Pe Strada Mântuleasa

Proza fantastica #3

by Mircea Eliade

"... spatiul bucurestean: un oras plin de semne, epifanii, un oras initiatic, cu strazi care ascund mistere vechi si indivizi care poarta cu ei, fara sa stie, mituri. E o alta fata a spatiului din proza lui I.L.Caragiale. Eliade sacralizeaza lumea lui Mitica, orasul toropit de caldura e un vast labirint de semne, Mitica insusi, omul care se grabeste mereu, dar paraseste rareori cafeneaua, devine un erou mitic. (...) Un oras sacru, ca o veche asezare elenica, o sursa inepuizabila de mituri - acesta este Bucurestiul lui Eliade." (Eugen Simion, Dictionarul General al Literaturii Romane)

Genres: Fiction, Romanian Literature, Romania, 20th Century, Classics, Literature, Novels

112 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1967

About the author

Romanian-born historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, professor at the University of Chicago, and one of the pre-eminent interpreters of world religion in the last century. Eliade was an intensely prolific author of fiction and non-fiction alike, publishing over 1,300 pieces over 60 years. He earned international fame with LE MYTHE DE L'ÉTERNAL RETOUR (1949, The Myth of the Eternal Return), an interpretation of religious symbols and imagery. Eliade was much interested in the world of the unconscious. The central theme in his novels was erotic love.

Reviews

[Mohammad Hrabal · Rating 4 out of 5]

در کتاب «این سو و آن سوی متن» عباس معروفی چند صفحه‌ای از این کتاب خوب صحبت کرده بود. با خواندن آن علاقه مند شدم تا «درخیابان مینتولاسا» را بخوانم. در ادامه بخشی از عباس معروفی راجع به این کتاب می‌آورم.
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مردی به نام «فریما زاهاریا» را تصور کنید که در زمان حکومت کمونیست‌ها به دام وزارت امنیت رومانی افتاده است، و آنجا زیر بازجویی افسانه سازی می‌کند. اتفاق‌هایی براش می‌افتد که ناچار شروع می‌کند به گفتن افسانه. فریما زاهاریا آموزگاری است که در جستجوی کسی پاش به وزارت امنیت باز می‌شود، اما آنجا تشابه اسمی هست، شنود هست، و چیزهایی هست که او را می‌کشد زیر ذر‌ه‌بین شخص وزیر. رمان در سه زمان، یا سه لایه‌ی همزمان پیش می‌رود، زمان داستانی در زمان دراماتیک دایره می‌شود و در لایه لایه‌های آن زندگی زیر سایه‌ی نظام توتالیتر با ایجاز و تصویرسازی‌های یگانه، به نمایش درمی‌آيد. زندگی در بافت و سایه‌ی حکومتی که وقتی پرده کنار می‌رود، دروغ، ریا، تظاهر، ترس، واهمه، ورشکستگی، سقوط، تزویر و هراس نمایان می‌شود. در بخش اول فریما زاهاریا زیر بازجویی است، و نویسنده بی هیچ تمهیدی در افشاگری‌های سیاسی، و بدون کله کشیدن‌ها و سر و گوش آب دادن‌های هالیودی، هنرمندانه دوربین را همراه شخصیت اصلی به حرکت وا می‌دارد تا آنچه می‌بیند ضبط کند، ولی قضاوت نکند. راست‌نمایی هنرمندانه‌ای که هرگز با دوربین فیلمبرداری مخفی و یا علنی ضبط نخواهد شد، مگر با دوربین یک نویسنده‌ی توانا به نام «میرچا الیاده.» ظاهرا این نظام توتالیتر بر اریکه‌ی قدرت سوار است و قصد فرو ریختن هم ندارد، و مدعی است که نظم ابدی جز این نخواهد بود، و حق و حقیقت این نظام خدشه‌ناپذیر است. درست در همین فضای هراس‌انگیز که آدم‌ها به سادگی سربه نیست می‌شوند، دست نویسنده باز می‌شود تا با تخیل بر روزگار رفته افسانه‌ای زیبا ببافد. صفحات 76 و 77 کتاب این سو و آن سوی متن. عباس معروفی. پی دی اف 165 صفحه‌ای
کتاب شامل یک رمان و دو نوول کوتاه است که از مجموعه‌ای به نام «دوستی با دیونیس» از زبان رومانی ترجمه کرده‌ام. این داستان‌ها را در تقسیم‌بندی انواع داستان‌ها «فانتاستیک» می‌نامند. در آثار فارسی جایی ندیدم که برای این نوع داستان‌نویسی اصطلاحی را جایگزین کرده باشند. آقای دکتر جلال ستاری برای این نوع آثار واژه‌ی «شگرف» را برگزیده‌اند که هم رساننده‌ی توهم‌انگیزی آنها‌ست، و هم اعجاب‌انگیزی‌شان. در باب توصیف این نوع داستان مجال دیگری باید؛ اما فعلاً در رمان «در خیابان مینتولاسا» ذکر همین نکته بسنده است که نویسنده فرم داستان را از «هزارویک شب» برگرفته، با این تفاوت که در اینجا شهرزاد یکی است و ملک جوانبخت چندین بازپرس اداره‌ی امنیت. فریما (شهرزاد) گوینده‌ی داستان‌های اعجاب‌آور با سلسله حکایات خود نه تنها گره‌ای نمی‌گشاید، بلکه بر پیچیدگی داستان نیز می‌افزاید. از این نظر می‌توان این رمان را «هزارویک شب» قرن معاصر دانست. آنچه در اینجا برای خواننده قابل توجه است، لذت بردن محض از مطالعه‌ی داستان است. صفحات پنج و شش کتاب در خیابان مینتولاسا. سخن مترجم (محمدعلی صوتی)

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

بالاخره تموم شد. نه اینکه بد بوده باشه اتفاقا اون پیچیدگی داستانای داخلیش، بخصوص اولین داستانش خوب هم بود، ولی باید وقتی که با حوصله تر بودم میخوندم تا بیشتر بچسبه.
۱۴۰۴.۰۴

[Hossein · Rating 5 out of 5]

شاید بتوانم بگویم یکی از بهترین داستان‌هایی که در همه‌ی زندگی‌ام خوانده‌ام، "داستان" به معنای واقعی کلمه: سرگرم‌کننده و مقاومت‌ناپذیر.

[S.Zohreh · Rating 2 out of 5]

داستانی که خوب شروع شد ولی رفته رفته با توضیح رازها و افسانه ها از زبان شخصیت اصلی مثل یک کلاف سر‌درگم در هم پیچید ، و مبهم پایان یافت.

دی ماه ۱۴۰۱

[Dalia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poveste (ciudată) în poveste. Fostul director al școlii de pe strada Mantuleasa, profesorul Fărâmă, în prezent pensionar, e anchetat de Securitate în legătură cu niște evenimente petrecute în urmă cu mulți ani, prin 1914-1915, în care fuseseră implicați mai mulți elevi din școală.
Și acum începe tortura psihică (a cititorului, vreau să zic). Fărâmă ne face, și probabil le face anchetatorilor, mintea praf. Începe să explice evenimentele prin întâmplări ciudate, cu alte și alte personaje noi implicate în poveste, cu acea Oana, fata înaltă de 2,40 și erotismul ei exacerbat în jurul căreia se învârte totul. Mă întreb ce obsesii erotice o mai fi având Eliade...
Per ansamblu, nu mi-a plăcut. Nu e pe gustul meu.

[Pouria · Rating 1 out of 5]

در خیابان مینتولاسا / میرچا الیاده / ترجمه ی محمدعلی صوتی / انتشارات زرین / 234 صفحه / تاریخ اتمام کتاب: 29 جولای 2020 / امتیازم به کتاب از پنج: صفر
این کتاب شامل سه داستانه. داستان اول که افتضاح بود و اتلاف وقت به تمام معنا. مطلقا چیزی بهم اضافه نکرد و جذابیت ادبی هم نداشت و مجموعه ای بی سر و ته از داستان بافی های تخیلی یه پیرمرده. جدا یکی از بی فایده ترین کتاب هایی بود که در مدت زمان زیادی خونده بودم و حتی گروهی با دوستان دربارش حرف می زدیم، کسی حرف خاصی درباره گفتن دربارش نداشت. با این وجود داستان دوم و سوم رو هم خوندم. داستان دوم درباره مردیه که همینجوری قد و هیکلش شروع به رشد میکنه و تهشم گم و گور میکنه خودشو از بس که بزرگ و هیولا طور میشه. این یکی برای این که فیلم تخیلی بشه بد نیست. داستان سوم هم اینقدر بی محتوا بود که بیشتر از این وقتی برای نوشتن براش نمی ذارم.

[carpe diem · Rating 4 out of 5]

O poveste tragi-comica a zidului interpus intre fantezia benigna a individului si obtuzitatea unui sistem obsedat sa gaseasca vinovati si conspiratori in oricine. Un fost inspector scolar, acum pensionat, ajunge dintr-o neintelegere in "gazduire" la Securitate (actiunea se petrece in Romania comunista a anilor '50). Mai interesanta mi s-a parut prezentarea contrastului dintre functionarul pensionat si aparatul politienesc si politic. Individul naiv si nostalgic care reuseste sa captiveze atat de mult atentia temnicerilor sai prin povestile sale incat este tratat aproape cu blandete. Motivatia din spatele acestei rabdari neasteptate este echivoca, partial bazata pe incercarea obsesiva de identifica material valid pentru alte dosare. Dar se citeste si fascinatia starnita de intamplarile si personajele din povestile batranului - si asta mi-a starnit nenumarate zambete pe parcursul lecturii.

[Evren · Rating 4 out of 5]

C'est le premier oeuvre de M. Eliade que j'ai lu. C'est surprenant qu'il n'est pas très bien connu comme écrivain de fiction.

Ayant vécu à Bucarest pour trois ans, je me demande si jamais j'ai vécu dans une ville aussi mystique.

Chaque ville a un climat qui lui va. Et pour Bucarest, c'est la brume de la nuit d'hiver. Malgré les efforts du communisme pour effacer méticuleusement l'histoire et le mémoire de cette ville, il me semble que Bucarest est arrivé à protéger cet immense patrimoine qu'elle a reçu des générations précedentes. Lors d'une promenade de l'ancien centre de la ville, le silence règne et les secrets de la ville deviennent beaucoup plus tangible, si non plus compréhensibles.

J'ai eu la chance d'habiter pour quelque mois sur la "Rue Mantuleasa", la rue à laquelle cette novella emprunte son titre en langue Roumaine. Je connais la géographie de ce livre très bien, qui m'a permis de me connecter à un niveau très personnel avec cet oeuvre.

[Natalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderfully surreal and fantastical like a tangled wire that eventually ties back into a knot yet not fully tightened

[Deniz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pe strada Mântuleasa is an enjoyable book similar to, although much much shorter, One Hundred Years of Solitude and The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights in writing and concept. Zaharia Fărâmă is a primary school director with tons of interesting stories about the lives of some of his students; his only problem is that he cannot (or will not) tell these stories concisely. The stories are fascinating and of interest to certain government officers, who keep Fărâmă under arrest. In the end, the storyline unfolds in a both fulfilling and leaves-you-wondering way. I liked how all those seemingly unrelated events were entwined in each other. It's a pleasant read for a lazy afternoon.

[Bahman Bahman · Rating 3 out of 5]

پیرمرد عجیبی به‌ نام زاهاریا فریما به آپارتمان مأمور وزارت داخلی، سرگر�� واسیلی برزا، می‌رود و ادعا می‌کند که مدیر مدرسه‌ای در خیابان مینتولاسا بوده است و سرگرد را از دوران تحصیلش در آن مدرسه می‌شناسد. مأموری به زاهاریا شک می‌کند. زاهاریا در بازجویی‌های پس از دستگیری دا��تان‌هایی عجیب و حیرت‌آوری تعریف می‌کند و همه مأموران شیفته داستان‌های عجیب او می‌شوند. حتی وزیر داخله که زنی سنگدل است، دل به داستان‌های او می‌دهد و مدام از او می‌خواهد که پایان داستان را بگوید. کتاب در خیابان مینتولاسا همراه با دو داستان دیگر منتشر شده است.

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Old Man and The Bureaucrats by Mircea Eliade

In the original: Pe Strada Mantuleasa



This is an outlandish work, which has reminded me of Big Fish and Once Upon A Time in America, which are oddly enough, two American movies. Like in Big Fish, we have magic, a giant; even if in Mantuleasa the giant is a woman, extraordinary tales and an intriguing blend of surreal and (perhaps) real events.

The premise of the book is rather plain, somewhat like you are taken into a spaceship, but you start on a backstreet, with someone walking a dog.

Someone is moving into a new house and a professor happens to be nearby. He learns that the one who is about to change address is a former pupil. The professor tries to get in contact with this old acquaintance and to talk to him. At a different stage, this brought to my mind images from Once upon a Time In America, with Robert de Niro in his good old days. First of all, there are suggestions which make us think that the stories are just part of a dream, both in Mantuleasa and Once Upon a Time… then, the number of stories is impressive- much bigger in Mantuleasa, but even the movie had a long thread, lasting more than three hours, if I remember well.

The major is not happy with the meeting. In fact, he claims he is not the pupil in question, has no idea who the teacher is and…

- What do you want from me, I am a comrade not mister, get out of here!

The rude man is getting us into the atmosphere of a post war country, occupied by the Soviets, who have brought with their tanks a plague that will be remembered for a long time and even worse, will make its effects felt for decades, maybe even more than a century.

At that time one was afraid of any stranger who might compromise one’s “dossier”. Even worse if it was someone from the past, who could reveal damaging information, that could send an innocent or guilty party to a communist jail.

Mircea Eliade was an authority on religions. He introduces magic stories, folk tales and myths. There is a giant woman called Oana, a magician, a man who had disappeared in Russia, only to come back later (perhaps), fortune tellers predict…the future.

The authorities get interested in the professor and his recollections. The weird and to me unbelievable side is that some of the communist leaders begin to like the sagas and want to hear them for their own sake…

I understood when they had interrogated the teacher to learn about the fate of some people who could be in key positions, leading the country, but to see them romanticize and enjoy the narrative for the literary pleasures seems a bit farfetched. For me, communists are ruthless brutes, maniacs who deserve punishment or treatment at the very least. Another perspective can indeed insist upon the fact that they too are human beings.

My life has been irremediably affected by communists and I have very little empathy for any of them, stupid believers in what they call “noble ideas” or plain crooks.

This on personal note, but if we think of the tens of millions of people killed by the soviets and then the Chinese, we get the picture.

Coming back to the Mantuleasa story, I must admit that it is a puzzle for me.

I am not even sure what to rate it- three, or maybe four stars?

On one hand, there are a multitude of interesting pieces- the giant woman, the man who learns Hebrew, trying to understand where the arrow went, then the disappearance of Darvari and Lixandru, the return of some of the personages in key positions in the communist hierarchy.

But on the other hand, communist characters have always turned me off. Then the many interesting tales turn into a disadvantage: the whole seems patched up of too many pieces, with too little to hold them together- from where I look at it.

In the adaptation for Romanian Radio, George Constantin plays a small part, and that kept me interested to the very end.

[Adrian Sirbu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pe strada Mântuleasa, a 42-a din 2024 si a 7-a de la Mircea Eliade, geniu.

Cartea a fost interzisa in comunism.

“Singura mea carte literara LIBERA, scrisa pur si simplu pentru ca ma desfata scrierea ei”, noteaza pe 29 sept. 1959 (Eliade, Jurnal, ed. cit., p. 340)

Povestea este despre invatatorul Zaharia Farama, 15 ani director la Scoala Mantuleasa, fost inspector scolar pana a iesit la pensie.
A, Scoala Mantuleasa era Scoala Primara numarul 17.

Invatatorul Farama avea o memorie exceptionala.

Stia sa povesteasca si ii prindea pe toti in vraja povestilor lui, chiar si pe cei de la Securitate care au binevoit sa il ancheteze.

De ce a fost anchetat? Dintr-o intamplare si pentru ca parea ca stie multe.

Povestile lui erau de sute de pagini, extraordinar de detaliate si nu putea sa spuna povestea despre o anume persoana direct, ci doar cu intregul context, surprinzand absolut totul, chiar daca erau intamplari care au avut loc cu zeci sau sute de ani inainte.

Ex.: A inceput povestea despre Darvari spunand cateva ore despre Lixandru si Oana o cu totu alta poveste, astfel incat sa aiba sens cea cu Darvari.

Nu pare prea simplu, nu?😁 O sa va obisnuiti cu maestrul Farama.

Oana era frumoasa ca o zeita, puternica ca un taur si inalta de 2,4 m.
A, umbla mereu fara lenjerie.
Facea baie goala, chiar si in timpul zilei, in vazul tuturor.
La 18 ani s-a dus la munte ca acolo ii fusese ursit alesul.
Si ce se intampla la munte, ramane la munte…si se intampla multe la munte!

Destinul Oanei se implineste si alesul ei vine si o salveaza la timp de oamenii care nu o intelegeau.

Marina sau Zamfira, ce personaj!! Isi schimba infatisarea dupa cum poftea: acum parea de 20-25 de ani, imediat dupa de 60.😁

Si ce final!!

Da, de abia astept urmatoarea de la Mircea Eliade, geniu liber!

[Temucano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un librito extraño que parece ser una novela de misterio acerca de un profesor acosado por los servicios secretos rumanos, en cuyos interrogatorios va soltando una mítica historia sobre maldiciones de amor en pueblos rurales, que se arrastran en el tiempo, y donde destacan varios personajes singulares, en especial Oana, una mujer impresionante.

A veces roza la fantasía, a veces el terror, a veces el erotismo y a veces la comedia, pero está claro que nunca se sabe que esperar de la literatura de Mircea Eliade y eso se agradece.

[مهشید · Rating 2 out of 5]

این کتاب شامل سه داستانه. داستان اول، روایت پیرمردی مرموز هست که ادعا میکنه وزیر امورخارجه رو می‌شناسه و خاطراتی تعریف می‌کنه که این خاطرات تودرتو، شبیه دایتان‌های هزارویکشب، همه رو مجذوب خودش می‌کنه. داستان‌های پیرمرد با افسانه در هم‌گره می‌خوره و شاید به خاطر همین برای من جذاب نبود. نوع روایت و خلاقیت نویسنده بسیار جالب بود اما قلم و داستان‌های تودرتو، برای من جذابیتی نداشت. به قدری که دو داستان بعدی رو هم‌نخوندم

[Roxana Amir · Rating 5 out of 5]

De câte ori citesc literatura clasică se simte. Mă încântă şi mă îmbogăteşte, chiar şi o lectură simplă, scurtă, ca aceasta. Clasicul nu se demodează, adevărată vorbă! Şi e plăcut să reciteşti adult fiind, cărțile pe care le-ai citit când erai copil, lecturile obligatorii de la şcoală. Au cu totul alt gust şi ajungi să înțelegi valoarea lucrurilor care te-au format.

[Jeffrey Dixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this enigmatic novella of Romanian magical realism, a retired head teacher who taught on Mantuleasa Street in Bucharest is interrogated by members of the Securitate, the secret police. He answers all their questions apparently eagerly and honestly; but his replies, like those of Scheherazade in the Arabian Nights, never seem quite to reach a conclusion, instead opening up and interlacing with other reminiscences that seem as much based on folklore as on historical memory.
One of the officials thinks he has grasped what the teacher is up to: “Some things explain other things. Together, they form a structure, a configuration…” Ostensibly “peripheral episodes” in the old man’s stories can in fact, if examined closely, reveal a cypher, and expose the secrets which the teacher is trying to hide…but the rationalist world of the bureaucrats can never truly understand the imaginative world of the teacher.
The idea of piecing details together to reveal a hidden structure, as well as being the classic method of Sherlockian detection, is also central to the approach the author of this novella, Mircea Eliade (1907–86), took to his ‘day job’ – the history of religions. Eliade saw any specific religious tradition as containing only greater or smaller fragments of a whole that can only be grasped by comparing the details from different traditions – and seeing how what may at first seem to be “peripheral episodes” in a mythology can take on greater significance as part of an underlying configuration.
In an interview, Eliade said that in this story he “wanted to engineer a confrontation between two mythologies: the mythology of folklore, of the people, which is still alive, still welling up in the old man, and the mythology of the modern world, of technocracy.” When the interviewer suggested to him that the old man is “the mythic twin, the brother and the double” of Eliade himself, the author replied: “That is beautifully put. There is nothing more to be said.”
But it would be wrong, as Eliade himself often warned, to take his fictions as conscious attempts to illustrate or dramatise his hermeneutical methods. If the author/ the old man is taking his interlocutors for a ride, let’s enjoy it!

There is more on Eliade and religious symbolism in my Goodreads blog: Myth Dancing (Incorporating the Twenty Third Letter). A series of posts on Eliade begins here: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...

[Casper · Rating 3 out of 5]

The setting of this intriguing little novel is part communist, part fantastic. On one level it tells the story of an old man who's fanatically questioned by the secret police. They think he holds the key to some terrible mystery that could have its effect upon the whole society, until the hightest point of the hierarchy. And, maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. What is clear is that the old man is fond of telling stories. Each one of his memories links back to another series of memories and thus, in his recorded coversations with his questioners, he tells one long, associative tale. It doesn't seem to make sense, this tale, and it seems it doesn't have to. It's just a collection of stories that seem like fairy tales. Only somehow these fairy tales have their consequences for the people that listen to them. The line between fantasy and reality gets more and more blurred. The old man just keeps to his stories, but his audience sees one big political intrigue in it. This novel is not about final meaning, because it doesn't seem to have any. It does, however, lure you in, slowly but steadily. You go from the narrator to a narrating old man, to narrating people within his stories. It seems like zooming in, but instead it's only a continuous zooming out until you feel uncertain where it is you've begun exactly. It's the zooming that's the thing though, not the beginning or the ending, just the endless process of zooming. Intriguing, really.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The publisher is fully justified in characterizing this Mircea Eliade novel, in the book’s cover copy, as a sort of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights “as if written by Kafka.” In fact, the narrative may be more spellbinding than that in Kafka’s own novels, and yet Eliade here--as in Youth Without Youth--fails to finish things in a satisfying way. Up until the final pages, the book is a stunning variation on The Trial or The Castle, featuring an old man who--under interrogation--tells story after fascinating story, most of them shot through with magical realism and post-modern fables. And in his final couple of chapters, Eliade twists the shape of the narrative unexpectedly, keeping the reader enthralled.

But what can one say about that super-cryptic ending? It’s not that Eliade needed to resolve everything, but he did need to justify all the foreshadowing and convolutions with, at least, some sort of payoff. The book was so complex and yet so enjoyable that I know I could start over from the beginning now and get caught up in it all over again. And a second reading would make things less obscure, but I’m certain they would remain murky enough that I would still consider myself lost when I finished.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this tale set in Romania after World War II. An old man, a retired high school principal, who has a prodigious memory of his former students and their stories tries to make contact with a former student who is now an official in the state security services, quickly falls under suspicion, and is arrested and brought in for questioning where upon he begins recounting his students stories, but going back 200+ years to lay the proper foundation. He never knows precisely why he is being detained, though several party officials end up being denounced as a result of the tales the principal recounts.

Probably a book I'll reread again.

[Lucian Vilcea · Rating 1 out of 5]

Două vaci polare cu platfus portocaliu tricotau un meci de baschet pe ciment...

Dacă până acum credeam că nu îmi place Eliade, astăzi m-am convins. A fost un adevărat chin să o duc până la capăt, nu are niciun sens. Poate nu sunt eu suficient de inițiat, dar pentru mine e doar un amalgam de legende răstălmăcite cu un fir epic extrem de obositor. Când să cred că încep să pricep ceva, mai apare un personaj fără pic de legătură cu acțiunea de până atunci. E evident că asta e și intenția autorului, dar e repetată obsesiv până la punctul la care oftezi la fiecare a doua respirație. Nu mi-a plăcut.

[Bongobongo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ar fi fost mult mai interesantă dacă nu mi-ar fi indus confuzie prin numărul de personaje și evenimente la care face referire directorul de-a lungul relatărilor sale.

Eliade însă excelează la a da o atmosferă de mister, captivantă, care duce la un deznodământ pe măsura celorlalte nuvele ale sale, un deznodământ unde se răspunde doar pe jumătate întrebărilor cititorului.

Totuși încep să suspectez că Eliade avea o fascinație perversă pentru trupul femeiesc nud și violuri, teme care apar în mai multe dintre operele sale. Iar partea cu taurul a fost de-a dreptul neașteptată...

[Mongarsho · Rating 4 out of 5]

اینقدر درگیر قصه‌گوییت می‌کنه، که یهو به خودت میای می‌پرسی "اصلا چی‌شد که اینطور شد؟" گره‌هایی که روی هم میذاره اینقدر خوش‌ساختن که استدلال رو هم دور میزنن، نویسنده خوش قلم و دانایی که فرم و محتوا رو در هم ممزوج کرده و به سرعت برق و باد میرسونت به روشنایی صبح. اگه دنبال رمانی می‌گردید که بدون اعصاب خوردی و البته شیرین عصر جمعه‌تونو به نوستالژی هزارو یک شب پیوند بزنه، این کتاب رو در کنار نویسنده خوش ذوقش فراموش نکنید. در ضمن کلید حل رمان در همون گره اولیه است.

[Attila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eliade was a world-renowned writer, philosopher, and historian. I loved his short-stories of fantasy and magical realism (read a five-volume collection of these), many of these taking place in Bucharest of the 1930s, a source of an inexhaustible mythology. Pe Strada Mântuleasa (this book) and Dayan were my favourites; I even revisited the streets and places described in these stories.

[Michaela Coman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mircea Eliade este unic, în lumea lui fantastică, iar lecturarea oricărei opere vine ca un val de aer mistuitor, în care te pierzi pentru că profanul tău se pierde puțin câte puțin. Iar sacrul lui e visul pe care voiai să îl trăiești dar nu știai cum.

[Stefan Popoiu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nuvela incepe bine. Chiar amuzanta pe alocuri. Dar ce baliverne si bazaconii indruga Farama nu sunt verosimile deloc. N-am putut sa urmaresc cu interes pana la capat. Ce inventii hilare. N-am priceput fantasticul din ea. Mi-a displacut.

[Johnnyclock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful novella by the Romanian writer and man-of-letters Mircea Eliade. I cannot further describe it. It's only 128 pages and I am on page 86.

[Teo B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating, exhilarating and unique book!

[Ali Acar · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gerçekten kötü bir kitap