Circul nostru vă prezintă:

by Lucian Dan Teodorovici

„Lucian Dan Teodorovici e un maestru al circului suicidar, al bufonadelor patibulare. În pofida deriziunii însă, cartea lui Teodorovici e tristă, ca existenţialismul de cîrciumă şi gang. Tristeţe amărîtă şi sordidă, insidioasă ca o igrasie care-l îmbibă, finalmente, pe ipocritul spectator, ce moţăie în tihna dulce a unei «bune conştiinţe».” (Şerban Foarţă)

„O umanitate dezabuzată, cu inşi cretini şi femei epileptice care cad în biserică, un peisaj cu loseri jalnici şi curve de doi bani, cu blocuri şi vecini de un burlesc agresiv, totul adunat în persoana de existenţialism parodiat a Naratorului («ca întotdeauna, şi astăzi vreau să mă sinucid») în care – dacă vrei – simţi vag greaţa sartriană, «serviciile» inutile ale lui Clémence din Căderea camusiană, umbra Solitarului ionescian ş.a.m.d., trecuţi prin demonia de carnaval a liniei Gogol-Sologub-Bulgakov.” (Dan C. Mihăilescu)

„Un roman care se citeşte dintr-o răsuflare, cu dialoguri spumoase, meditaţii pe măsură şi întîmplări relativ puţine care, chiar dacă lasă uneori impresia că acţiunea trenează, plac prin amestecul inteligent de umor, inedit şi absurd gratuit.” (Marius Chivu)

Genres: Fiction, Romanian Literature, Romania

216 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Lucian Dan Teodorovici (b. 1975) is a Romanian writer.

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.

Translations:
• The collection of short stories Then I Clouted Him Twice has been published in Germany (Pop Verlag, Ludwigsburg, 2009).
• The novel Our Circus Presents... has been published in U.S.A. (Dalkey Archive Press, Urbana-Champaign, 2009), Hungary (Cirkuszunk bemutatja:, L’Harmattan Kiadó, Budapest, 2009), Italy (Aisara Edizioni, Cagliari), Spain (El Nadir, Valencia), and is due to be published in Bulgaria (Paradox Publishing, Sofia) and Egypt (Golden Pony, Cairo).
• The Other Love Stories has been published in Italy (Aisara Edizioni, 2011), and is due to be published in Bulgaria (Paradox Publishing).
• The novel Matei the Brown has been published in France (Gaïa Éditions/Actes Sud, 2013), Poland (Amaltea, 2014), Hungary (Libri Kiadó, 2014), Bulgaria (Paradox Publishing, 2014), and is due to be published in: U.S.A. (Dalkey Archive Press, 2017), Republic of Macedonia (Bata Press, 2018).

Between 2005 and 2008 (7 seasons) he was a scriptwriter for the “Animat Planet Show”, broadcast by the Antena 1 television channel in Romania, and has written screenplays for the feature-length film adaptations of Our Circus Presents..., I’m a Communist Biddy and Lindenfeld, and the short films Chocolates, A Good Day and Goose Chase, which were awarded and financed by the Romanian National Centre of Cinematography.

Reviews

[Jim Fonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Revised 2/25/23]

Three young crazy guys in Romania form a kind of “suicide club.” One climbs out on a window ledge each day, hoping to get the courage to jump. Another repeatedly attempts to hang himself but only when he knows he will be rescued. You get the idea.

Meanwhile, unknowingly, one man actually contributes to the suicide of an ex-woman friend and another accidentally kills a prostitute in a bar fight.

We don’t get any background on what drove these guys to this point, so it all comes across as a bit silly. And that may be the main point because one character speculates that God “…endowed us with free will merely for His own amusement.” The book is translated from Romanian.



The author (b. 1975) is also a scriptwriter and a theater director. He has written a few novels and some collections of short stories, most not available in English. Our Circus is his best-known work in English.

Photo of the author from booknode.com

[Ema · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is it that pushes people towards committing suicide? I thought the answer was simple: a grief and desperation so great that would obliterate any trace of hope and desire. One of the characters in Our Circus Presents has a different opinion, though: besides being the ultimate artistic act that a human being can perform, a true suicide is one without a motive. If one has desires, even the littlest of projections into the future, it means that one is not really capable of committing suicide.
The same character asks: what was the reason behind God's creation of Earth and people? He couldn't have made it either from love, wisdom or desire for power and justice. He concludes that God had no real motive, it was just because. An authentic suicide should be the same, just because.

There is a whole array of characters in Our Circus Presents, all nameless people, each belonging to a different type of circus. There is the micro universe of a block of flats, with all kinds of neighbors: the old couple that keeps their door cracked all day, spying on their floor; the old man who borrows water from his neighbors and uses the elevator to pee and defecate, so that he could save his own water; the husband and wife that fight on account of long-gone affairs; the man who fakes blindness so that he would be allowed in front of a queue.

The narrator, living in the same building, starts his day by sitting on the window ledge, waiting for the impulse to jump. And also waiting for something of interest to happen. Jobless, nameless, womanless, he belongs to a loose circle of people who intend to commit suicide. Intend, but not quite manage to do it. Their means of suicide vary: a not-so-sane guy wants to hang himself in the forest, surrounded by hanged stray dogs; a former theologian tried to catch a fatal disease by sleeping with the cheapest whores - since that plan failed, he intends to drink himself to death with 10 liters of whisky; a “professional” stages fake suicides, hoping to be saved by a passer-by.

The narrator may not feel the necessary impulse because he has desires: to own a huge magnet which could attract all the lost money in the world, to have a girlfriend and make plenty of sex, to play soccer at least once on a famous stadium. But what is his motive behind the desire to kill himself, what are the others' motives? Nobody has one apparently, so they qualify for the authentic suicide, for the ultimate artistic performance of their lives. Why don't they do it then? Is it just mere talk, without guts? Is their approach a false one? Because the person who eventually does commit suicide is precisely one who is desperate and has a motive.

This short novel is not depressing, in spite of its plot, but it's not cheerful either, despite its title; slices of life, raw and unembellished, are counterbalanced by humor (sometimes, not so subtle). My problem with the plot, besides some predictable episodes, was that I couldn't take it seriously, I couldn't believe in the narrator and his story. I was so uninvolved that I didn't care if he took his life or not. I also disagree with one of his opinions - that, even if a person has a reserved attitude in life, things might happen nevertheless. He did go look for a whore at the train station, which prompted a chain of strange events; if he stayed at home, none of it would have happened.

[Declan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a touch of early Beckett - novels such as More Pricks Than Kicks and Murphy - about this book. Sardonic and bitter, yet never lacking in humour. Indeed the two main characters (to call them protagonists would seem to be contrary to their impassivity), - permanently on the cusp of committing suicide - could very well be Vladimir and Estragon; names as well-suited as any others, since we never learn what their parents decided to call them. They are always waiting: for an event, an action, an intervention by some other human being; some significant occurrence which might propel them into finally being decisive. Decisive about finally ceasing to be.

The tone of the book is, as is the case with those early Beckett books, one of constant exasperation; incredulity at the stupidity of other people; fury at the unfairness of one's fate. Yet there is no expectation that things could ever get better. The narrator dreams, fantasizes, even has a small measure of hope. It's enough to keep him going for at least another day, but he acknowledges the futility of these desires. The women will never arrive. He is too old to be a footballer. What saves all of this from becoming morose, self-flagellating, tedium is the almost chipper tone of the narrator, his air of merry confrontation with the mess of life. You feel that his curiosity about others - and what a variegated, woebegone cast of characters those others are - will be enough to carry him through. To allow him to finally arrive at a decision of his own. To continue, despite all. To continue waiting.

ESTRAGON:
If we parted? That might be better for us.
VLADIMIR:
We'll hang ourselves tomorrow. (Pause.) Unless Godot comes.

[Lavinia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sper ca nimeni nu se asteapta de la romanul asta sa fie amuzant (vezi titlu). E asa de trist si de pesimist, ca de aproape o saptamina incerc sa-mi adun doua-trei ginduri pozitive despre el si nu reusesc. E gri ca o zi de noiembrie, ploioasa si amarita, populat de indivizi ciudati, fara nume sau ocupatie, evidentiati doar prin gesturi si fapte absurde.

Spre deosebire de povestiri, aici LDT are ragazul unor panseuri filozofice, si nu de putine ori a trebuit sa ma intorc si sa recitesc anumite fragmente. Personajele nu sint foarte multe si, in ciuda derizoriului, se pun in evidenta reciproc, avind fiecare o personalitate bine conturata.

Pentru ca nu putem spune ca umorul lipseste, din contra, e unul foarte fin si inteligent, comicul e dat de situatiile mai mult decit absurde, iar rezultatul e tragi-comic, cum e si circul, de altfel: risu'-plinsu'.

[Pedro · Rating 3 out of 5]

El joven protagonista se trepa cada mañana al alféizar de su ventana, a la espera del impulso suicida que lo lleve a saltar; está hastiado -tal vez aburrido- de su vida sin sentido, y supone que el suicidio es la alternativa lógica.

Los días y la vida lo van llevando a conocer a otros con el mismo objetivo, con muchas variantes y motivaciones: ¿El suicidio debe tener sentido? ¿Es que acaso de la vida lo tiene? ¿El suicidio no puede ser, tal vez, una forma de arte, gratuito?

A pesar de lo dramático del tema, la narración no toma caminos oscuros ni filosóficos, sino el de una comedia, con personajes tan excéntricos como creíbles.

Una historia entretenida, que deja en el aire algún pensamiento.

[Stefan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aproape mi-a plăcut, ori poate am citit-o prea repede (se citește foarte repede)... LDT are umor, scrie bine, scoate multe scântei din banalitățile de zi cu zi (mai puțin din bubele, mucegaiul și noroiul de prin preajmă). Bune de tot pasajele despre viața la bloc, cu vecini-spioni & vecine-hormonale & administratori & cine se cacă-n lift; cam sordide pasajele cu ceferiști & curve. Mare circ, mare, cu sinucigași ratați, ușor tâmpiței, căutători de sensuri („impulsuri”) pe pervaze și-n găleți cu whiskey. Orașul? pun pariu că-i Iași, iar naratorul stă-n Tătărași.

[César Carranza · Rating 2 out of 5]

La historia va de un hombre que se posa en la ventana de su vivienda esperando que el impulso suicida un día lo empuje, pero ahora es solo ir a mirar... Un día decide hacer algo distinto y sale encontrándose en una serie de sucesos raros y tal vez a un grupo muy reducido que es similar a él. Pues bueno, a mí no me gustó mucho, de repente es muy predecible y, creo yo, simplón. Es ligero pero creo que hay cosas ligeras que me parecen mejores.

[Guttersnipe Das · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short novel about a man who resolves, every day, to kill himself, but doesn’t quite get around to it, and to his misadventures amid a clan of like-minded maniacs. Like clockwork, things go grotesquely, hilariously wrong -- and in the process someone does manage to actually die.

I believe this kind of writing is traditionally called ‘the picaresque tale’. Whereas to me it seems like ‘natural realism’. . . I suspect the people who will really enjoy this book are those who agree with me -- those for whom black humor is a way of life.

On page 55, the narrator says, “Because, in truth, to talk to someone who sort of committed suicide is quite comical”. And this short novel, nimbly translated from Romanian by Alistair Ian Blyth, existing in English only because of the ongoing heroism of Dalkey Archive Press, is the proof. I’m not making huge claims for it, it’s not earthshaking, but it’s extremely good company, especially if you, too, are part of the narrators’ clan, those who have “sort of” killed themselves, at one time or another, or seriously mean to get around to it, sooner or later, but something keeps interfering. If you, like the narrator, are on that precarious edge, this book will make you laugh -- and laughing helps a lot.

[Bogdan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucian Dan Teodorovici is one the best contemporary Romanian writers, in my opinion. He writes well, using very well humor without crossing the line into parody. Same situation with this not too long novel, but in this case, I did not liked too much the topic (it is about suicide) and the way it is presented.

What I mean is that the characters do not take suicide too seriously. All main characters try to commit suicide or (in one case) they are actually doing it. And they believe it to me some kind of art or a method of sending a message to the world. In my opinion, except the character that killed herself to revenge on the narrator, they are actually not thinking too seriously at what suicide actually means. They don't understand that the person as it existed disappears. Due to this, I'll give it a 2 for premise.

Regarding the form, I liked a lot the way humor is carefully inserted, mostly in flashbacks of the narrator. This makes the topic of suicide one that becomes a little easier to read about it. I'll give it a 4 for form.

In terms of originality, I haven't read too many novels on this topic, although I am sure they exist. But if I take into account also the humor and the apparent mocking of suicide by the characters that don't seem to take it seriously, I believe it is fairly original. So I will give it a 4 for the level of originality.

On the characters, the first person narrator is one the best such characters from Romanian literature. Also the other characters are interesting and diverse as in real life. I believe Lucian Dan Teodorovici is a great human observer and this is why he makes so good characters. So I will give it a 5 for characters.

Regarding the complexity and difficulty, at first sight the novel seems simple, but behind the way each character relates with suicidal ideas, there are a lot of additional meanings. Thus a reader can interpret the novel in various ways. It is not too difficult, as it is firmly anchored in Romanian society from past years, something that I experience myself daily. Thus I will rate it with a 3 for complexity and difficulty.

In terms of credibility, the story in itself is plausible. My problem is with the fact that so many characters interested in suicidal crossed their paths in so little time (the novel takes place in couple of days only). But what is similar is attracting each other, so my rating for credibility is 4.

The last criteria is edition. My hardcover second edition with quality paper is fairly elegant. I also liked that it had a book sign and that the spine was made in such a way that I could read it on flat surface. This is just the kind of books I like to buy, so I'll give it a 5.

To summarize, this is a novel not too common, perhaps not to easy to digest by all readers, but I liked it. I wished a more clear conclusion about suicidal (death is not a game and if you did something that you regret afterwards, you cannot load last saved game and try again). All in all, my final rating for it is 3.86, which I will round it to 4 on Goodreads system.

+--------------------------+-----------------+
| Criteria | Rating |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
|Premise | 2 |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
|Form | 4 |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
|Originality | 4 |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
|Characters | 5 |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
|Difficulty/Complexity | 3 |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
|Credibility | 4 |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
|Edition | 5 |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
|Total | 3.86 |
+--------------------------+-----------------+

For more details on how I rated and reviewed this novel, please read these guidelines.

[Ana-Maria Bujor · Rating 4 out of 5]

O carte macabra unde se intampla lucruri absurde insa din care razbat mici momente de umanitate, suficient cat sa nu devina o caricatura. Nu e un subiect complet nou - grupul de oameni care vor sa se sinucida dar nu le iese, dar executia face cartea sa iasa in evidenta. Desi nu are nimeni un nume, personajele sunt memorabile, actiunea e alerta, e si un pic de filosofie acolo - per total o lectura rapida pe care nu vrei sa o lasi din mana. Am terminat-o intr-o zi.
Si n-am mai ras atat de ceva vreme citind o carte - da, stiu ca e macabru si absurd, dar fix asa imi place umorul.

[Jesús Santana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucian D. Teodorovici a pesar de ser bastante desconocido en America es en gran parte de Europa y en especial en su país Rumania conocido por su excelente trabajo como escritor de guiones para programas de TV como “Animat Planet” (una parodia del famoso canal de TV por suscripción), el documental “Comunismo de andar por casa” y el corto basado en la novela homónima de Dan Lungu “¡Soy un vejestorio comunista!”, como humorista su trabajo es afilado y certero, es el redactor jefe del Suplemento Cultural y parte importante de la Editorial Polirom. Su trabajo es considerado en gran parte nihilismo puro y entra en la lista y la vena de los grandes rumanos que vivieron una fama bastante respetable en la Francia de los años 60 gracias al exilio, a pesar de haber nacido en 1975 y ser bastante joven lo consideran una de las mejores voces contemporáneas salidas de Rumania en la actualidad. Una alta cantidad de novelas publicadas y pocas traducidas al español pero es con “Casta de Suicidas” mi primer encuentro con su trabajo que la Editorial El Nadir ha traducido al español; sus otras novelas con nombres tan peculiares como “El mundo visto a través de un agujero del tamaño de un cigarrillo de marihuana”, “De pronto le pegué dos bofetadas” y la que se espera su pronta edición en español “Ni hablar de Drácula…” ya dan muestra de lo que ha sido su interesante trabajo como escritor.

“Casta de Suicidas” me ha parecido una maravilla, un libro que se puede leer en un solo viaje; su trabajo engancha desde el primer momento, el personaje principal tiene 35 años de edad y todos los días abre la ventana a manera de ritual, se para en el borde con intenciones de lanzarse pero siempre día tras día termina discutiendo desde lo alto con alguien que desde abajo le pide que no lo haga, año tras año y día tras día la misma historia. Hasta que llega un momento en que decide salir a caminar por las calles a meditar y es donde se encuentra en el transcurso de unos largos tres días una gran cantidad de personajes llamativos que bien podrían salir de mentes como las de los genios Quim Monzó o Georges Perec; un Sacerdote que cree en plena misa que un ataque epiléptico es una posesión diabólica y nadie hace nada. un suicida que ha decidido acostarse con la mayor cantidad de prostitutas posibles hasta que le contagien una enfermedad mortal, otro suicida que espera poder tomarse diez litros de vodka y morir feliz, entre otros que el llama artistas del suicidio.

La novela a pesar de ser una parodia de la vida y las razones o no razones que llevan a los personajes a querer suicidarse tiene unos momentos con una gran intensidad y carga filosófica, uno de los picos mas altos de la obra es la conversación entre 3 de los suicidas en una casa donde quien lleva la batuta describe desde la creación del mundo y como hemos llegado a esto que vemos en la actualidad, razón suficiente para tener una no razón de suicidarse.

Teodorovici sabe jugar y mezclar muy bien de manera sutil la ironía, el cinismo, el humor, la filosofía y el sarcasmo de una manera efectiva y brillante, “Casta de Suicidas” hace pensar y golpea los cimientos de los que aman la vida y la defienden a golpe y porrazo. Su trabajo hace que uno reflexione con el placer de leerlo.

Un ambiente de tristeza rodea el humor que es la clave de la obra, en algún lugar leí sobre estos artistas del suicidio una frase que sabe describir perfectamente la novela “es el payaso que sabe que su felicidad externa es simplemente el maquillaje de un hombre fracasado”.

Altamente recomendable y a la espera de encontrar pronto mucho mas de su trabajo.

http://bitacoradelscriptorium.blogspo...

[Lammoth · Rating 4 out of 5]

През последните десетилетия Балканите са се превърнали в един безкраен и безвременен цирк на абсурда, а Румъния също е неизменна част от този цирк. Румънците са популярни по света с много неща, най-вече с легендите за граф Дракула. И тъкмо когато никой не е очаквал от тях да извадят по-ужасяващ човек от Дракула, румънците представят на света Чаушеску. В книгата на Теодорович не става дума нито за първия, нито за втория. Главните герои са хора по най-ниските стъпала на обществото: самотен нехранимайковци, просяци, проститутки, железничари, духовници, пенсионери, и т.н.

Историята се разказва от самотен безделник, чието има така и не се споменава, и който от дълго време планира своето самоубийство. Но така и не се престрашава (или не показва достатъчен интелект) за да сведе до "успех" тези планове. Живее в кооперация с пенсионери, а единствените му по-скъпоценни вещи са телевизор и някои дребни принадлежности. Шляе безцелно, колкото да стане свидетел на някоя по-интересни случка, които да разнообразят сивото му депресиращо ежедневие, когато един ден по неволя спасява един негов "колега" самоубиец на гарата за влакове и оттам се забърква с проститутки, жепе служители и със странните си застаряващи съседи. "Нашият цирк Ви представя" е наситен с онзи вид битов хумор, който може да звучи като виц, а може да е действителен случай, но в никакъв случай този хумор не е самоцелен, не присъства просто ей така. В една църква припада жена, вероятно с епилепсия, а попът в църквата започва да дава наставления никой да не се приближава, защото жената е обладана от зли демони, които се предават чрез допир. Смел гражданин обаче се намесва и въпреки протестите на божия служител успява да спаси жената...

Всъщност темите са типични за балканските ширини: засягат се взаимоотношенията между съседи, заяжданията между тях, безпаричието, депресията, пенсионерите, ромите в градския транспорт и т.н., но една от основните теми, макар и разгледана по-доста простолюден начин е вече досадния въпрос за "смисъла на живота". Но когато този въпрос е потопен в алкохолна мъгла, разговорите са доста по-интересни и оригинални. Направи ми впечатление, че много често Бог присъства в разговорите, което е съвсем нормално за румънското общество, което е сред най-религиозните в Европа. Да оставил книгата за момент настрана, румънското правителство реши да финансира скъпоструващ проект за построяване на Катедралата „Избавление на румънския род“, с която румънците искат да се представят пред света, и която ще бъде най-високия православен храм в света, издържащ на земетресения до 8.5 по Рихтер. Поради тази причина вероятно и Лучан Дан Теодорович е отделил немалко място за склонността на румънците към суеверие, към секти, пардон религии като Свидетелите на Йехова, най-вероятно от липса на какво друго да се осланят .

Лично на мен книгата ми бе наистина забавна, но финалът ми се стори незадоволителен, незавършен. Може и авторът нарочно да е спрял някъде около 150-та страница.

http://lammothsblog.blogspot.com/2015...

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting little novel. It is a translation, but rather than be a hindrance it gives the story-telling and the descriptions a bit of a unique edge.

The narrator is this guy who climbs out onto the window ledge of his apartment every morning and stands outside the window, waiting to get the suicidal urge to jump. He never does, but he enjoys giving some passerby the joy of feeling as though they've saved him from jumping. The novel takes the reader through a series of events that occur after this man leaves his apartment in search of some excitement to brighten his dull existence. "Maybe someone will steal a lady's handbag, maybe someone will throw himself under a tram, or maybe someone will get the insane idea of biting a dog". It's slightly cynical, slightly morbid and very funny.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is okay. The premise was promising: a man constantly contemplates suicides and runs across a couple other characters with similar compulsions. One man wants to drink himself to death. Previously he wanted to sleep with so many prostitutes that he would contract a deadly disease. Our protagonist choose a simpler means of demise: jumping off his balcony, however, he can never quite bring himself to do it. My problem lies in that none of the characters have any shape or depth and the story seems pretty sparse.

[Luca Fois]

I do not feel like rating this.
Did not like it. Found reading this a struggle. Really boring.
But could it be the translation, or the moment in which I was reading this?
I am not reading this again. And I am not rating it either.

[dete · Rating 1 out of 5]

скука, брат.

[Simina · Rating 4 out of 5]

mi-a plăcut atmosfera și am râs. nu mi-au plăcut repetițiile - după ce personajului i se întâmpla ceva, tot relua în cap ce s-a întâmplat.

[L.S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cel putin la fel de bine scris ca si Cu putin timp... Romanul este foarte deprimant si sumbru in esenta lui desi comicul de situatie este destul de frecvent prezent.

[Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Featuring the best metaphor since Cat's Cradle.

[Aaron McQuiston · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Our Circus Presents" starts out with the nameless main character (called Birdman for no other reason but convience and that he perches on the edge of the window everyday contemplating whether or not today was the day he was going to leap to his death) walking around the streets, trying to curb his boredom. He thinks about suicide constantly, every moment of every day, has friends who are talking about killing themselves in the most artistic ways (getting diseases from prostitues, drinking so much whiskey that the person dies from alcohol poisoning, etc) that Birdman is entrenched in death. Until he is walking in the train yard on his way to a prostitute when he sees a man hanging. Thus continues the Birdman's journey toward wanting to die but not having the ambition to kill himself. He likes the attention but fears the result.

In the first chapter, Birdman describes a joke that his father used to tell.

"So, a circus comes to town (I don't remember which town), and the poster looked something like this:

THE MAIN ATTRACTION!
OUR CIRCUS PRESENTS A UNIQUE ACT:
THE BIRDMAN!
ONE DAY HE FLIES, THE NEXT DAY HE DOESN'T
HE'S NOT FLYING TODAY!

This is really why Teodorovici calls the narrator the Birdman because throughout the book, he is not flying out the window today.

Lucian Dan Teodorovici writes and Alistair Ian Blyth translates a short, often times humorous, often times perverted, novel that really is at the core one man's journey through his own boredom. Nothing in his life is exciting until he meets the man in the orange suspenders (no character has a name), which basically shows him that he is on the right track but not exactly heading the right direction. The novel really feels more like an narrative that is more episodic than a sprawling plot, chapters are not always related to each other in regards to the story, but the chapters do have a common theme. In each chapter, Teodorovici brings up someone's plans for suicide, thoughts on suicide, or attempts at suicide. The subject is on Birdman's mind at all times, and it is a repetition in each chapter, which is somewhat interesting. And even though it does not seem like this novel would be funny and lighthearted considering the subject matter, Teodorovici does a good job at making it one of the least depressing novels focused on suicide that I have read. Overall, "Our Circus Presents" is a good book and I enjoyed the humor, but the ennui and the suicide talk does become a little irritating and old toward the end. This keeps my enthusiastic praise for this novel much lower than it could have been.

[Adrian Manea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A patra carte a lui Teodorovici pe care o citesc, diferită semnificativ de celelalte (Cel care cheamă cîinii, Matei Brunul, Celelalte povești de dragoste). Diferită într-un sens binevenit. Un absurd cînd parodic, cînd cu străluciri din adîncuri, cînd cu banal cotidian. E o carte cu care poți rîde, care-ți ridică întrebări și care-ți arată frînturi din realitate nefardată.

Dată fiind tema și modul de prezentare a ei pe care și le propune autorul, cartea nu poate fi tocmai credibilă și pe alocuri parcă predomină partea parodică. Am considerat asta un minus, amestecul între bucăți de viață verosimilă, absurd parodiat sau măcar stors de umor și licăriri (aproape) filosofice parcă nu are tot timpul proporțiile optime, ca și cum autorul s-ar fi grăbit și nu și-ar fi dat suficient timp să dezvolte niciuna dintre aceste componente.

Dar, repet, cartea este o gură de aer proaspăt (ce paradox să mă exprim așa față de subiectul ei!) în lista mea de lecturi ale lui Lucian Dan Teodorovici.

[Marcus Nelson · Rating 1 out of 5]

The shadow of Beckett looms over this….

I picked up the book because I thought the premise was an interesting one, however I found myself disengaged the whole time, and the story felt lacking in any kind of meat or depth. There were moments throughout where I felt the author could have fully plunged into the abyss, really come face to face with suicide, but often felt too absurd and detached to develop into anything truly meaningful.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to feel anything much about Our Circus Presents. There were bits that were good, some bits were not so good. Teodorovici also shoehorns in some entry-level philosophy and theology, which, though I enjoyed reading, seemed out of place and disconnected from the narrative.

Always keen to read more eastern-block neglected fiction though. Just after something with a bit more flesh.

[Jeff Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely absurdist..bordering on nihilist at some points. The protagonist is searching for meaning or desire and well read the book and you will find if his search is successful.

[Mesia Loriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Șocant de intriganta

[Vanya Prodanova · Rating 4 out of 5]

"А аз, ако чрез абсурд предположим, че някога имам деца, сигурно ще трябва да сложа съвсем различни неща на прощъпукника. Клуп, направен от тънко въженце. Шишенце цианкалий. Спринцовка. Нож. Пистолет, дори с риск да стана банален. И много други сходни предмети. Ако наистина вярвам, че този ритуал дава указания за съдбата, така ще ми стане ясно каква смърт ще избере детето ми. И в случай, че не избере нищо от подноса, ще знам, че няма заложби за самоубиец..."

Ето това е книгата. Директна. Груба. Забавна. Болезнена. Иронична. Саркатистична. Философска.

Смях се с глас. Четох с ококорени очи. Гневих се на места, но май досега не бях чела друга книга, която по-такъв виртуозен начин да ми представи живота и смъртта и това да не ме натовари. Напротив, донеси ми удивително спокойствие и усмивка с последните си редове. И въпреки лекия полусериозен-полунесериозен тон, има какво да научиш за себе си като личност и като част от обществото, само, разбира се, ако освободиш съзнанието си от социалните норми и ценности, за да се потопиш изцяло в "цирка". :)

[Paola · Rating 5 out of 5]

“L'Uomo-Uccello oggi non vola”. Ed è così che si sente il protagonista di questo romanzo, in piedi sul cornicione della finestra del suo appartamento al quinto piano, in attesa che arrivi l’ispirazione per il suicidio. Ma l'Uomo-Uccello non vola mai, inchiodato a un presente che lo vede quotidianamente affacciato sulla morte, incapace tuttavia di un atto di estremo coraggio. Insieme a lui una combriccola di bizzarri personaggi tutti alla ricerca del migliore dei suicidi possibili, tutti destinati a un inevitabile fallimento.
Una storia acidula, a metà tra il grottesco e l’ilare, da leggere tutta d’un fiato per passare un momento di puro godimento in compagnia di un ottimo libro.