a mio avviso alcune parti sovrabbondanti e altri dettagli storici sconosciuti a noi, che siamo troppo lontani da quelle zone e da quegli avvenimenti, lo ritengo uno di quei romanzi per i quali alla fine, ripensandoci ed analizzandoli nel complesso, ti ritieni soddisfatto e molto semplicemente contento, per aver inoltre scoperto qualcosa di bello, di originale, di un po' hipster.
December 7, 2017
Trovate la mia recensione qui: https://lospaziodibehemoth.wordpress....
June 11, 2014
Liela daļa romāna ir tiešām interesanta gan vēsturiski, gan cilvēku likteņu ziņā (kas īsti nosaka piederību kādai tautai, dzimtai, kārtai, kas ir cilvēks?) un par to lieku 4, bet brīžiem ir kaut kādi murgi, kur autors cenšas gudri filozofēt vai uzburt mistiskas ainas un samest vienā katlā visādas vēsturiskas personas. Pēdējās 50 lpp. Varēja vispār nebūt.
March 15, 2016
Disappointed with this book. It started very well and I had high hopes. Unfortunately, the story is too political for me, I loved his visual representations of characters, but too much political banter spoiled it for me. Clever but too clever in places.
January 4, 2019
In Come tessere di un domino, nelle storie protagonista e di coloro che vivono con lui nel maniero dell'altera Baronessa e nella surreale vicenda calviniana della nobile Waltraute, Zigmunds Skujiņš condensa tante storie di identità fortemente connesse, offrendo al contempo al suo lettore un quadro storico molto chiaro degli avvenimenti di cui è stato testimone e che non si sono certo esauriti con quel 1990 che ha sancito, dapprima solo formalmente, l'indipendenza lettone dall'Unione sovietica.
La ricerca di sé da parte dei popoli baltici, sembra dirci l'autore, è ancora in atto, perché il peso della storia è notevole e ha prodotto tante diversificazioni, ma il fascino che la cultura baltica esercita fa capire che questa identità esiste ed è viva. Questo romanzo è un'ottima occasione per conscerla meglio.
https://athenaenoctua2013.blogspot.co...
La ricerca di sé da parte dei popoli baltici, sembra dirci l'autore, è ancora in atto, perché il peso della storia è notevole e ha prodotto tante diversificazioni, ma il fascino che la cultura baltica esercita fa capire che questa identità esiste ed è viva. Questo romanzo è un'ottima occasione per conscerla meglio.
https://athenaenoctua2013.blogspot.co...
November 26, 2014
Flesh-Coloured Dominoes by Zigmunds Skujins
Translated from the Latvian by Kaija Straumanis
Arcadia Books
9781909807525
$29, 245 pgs
The evolution of mankind depends on its ability to adapt to its own inventions. - Janis
Flesh-Coloured Dominoes by Latvia's Zigmunds Skujins is part surreal farce, part exploration of identity and what it means to possess a collective national identity. The chapters alternate between the eighteenth century misadventures of the Baltic German aristocracy and the Romanovs of Russia and the coming of age of our nameless narrator during the Second World War. Although the two narratives come together - more or less - in the end to answer some of those identity questions, I found the two halves difficult to reconcile.
After his parents disappear with the circus, our narrator is raised by his grandfather, a wise and generous man whose "...old-fashioned ways were tied to exacting precision, his wild imagination to deep-seated knowledge. It's possible his old-fashioned ways weren't really him being old-fashioned, but a display of his disdain for conformity." That disdain for conformity will come in handy - also dangerous - when the Nazis and then the Soviets arrive in Latvia and your identity, and how it is determined, literally means the difference between life and death. The questions of identity raised in this narrative produce a genetic and philosophical knot.
Meanwhile, in the next chapter, Giuseppe Balsamo, alias Count Cagliostro, alias the Great Cophta, is at the height of his occult influence over the European nobility of the late eighteenth century. One of those who falls under his spell is Baroness von Brigen whose husband has reportedly been killed in battle. When the Count, during a séance, tells her otherwise, "Where there were two, now there is one..." in some sort of Frankenstein's monster scenario, the Baroness goes in search of the half of her husband that still exists. Guess which half. The questions of identity raised here are more obvious.
There is much humor to enjoy in Dominoes. Describing a wedding: "There's a mob of clergymen in front of the altar. There's one Orthodox parish priest dressed in gold, like an icon, with a golden mitre on his head. And one Lutheran pastor like a black rooster in a muster of peacocks." On the occasion of our narrator's brother falling in love: "Little is known even now of the nature of love. ... The newest theories about falling in love explain it prosaically - through the effects of dopamine and noradrenaline on the brain's limbic system. ... He [his brother] changed beyond recognition and displayed signs of the limbic system in motion - a person grows wistful, their awareness of the surrounding world decreases, they become particularly stubborn." Skujins is also a master of metaphor. On the impact upon realization of profound truths: "What strange, unbelievable things can happen in a lifetime! Steel structures collapse, the voices of angels are heard between the panting of hate, the adder slinks away with the king's crown on its head, and a newly realised truth slides across your face like a breeze that barely stirs even your eyelashes." On trying to move on after the war ended: "The shadows of our memories still snaked around our ankles, dragged like heavy hems..."
The two halves of Flesh-Coloured Dominoes are so strikingly dissimilar as to cause the metaphorical equivalent of whiplash. One half is an irreverent, bawdy romp reminiscent of Rabelais that began rich in humor and word play but failed to evolve satisfactorily. This lack of development rendered the Baroness's narrative repetitive and the meandering quality became tiresome. Perhaps this was meant to convey the general lassitude of her social class during that time period. If so then I now understand the impetus for the French Revolution on a visceral level. Meanwhile the other half of this novel is a deeply affecting, thought-provoking, melancholy meditation on the nature of identity, both personal and national, that I thoroughly enjoyed. For example, this is a conversation between our narrator as a boy and his grandfather when German Latvians began returning to Germany before World War II (even this sentence is difficult to construct):
"Is nationality determined by what's in your blood?"
The question must have been surprising, because Grandfather picked up his magnifying glass again and peered at me through it.
"Empress Catherine II, Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, didn't see Russia once before she turned fifteen. Does that mean that she's not the empress of Russia? Is Hitler not German because Austrian blood, or blood from who knows what other countries, flows through his veins? Around the year 900 the Viking Rollo founded Normandy in northern France. He had a son out of wedlock with some French tanner's daughter; the son became England's William the Conqueror..."
"Then is the concept of nationality non-existent?"
"No, of course not. It's just not one easily explained. The grouping of people into nationalities is a phenomenon in itself...There are often centres of power that crop up in the world that collect and pump up the lesser powers. Until the moment when the totality starts to break up and separate. Connections create devastating tensions."
Indeed. I am left to ponder the possibility that these forcible distinctions will mean the extinction of us all.
www.texasbooklover.com
Translated from the Latvian by Kaija Straumanis
Arcadia Books
9781909807525
$29, 245 pgs
The evolution of mankind depends on its ability to adapt to its own inventions. - Janis
Flesh-Coloured Dominoes by Latvia's Zigmunds Skujins is part surreal farce, part exploration of identity and what it means to possess a collective national identity. The chapters alternate between the eighteenth century misadventures of the Baltic German aristocracy and the Romanovs of Russia and the coming of age of our nameless narrator during the Second World War. Although the two narratives come together - more or less - in the end to answer some of those identity questions, I found the two halves difficult to reconcile.
After his parents disappear with the circus, our narrator is raised by his grandfather, a wise and generous man whose "...old-fashioned ways were tied to exacting precision, his wild imagination to deep-seated knowledge. It's possible his old-fashioned ways weren't really him being old-fashioned, but a display of his disdain for conformity." That disdain for conformity will come in handy - also dangerous - when the Nazis and then the Soviets arrive in Latvia and your identity, and how it is determined, literally means the difference between life and death. The questions of identity raised in this narrative produce a genetic and philosophical knot.
Meanwhile, in the next chapter, Giuseppe Balsamo, alias Count Cagliostro, alias the Great Cophta, is at the height of his occult influence over the European nobility of the late eighteenth century. One of those who falls under his spell is Baroness von Brigen whose husband has reportedly been killed in battle. When the Count, during a séance, tells her otherwise, "Where there were two, now there is one..." in some sort of Frankenstein's monster scenario, the Baroness goes in search of the half of her husband that still exists. Guess which half. The questions of identity raised here are more obvious.
There is much humor to enjoy in Dominoes. Describing a wedding: "There's a mob of clergymen in front of the altar. There's one Orthodox parish priest dressed in gold, like an icon, with a golden mitre on his head. And one Lutheran pastor like a black rooster in a muster of peacocks." On the occasion of our narrator's brother falling in love: "Little is known even now of the nature of love. ... The newest theories about falling in love explain it prosaically - through the effects of dopamine and noradrenaline on the brain's limbic system. ... He [his brother] changed beyond recognition and displayed signs of the limbic system in motion - a person grows wistful, their awareness of the surrounding world decreases, they become particularly stubborn." Skujins is also a master of metaphor. On the impact upon realization of profound truths: "What strange, unbelievable things can happen in a lifetime! Steel structures collapse, the voices of angels are heard between the panting of hate, the adder slinks away with the king's crown on its head, and a newly realised truth slides across your face like a breeze that barely stirs even your eyelashes." On trying to move on after the war ended: "The shadows of our memories still snaked around our ankles, dragged like heavy hems..."
The two halves of Flesh-Coloured Dominoes are so strikingly dissimilar as to cause the metaphorical equivalent of whiplash. One half is an irreverent, bawdy romp reminiscent of Rabelais that began rich in humor and word play but failed to evolve satisfactorily. This lack of development rendered the Baroness's narrative repetitive and the meandering quality became tiresome. Perhaps this was meant to convey the general lassitude of her social class during that time period. If so then I now understand the impetus for the French Revolution on a visceral level. Meanwhile the other half of this novel is a deeply affecting, thought-provoking, melancholy meditation on the nature of identity, both personal and national, that I thoroughly enjoyed. For example, this is a conversation between our narrator as a boy and his grandfather when German Latvians began returning to Germany before World War II (even this sentence is difficult to construct):
"Is nationality determined by what's in your blood?"
The question must have been surprising, because Grandfather picked up his magnifying glass again and peered at me through it.
"Empress Catherine II, Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, didn't see Russia once before she turned fifteen. Does that mean that she's not the empress of Russia? Is Hitler not German because Austrian blood, or blood from who knows what other countries, flows through his veins? Around the year 900 the Viking Rollo founded Normandy in northern France. He had a son out of wedlock with some French tanner's daughter; the son became England's William the Conqueror..."
"Then is the concept of nationality non-existent?"
"No, of course not. It's just not one easily explained. The grouping of people into nationalities is a phenomenon in itself...There are often centres of power that crop up in the world that collect and pump up the lesser powers. Until the moment when the totality starts to break up and separate. Connections create devastating tensions."
Indeed. I am left to ponder the possibility that these forcible distinctions will mean the extinction of us all.
www.texasbooklover.com
January 2, 2025
Un romanzo picaresco che si intreccia in due filoni storici, la storia del Novecento della Lettonia e la storia di una nobildonna tedesca del tardo settecento.
Attraverso personaggi bizzarri e sopra le righe, l'autore di destreggia nel racconto come se mescolasse continuamente un mazzo di carte.
Attraverso personaggi bizzarri e sopra le righe, l'autore di destreggia nel racconto come se mescolasse continuamente un mazzo di carte.
January 29, 2018
Mi ci è voluto un po' per capire. Questo libro ha due limiti: il primo è quello di sembrare di non avere una traduzione accurata per tutta la trama (e anche un dialogo ripetuto a pg. 147 nella mia edizione) che fa sì che in alcuni punti gli enunciati invece di essere collegati come si farebbe in italiano corrente sono spezzati in tante frasi che, a volte, non hanno nemmeno tanto senso. Questo spezza non solo il ritmo della lettura, ma ti fa incastrare proprio lì, rimanendo con il dubbio di aver letto male. Il secondo limite è il finale: con due storie così belle e che marciano miracolosamente a due ritmi diversi, per cui la secondaria ti porta fino a metà libro in sciolte e poi ti affezioni alla primaria e arrivi fino alla fine,ma ha un finale incerto ovvero non si capisce perché l'autore le porti fino alla fine insieme e in contemporanea... Quindi le due storie sono molto belle ma i limiti citati ne limitano la possibilità di essere apprezzate totalmente. Peccato.
March 10, 2019
Sono rimasta contenta di scegliere questo libro “al buio” come ormai faccio abitualmente quando si tratta di un libro edito Iperborea.
La trama è un intreccio di due storie diverse, una incentrata sulla vita di una famiglia lettone durante la Seconda Guerra (e anche oltre) e l’altra è la storia di una baronessa vissuta alla fine dell Settecento-inizio Ottocento. Entrambe le storie sono molto interessanti, talvolta mi è sembrato però che l’autore si soffermasse poco su certi avvenimenti storici: forse un approfondimento sarebbe stato gradito. È un libro che consiglierei sia per l’ulteriore punto di vista sulla guerra in un altro paese europeo, sia per la punta di realismo magico.
Come bonus alcuni personaggi storici sono sviluppati anche bene e credo, sconosciuti al largo pubblico.
La trama è un intreccio di due storie diverse, una incentrata sulla vita di una famiglia lettone durante la Seconda Guerra (e anche oltre) e l’altra è la storia di una baronessa vissuta alla fine dell Settecento-inizio Ottocento. Entrambe le storie sono molto interessanti, talvolta mi è sembrato però che l’autore si soffermasse poco su certi avvenimenti storici: forse un approfondimento sarebbe stato gradito. È un libro che consiglierei sia per l’ulteriore punto di vista sulla guerra in un altro paese europeo, sia per la punta di realismo magico.
Come bonus alcuni personaggi storici sono sviluppati anche bene e credo, sconosciuti al largo pubblico.
September 22, 2017
Vietām patika autora prātojumi par tautību, cilvēka būtību un dvēseli, bet lielākoties šķita, ka autors nevar noturēties stāstījuma rāmjos. Īsti nelikās, ka autors to senāko pagātni pievelk stāstījumam, pārāk daudz kas bija jāuzmin lasītājam.
April 1, 2021
🧩 Proprio come nel gioco del domino, in cui da bambini si avvicinano parti di tessere combacianti (nonostante la loro diversità), questo romanzo è una celebrazione dell’unità e dell’’identità.
🧩 Due sono le storie che il romanzo presenta al lettore, apparentemente con un unico punto in comune: entrambe, infatti, sono ambientate in Lettonia.
🧩 In realtà, però, esse confluiranno in un unico racconto mostrando numerose analogie tra di loro: nei capitoli pari il protagonista è un ragazzino, il cui nome resta sconosciuto al lettore, spettatore della Seconda Guerra Mondiale nel freddo paese baltico.
I capitoli pari, invece, narrano la storia di Waltraute Von Brüggen, ricca baronessa residente in una Livonia del Diciottesimo secolo.
🧩 Come già anticipato, perno centrale delle due storie è il tema dell’identità: nella prima storia, infatti, il ragazzino scopre in adolescenza di avere un fratellastro (da parte di madre), il cui padre è giapponese! Il protagonista ben racconta lo shock ed il significato dell’essere “diverso” in una Lettonia del 1940.
🧩 Waltraute, invece, perde il marito in battaglia e scopre, però, che la parte inferiore del suo tronco è stata cucita, da un noto chirurgo, alla parte superiore del busto di un altro uomo (tale Bartolomeo Ulste - che scopriremo avere qualcosa in comune con il ragazzino protagonista dei capitoli pari).
🧩 La vera protagonista del romanzo, però, è la Lettonia: attraverso la narrazione perviene al lettore la vera identità di questo bellissimo paese, negli anni invaso da una moltitudine di culture (polacche, svedesi, russe e tedesche), fino a quando, nel 1991, giunge alla sua sofferta indipendenza.
🧩 Due sono le storie che il romanzo presenta al lettore, apparentemente con un unico punto in comune: entrambe, infatti, sono ambientate in Lettonia.
🧩 In realtà, però, esse confluiranno in un unico racconto mostrando numerose analogie tra di loro: nei capitoli pari il protagonista è un ragazzino, il cui nome resta sconosciuto al lettore, spettatore della Seconda Guerra Mondiale nel freddo paese baltico.
I capitoli pari, invece, narrano la storia di Waltraute Von Brüggen, ricca baronessa residente in una Livonia del Diciottesimo secolo.
🧩 Come già anticipato, perno centrale delle due storie è il tema dell’identità: nella prima storia, infatti, il ragazzino scopre in adolescenza di avere un fratellastro (da parte di madre), il cui padre è giapponese! Il protagonista ben racconta lo shock ed il significato dell’essere “diverso” in una Lettonia del 1940.
🧩 Waltraute, invece, perde il marito in battaglia e scopre, però, che la parte inferiore del suo tronco è stata cucita, da un noto chirurgo, alla parte superiore del busto di un altro uomo (tale Bartolomeo Ulste - che scopriremo avere qualcosa in comune con il ragazzino protagonista dei capitoli pari).
🧩 La vera protagonista del romanzo, però, è la Lettonia: attraverso la narrazione perviene al lettore la vera identità di questo bellissimo paese, negli anni invaso da una moltitudine di culture (polacche, svedesi, russe e tedesche), fino a quando, nel 1991, giunge alla sua sofferta indipendenza.
March 29, 2021
Definitely a book of two halves, and quite complicated halves at that. Alternate chapters each tell a different story that may or may not link up in the end. Parts of it are hilarious and other parts tragic as we hear about the political carousel that is Latvia's history. The novel takes us from the 1700's to the 1900's, through Russian then German then Russian occupation through the eyes of a young woman in one half and a young boy in the other. It's part romp, part farce, part serious rumination; always interesting and engaging but also quite baffling. I did learn lots about Latvian history though.
December 28, 2021
I'd give it a 3.5 if I could, and I agree with the reviewer who said that the jacket blurb calling it "surrealist" is way off. It's generally a good historical novel following interlinked characters in 2 time periods, the late 18th century and WWII in Latvia, and it's a very engaging novel for about 2/3 of its length, at which point it kind of tails off for 100 pages. As a random find from a Little Free Library, I really can't fault it, because I never would have picked it off a bookstore or library shelf.
December 28, 2017
Similarmente come mi e’ successo con Bolano , anche in questo caso la lettura e’ molto scorrevole e intrattenitiva ma allo stesso tempo oscura nell essere compresa interamente essendo in completa amalgama con la storia del paese natio dello scrittore ( Lettonia ) andando ad intrecciare gli avvenimenti degli ultimi 300 anni plasmandoli in umoristici e affascinanti racconti metaletterari sulla cultura lettone.
January 24, 2018
Comincia bene, con le storie parallele che si svolgono alla fine degli anni 1930 e 1790, con note ironiche e un po' fantastiche. Poi si perde in fiacche considerazioni storico-filosofiche che non dicono nulla di nuovo, non concludono le storie lasciando anche slegati i discorsi cominciati. Acquistato allo stand Iperborea di Più Liberi Più Libri su loro consiglio quale loro libro dell'anno, in fondo si è rivelato una delle poche delusioni di questa casa editrice.
February 7, 2023
Kaut kas man grāmatas stilā un ironijā atgādināja Marģera Zariņa Faustu... Piekrītu tiem, kuriem beigas bija par garu. Bet zvaigznītes par autora erudīciju, talantu, asprātību, humoru, iztēli ( vectēvs aizmieg mūža miegā ar "Atpūtu" uz sejas, cirka zirgi Aspazijas bērēs utt.) un spēju atklāt it kā vienkāršo tēmu, ka viss jau dzīvē nav nemaz tik vienkārši.
October 1, 2018
Una delle più belle letture dell'anno.
April 16, 2021
in dimidio
February 11, 2023
L'identità lettone si dipana negli ultimi secoli della storia europea come il disegno composto da una partita a domino.
July 11, 2023
Ļoti lasāms autors. Asprātīgi un interesanti, reālo savienojot ar izdomāto. Tikai pašas grāmatas beigas man nepatika, šķita mākslīgi pielipinātas kopā.
March 19, 2024
الترجمة سيئة
Read
December 15, 2024Good read from Latvia
July 20, 2025
Illeggibile.
Mollato al 25%
Mollato al 25%
May 16, 2023
Come tessere di un domino contiene due storie parallele, che proseguono a capitoli alternati: quella di un ragazzo che racconta la sua vita, a partire dagli anni '30, con il nonno, il fratellastro Janis e la Baronessa, e quella di Waltraute, nobildonna settecentesca che si trova in una situazione ambigua dopo che il marito e un altro uomo vengono feriti durante una battaglia. Su queste premesse, ho apprezzato lo sfondo storico del romanzo, che abbraccia diversi periodi della storia lettone, contemporanea e non, ma al contempo ho trovato la linea narrativa in sè piuttosto debole: la trama è scarsa, il ritmo lento e l'interesse a continuare la lettura non viene stimolato particolarmente.
February 13, 2014
Iekams tiku līdz beigu vecišķumam, grāmata šķita pat ļoti forša. Bet ko padarīsi.
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