What do you think?
Rate this book
Drei Uhr morgens
Zwei Tage und zwei Nächte ohne Schlaf. So lautet die ärztliche Anweisung, für die Antonio und sein Vater nach Marseille gereist sind. Bekommt Antonio keinen epileptischen Anfall, ist er geheilt, darf einfach wieder Teenager sein. Nun liegen achtundvierzig Stunden vor ihnen.
Vater und Sohn, die sich fremd geworden sind, wagen in den Gassen der Stadt vorsichtige Unterhaltungen. Darüber, wie es früher war. Wie es jetzt ist. Wie man sich verliebt. Wie man Musik wirklich hört. Sie finden sich in schummrigen Jazzbars wieder, in freundlichen Küchen, an flimmernden Stränden. Und irgendwann, zwischen Kaffee, Wein und der nächsten Dämmerung, beginnen sie, einander zu verstehen.
Eine leise, bewegende Begegnung zwischen Vater und Sohn, die uns lehrt, dass es für wahre Nähe nie zu spät ist.
Vater und Sohn, die sich fremd geworden sind, wagen in den Gassen der Stadt vorsichtige Unterhaltungen. Darüber, wie es früher war. Wie es jetzt ist. Wie man sich verliebt. Wie man Musik wirklich hört. Sie finden sich in schummrigen Jazzbars wieder, in freundlichen Küchen, an flimmernden Stränden. Und irgendwann, zwischen Kaffee, Wein und der nächsten Dämmerung, beginnen sie, einander zu verstehen.
Eine leise, bewegende Begegnung zwischen Vater und Sohn, die uns lehrt, dass es für wahre Nähe nie zu spät ist.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2017
169 people are currently reading
7478 people want to read
About the author
Gianrico Carofiglio
59 books1,060 followersGianrico Carofiglio (born 1961) is a novelist and former anti-Mafia judge in the Italian city of Bari. His debut novel, Involuntary Witness, was published in 2002 and translated into English in 2005 by Patrick Creagh and published by the Bitter Lemon Press, and has been adapted as the basis for a popular television series in Italy. The subsequent novels were translated by Howard Curtis.
Carofiglio won the 2005 Premio Bancarella award for his novel "Il passato è una terra straniera". He is also Honorary President of The Edinburgh Gadda Prize which celebrates the work of Carlo Emilio Gadda.
The Past is a Foreign Country is the English language title of the 2004 novel Il passato è una terra straniera. It won the 2005 Premio Bancarella literary award. It has been translated into English.
Carofiglio won the 2005 Premio Bancarella award for his novel "Il passato è una terra straniera". He is also Honorary President of The Edinburgh Gadda Prize which celebrates the work of Carlo Emilio Gadda.
The Past is a Foreign Country is the English language title of the 2004 novel Il passato è una terra straniera. It won the 2005 Premio Bancarella literary award. It has been translated into English.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 939 reviews
November 16, 2021
“In a real dark night of the soul, it is always three o’clock in the morning, day after day.” ~F. Scott Fitzgerald
Italian author Gianrico Carofiglio’s novel inspired by that quote sure did sneak up on me. Isn’t it wonderful when you start a book with no expectations and realize you’ve unearthed a gem?!
Set in the 1980s, Three O’Clock in the Morning follows 18-year-old Antonio and his middle-aged father as they spend 48 hours together in Marseilles. Because Antonio is there for a series of tests related to his epilepsy, he must stay up the entire time. His father joins him in these sleepless hours, and their time together is simultaneously mundane and illuminating.
Pick this one up if any of the following appeals:
- A book translated from Italian, set in France in the ‘80s.
- Father/son relationships, particularly while the son is on the verge of adulthood.
- A novel under 200 pages to help you reach a reading goal.
- Struggles with a child’s medical diagnosis.
On that last point, there is a scene in which a young Antonio and his parents are visiting a doctor to better understand his condition. In one sentence, the doctor helps him see that he is not alone, and that there is still hope for a productive - and perhaps even remarkable - life. It brought chills to my entire body, and even remembering it now does the same.
I received a complimentary copy of the audiobook from Libro.fm and HarperVia for International Translation Day. What a gift!
Blog: https://www.confettibookshelf.com/
Italian author Gianrico Carofiglio’s novel inspired by that quote sure did sneak up on me. Isn’t it wonderful when you start a book with no expectations and realize you’ve unearthed a gem?!
Set in the 1980s, Three O’Clock in the Morning follows 18-year-old Antonio and his middle-aged father as they spend 48 hours together in Marseilles. Because Antonio is there for a series of tests related to his epilepsy, he must stay up the entire time. His father joins him in these sleepless hours, and their time together is simultaneously mundane and illuminating.
Pick this one up if any of the following appeals:
- A book translated from Italian, set in France in the ‘80s.
- Father/son relationships, particularly while the son is on the verge of adulthood.
- A novel under 200 pages to help you reach a reading goal.
- Struggles with a child’s medical diagnosis.
On that last point, there is a scene in which a young Antonio and his parents are visiting a doctor to better understand his condition. In one sentence, the doctor helps him see that he is not alone, and that there is still hope for a productive - and perhaps even remarkable - life. It brought chills to my entire body, and even remembering it now does the same.
I received a complimentary copy of the audiobook from Libro.fm and HarperVia for International Translation Day. What a gift!
Blog: https://www.confettibookshelf.com/
March 8, 2021
Seventeen year old Antonio is diagnosed with idiopathic generalized epilepsy. It’s this condition that takes him and his father on a journey from Italy to Marseilles seeking medical intervention with a specialist. The journey becomes more than just a follow up of his treatment. It’s a journey that brings a connection between a father and a son, a journey of self discovery for each of them. It more than a coming of age story. Antonio and his father don’t really know each other very well. While Antonio has spent time with his father, his parents have been separated since he was a child. You won’t find a lot of action here; the most important things that happen here are their conversations, ones they never had, in ways they never had. Antonio is struck by his father’s remembrances of when he was a little boy. He notices things about his father that he never did - a small scar on his face leading to the story he never knew of how his parents met. A poem recited by his father- a moment of sharing that neither of them were used to. Much more is shared between them as they converse on an intellectual level, poetry, music, professions, on a philosophical level about freedom, being lost, intention and the conversations ultimately reflect the love between them.
Most of the time the writing felt so matter of fact and even though there were so many poignant scenes, I didn’t feel a depth of emotion in the language. I attributed that to the possibility that some things get lost in translations, until I read the translators note. Referring to Gianrico Carofiglio, he says “ He is a champion of clarity in language, and his own prose, in both fiction and non-fiction, is direct, limpid, and unambiguous.” Even though the style of writing didn’t appeal to me, the story overall certainly did. At one point, Antonio’s father quotes F. Scott Fitzgerald “In a real dark night of the soul, it is always 3 o’clock in the morning.” Of course, I now have to find Fitzgerald’s essays , “The Crack-Up”.
I received an advanced copy of this book from HarperCollins through Edelweiss
Most of the time the writing felt so matter of fact and even though there were so many poignant scenes, I didn’t feel a depth of emotion in the language. I attributed that to the possibility that some things get lost in translations, until I read the translators note. Referring to Gianrico Carofiglio, he says “ He is a champion of clarity in language, and his own prose, in both fiction and non-fiction, is direct, limpid, and unambiguous.” Even though the style of writing didn’t appeal to me, the story overall certainly did. At one point, Antonio’s father quotes F. Scott Fitzgerald “In a real dark night of the soul, it is always 3 o’clock in the morning.” Of course, I now have to find Fitzgerald’s essays , “The Crack-Up”.
I received an advanced copy of this book from HarperCollins through Edelweiss
April 3, 2021
The blub is a perfect review in itself....
Audiobook... read by Gary Furlong 3 hours and 55 minutes
I really enjoyed this slim novel ....
It was a great treat to be the fly on the wall listening to father and son begin to really know each other.
Inspired me!
...Loved the deceptively causal tone.
...Unpretentious-chatty-father and son dialogue.
...Infused with retrospective, bittersweet wisdom.
...enjoyable exploration of everything fathers and sons rarely talk about ... but need to. (uncomfortable private stories rise to the surface... and the conversations between father & son inspire tender and refreshing closeness)....
...raw honest, witty, humorous, vulnerable....
48 hours of walking and talking....
... kudos to walking and talking....
...the footsteps are the vehicle to healing and love.
Emotionally packed!
Audiobook... read by Gary Furlong 3 hours and 55 minutes
I really enjoyed this slim novel ....
It was a great treat to be the fly on the wall listening to father and son begin to really know each other.
Inspired me!
...Loved the deceptively causal tone.
...Unpretentious-chatty-father and son dialogue.
...Infused with retrospective, bittersweet wisdom.
...enjoyable exploration of everything fathers and sons rarely talk about ... but need to. (uncomfortable private stories rise to the surface... and the conversations between father & son inspire tender and refreshing closeness)....
...raw honest, witty, humorous, vulnerable....
48 hours of walking and talking....
... kudos to walking and talking....
...the footsteps are the vehicle to healing and love.
Emotionally packed!
July 27, 2021
"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the 'old man' around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the 'old man' had learned . . . " -- quote attributed to humorist Mark Twain
Although we shouldn't necessarily judge a book by its cover, Three O'Clock in the Morning (its title appropriated from the F. Scott Fitzgerald line "In a real dark night of the soul, it is always three o'clock in the morning") is adorned with a simple but eye-catching and colorful illustration that reminded me of artwork suitable to hang in a Mediterranean-themed eatery. As it turned out, this straightforward little book was very satisfying, much like having an extremely good meal at such an establishment.
Antonio is an eighteen year-old from Italy, just starting his summer holiday in 1983 before his final year of parochial school. He seems like a nice but fairly average young man, residing with his mother. (His parents divorced when he was nine, and he has significantly less contact with a distant-seeming mathematics professor father.) However, for a few years Antonio has been affected by the onset of a mild epileptic condition, and when he has to travel to see a physician-specialist in France his mother is unavailable due to work. Antonio is instead accompanied by his father, and after their consultation with the M.D. it is requested that Antonio stay awake for a full 48 hours to a follow-up appointment.
So now Antonio is in the unfamiliar Marseilles (a cosmopolitan coastal city), and monitored by a father who is also somewhat unfamiliar to him. What unfolds - retold by a fifty year-old Antonio in the present day - is a chance for these characters to really get to know one another as they explore the city and forgo sleep for two days. I loved reading their various conversations - Antonio makes some realizations, and files away certain things in his mind that will eventually help in making him a thoughtful adult - and one moment in particular ran the risk in nearly bringing me to tears. The heartfelt scene: Antonio's father, although now a respected / educated man, had a love for playing jazz piano when he was Antonio's age but resisted pursuing it and grew out of this 'immature' desire. When they duo decide to visit a small nightclub - the kind of loose place where patrons are allowed to sit-in with the jazz quartet on stage - Antonio gently prods his father to take a chance again at the ivories. It goes very well, and I could just imagine the proud look beaming across Antonio's face, shifting from seeing not just his 'father,' but a complicated although good man with all sorts of thoughts and life experiences. This was an appealing novella that truly struck a nerve with me.
Although we shouldn't necessarily judge a book by its cover, Three O'Clock in the Morning (its title appropriated from the F. Scott Fitzgerald line "In a real dark night of the soul, it is always three o'clock in the morning") is adorned with a simple but eye-catching and colorful illustration that reminded me of artwork suitable to hang in a Mediterranean-themed eatery. As it turned out, this straightforward little book was very satisfying, much like having an extremely good meal at such an establishment.
Antonio is an eighteen year-old from Italy, just starting his summer holiday in 1983 before his final year of parochial school. He seems like a nice but fairly average young man, residing with his mother. (His parents divorced when he was nine, and he has significantly less contact with a distant-seeming mathematics professor father.) However, for a few years Antonio has been affected by the onset of a mild epileptic condition, and when he has to travel to see a physician-specialist in France his mother is unavailable due to work. Antonio is instead accompanied by his father, and after their consultation with the M.D. it is requested that Antonio stay awake for a full 48 hours to a follow-up appointment.
So now Antonio is in the unfamiliar Marseilles (a cosmopolitan coastal city), and monitored by a father who is also somewhat unfamiliar to him. What unfolds - retold by a fifty year-old Antonio in the present day - is a chance for these characters to really get to know one another as they explore the city and forgo sleep for two days. I loved reading their various conversations - Antonio makes some realizations, and files away certain things in his mind that will eventually help in making him a thoughtful adult - and one moment in particular ran the risk in nearly bringing me to tears. The heartfelt scene: Antonio's father, although now a respected / educated man, had a love for playing jazz piano when he was Antonio's age but resisted pursuing it and grew out of this 'immature' desire. When they duo decide to visit a small nightclub - the kind of loose place where patrons are allowed to sit-in with the jazz quartet on stage - Antonio gently prods his father to take a chance again at the ivories. It goes very well, and I could just imagine the proud look beaming across Antonio's face, shifting from seeing not just his 'father,' but a complicated although good man with all sorts of thoughts and life experiences. This was an appealing novella that truly struck a nerve with me.
June 29, 2024
"İlk tedaviden sonra içine yuvarlandığım derin bunalım günden güne yok oldu. Futbol oynamak ve gazoz içmek dahil eskiden yaptığım her şeyi yapmaya başladım. Baika bir deyişle onlardan çok farklı olmak istememe rağmen yaşıtlarımın arasına karıştım. Bu bütün ergenlerin mustarip olduğu bir tür şizofrenidir. Farklı olmayı hayal ederken aynı olmak için ellerinden geleni yaparlar."
İnsanın bazı kitaplara "ah canımın içi" diye sarılası geliyor, İtalyan yazar Gianrico Carofiglio'nun, adını bir Scott Fitzgerald cümlesinden ("Ruhun gerçekten karanlıklar içine düştüğü gecede saat daima sabahın üçüdür") alan romanı Sabahın Üçü de onlardan biri. Son derece iddiasız, sakin, olaysız bir kitap - zaten tam da bu nedenle çok güzel ve bu sayede insanın kalbini okşuyor.
Annesi ve babası kendisi küçükken boşandığından çok da yakın olmadığı babası ile sağlık sebeplerinden ötürü Marsilya'da uyumadan 2 gece geçirmesi gereken bir genç adam Antonio. Bu 2 gece boyunca babasıyla şehirde avare dolaşıyor ve o güne dek kuramadıkları bir bağ kuruyor baba-oğul. Sanıyorum pek çok insanın anne-babasıyla ilişkisinde bir paradigmanın kaydığı bir an vardır, iki yetişkin gibi yapılan ilk sohbet, ebeveynin anne/baba olarak değil, insan olarak göründüğü, kendini açtığı ilk an. Kim ne kadar hatırlar bilinmez ama hissi bâki kalır insanda. Antonio ve babasının tam olarak bu yolculuğuna eşlik ediyoruz biz de kitap boyunca. Bilmedikleri, tanımadıkları bir şehirde, sorumluluklarından uzakta; şehirle beraber birbirlerini keşfedişlerinin öyküsü.
Antonio'nun ağzından dinlediğimiz öykü çok naif, çok sahici. Babasının kırılganlıklarını görüşü, kırılgan olmasının güven vericiliğinden bir şey eksiltmeyişini fark edişi, bir yetişkine şefkat duyulabileceğini öğrenmesi (ki o bilgi insanın büyüdüğünü anladığı anlardan birinin de habercisidir bence), şehrin tekinsizliği ve Antonio'nun hastalığının belirsizliğinin yarattığı huzursuzlukta birbirlerine başka türlü tutunmaları...
Çok güzel, çok. Yazarın akışkan, sakin dilini ayrı, öyküyü ayrı, aralara serpiştirdiği minik bilgelik kırıntılarını ayrı sevdim. Eren Cendey çevirisi her zamanki gibi tertemiz.
Okuyun. Hatta babalarınıza da okutun!
İnsanın bazı kitaplara "ah canımın içi" diye sarılası geliyor, İtalyan yazar Gianrico Carofiglio'nun, adını bir Scott Fitzgerald cümlesinden ("Ruhun gerçekten karanlıklar içine düştüğü gecede saat daima sabahın üçüdür") alan romanı Sabahın Üçü de onlardan biri. Son derece iddiasız, sakin, olaysız bir kitap - zaten tam da bu nedenle çok güzel ve bu sayede insanın kalbini okşuyor.
Annesi ve babası kendisi küçükken boşandığından çok da yakın olmadığı babası ile sağlık sebeplerinden ötürü Marsilya'da uyumadan 2 gece geçirmesi gereken bir genç adam Antonio. Bu 2 gece boyunca babasıyla şehirde avare dolaşıyor ve o güne dek kuramadıkları bir bağ kuruyor baba-oğul. Sanıyorum pek çok insanın anne-babasıyla ilişkisinde bir paradigmanın kaydığı bir an vardır, iki yetişkin gibi yapılan ilk sohbet, ebeveynin anne/baba olarak değil, insan olarak göründüğü, kendini açtığı ilk an. Kim ne kadar hatırlar bilinmez ama hissi bâki kalır insanda. Antonio ve babasının tam olarak bu yolculuğuna eşlik ediyoruz biz de kitap boyunca. Bilmedikleri, tanımadıkları bir şehirde, sorumluluklarından uzakta; şehirle beraber birbirlerini keşfedişlerinin öyküsü.
Antonio'nun ağzından dinlediğimiz öykü çok naif, çok sahici. Babasının kırılganlıklarını görüşü, kırılgan olmasının güven vericiliğinden bir şey eksiltmeyişini fark edişi, bir yetişkine şefkat duyulabileceğini öğrenmesi (ki o bilgi insanın büyüdüğünü anladığı anlardan birinin de habercisidir bence), şehrin tekinsizliği ve Antonio'nun hastalığının belirsizliğinin yarattığı huzursuzlukta birbirlerine başka türlü tutunmaları...
Çok güzel, çok. Yazarın akışkan, sakin dilini ayrı, öyküyü ayrı, aralara serpiştirdiği minik bilgelik kırıntılarını ayrı sevdim. Eren Cendey çevirisi her zamanki gibi tertemiz.
Okuyun. Hatta babalarınıza da okutun!
March 22, 2021
Here is a story of a son spending forty-eight hours with a father he doesn't know very well. Within that simple framework of a story, so much happens. There is an absolute clarity of voice in this novel that reminds me of Javier Marias. The words are transparent, like a stream of glacial water--it's a clarity that makes you think you can see right through the words--but then you remember how many colors there are to see in pure running water. The sentence structure is simple. The paragraphs are short. The tone is a little cool and a little melancholy and a little distant--and yet how powerfully this novel affected me, by the end. The accumulation of precise observed detail was a delight to read. The emotional resonances of the characters had the truth of autobiography.
Much thanks to HarperVia for bringing me this novel in English, and for providing me with a review copy. HarperVia is rapidly becoming one of my favorite imprints.
Much thanks to HarperVia for bringing me this novel in English, and for providing me with a review copy. HarperVia is rapidly becoming one of my favorite imprints.
December 29, 2021
It was a long time since I gave a five-star rating, but this book really deserves it. A very good reading, profound, but not heavy. Full of food for thought, but light, pleasant. Also full of a sense of melancholy and sadness, but not tearful at any cost. A beautiful story between a father and a son, in their two-day trip to Marseille that was born unexpectedly, since it had to be only a return trip with a purpose. And that instead turned into the most beautiful adventure of their life, where they got to know each other much more deeply than they had done in the previous 18 years. A cultured book, in the sense that it is really well written and full of quotes, including that of Francis Scott Fitzgerald who gives the book its title: "In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o’clock in the morning, day after day". Nice, I really liked meeting Antonio and his father, the two protagonists of the book: two men with their stories, but able to adapt to the situation that will arise and to face it with awareness, but also enthusiasm.
November 7, 2025
کاروفیلیو، نویسندهی ایتالیایی برای خلق این اثر نگاهِشو از ادبیات اروپا و آمریکا دزدیده، به شرق و ادبیاتِ کماستعاره و پُردیالوگ شرقی که سرشار از گذشتهنگری، مکالمات فلسفی و صفت-موصوفهای طراوت بخش هست رو آوُرده و این باعث میشه کتابو به همهی شما پیشنهاد بدم. خوشبختانه و طبق کنکاش خانم بحرانی که کتابو باهم همخوانی کردیم، ترجمهی این کتاب با عنوان "سه بامداد" خوب و آبرومنده.
کاروفیلیو، به جای شخصیت پردازی، رابطهپردازی میکنه. اینجا شخصیتها به آرکِ چشمگیری نمیرس�� اما رابطه اونها، رابطه این پدر و پسر، با سادگی و کمترین هیجانِ کاذبی "نشان داده میشه"، پرورانده میشه و در نهایت بار میده.
برای رسیدن به این مسیر کاروفیلیو از دو ابزار استفاده میکنه:
۱- نقطه نظر بازتابنده Reflective POV
۲- تضادهای درون متنی
استفاده از رفلکتیو پیاُویِ اول شخص -با ایجاد حس بازگشت به گذشته- باعث میشه بلافاصله با راوی حس صمیمیت و همذاتپنداری داشته باشیم. این در کنار نثرِ بیقضاوت و دراماگُریز کاروفیلیو ، حالتی از دِژاوو رُ خلق میکنه که کاملا سِنسوری هست و نه مربوط به زمان یا مکان؛ کما اینکه دژاوو یکی از عناصر تکرار شونده داستان هم هست.
۲- تضادها (اینو از ریویوی خانم بحرانی عاریه برداشتم) در این داستان کاربرد چند وجهی دارن و اولین کارکردشون خلق درام در رابطه پدر/پسر هست. اینجا تضاد پیر و جوان (اختلاف سنی پدر و پسر بالاتر از معموله)، عصیانگر و منفعل، و درونگرا و برونگرا، در طی داستان و در طی مکالماتِ پدر و پسر به هم نزدیک میشن و مرزهاشون کمرنگ میشه.
این تضادها در جایجای داستان دیده میشن و گاه تبدیل میشن به پاردوکس:
در تفاوت ایتالیای سنتی و مارسیِ مدرن که کسی توش حس خوشحالی نداره، پر از نژادپرستیه و تنها انسانهای خوشبختش یه زوج لزبین مهاجر هستن.
همینطور در تفاوت والدین تحصیل کردهای که میتونن ثقیلترین معادلاتو حل کنن اما در درک فرزندشون یا درک همسرشون ابتر میمونن.
در مورد نثر ساده و زیبای کتاب هم همه جا نوشته شده و من بیشتر توضیح نمیدم.
اما نکات منفی کتاب برای من یکی عدم انسجام کتاب بود و دیگری [اسپویلر در مقابل—->] آرک شخصیت پسر با یک سکانس جنسی. این سکس با اینکه به زیبایی و معصومانگی توصیف شده بود ولی هیچ کاربردی در داستان نداشت.
در خصوص انسجام اینو فراموش کردم بگم:
دلیل این گسستگی در داستان، کمیت بالای مطالبی بود که در مکالمات مورد کنکاش فلسفی قرار می گرفت. این مطالب هر کدوم به تنهایی نیازمند یه کتاب جداگانه ست.
به هر حال کتاب پُرمغز و تفکر برانگیزی بود و یه همخوانی فوقالعاده جذابو منجر شد.
امیدوارم اگه خوندید حسابی ازش لذت ببرید.
کاروفیلیو، به جای شخصیت پردازی، رابطهپردازی میکنه. اینجا شخصیتها به آرکِ چشمگیری نمیرس�� اما رابطه اونها، رابطه این پدر و پسر، با سادگی و کمترین هیجانِ کاذبی "نشان داده میشه"، پرورانده میشه و در نهایت بار میده.
برای رسیدن به این مسیر کاروفیلیو از دو ابزار استفاده میکنه:
۱- نقطه نظر بازتابنده Reflective POV
۲- تضادهای درون متنی
استفاده از رفلکتیو پیاُویِ اول شخص -با ایجاد حس بازگشت به گذشته- باعث میشه بلافاصله با راوی حس صمیمیت و همذاتپنداری داشته باشیم. این در کنار نثرِ بیقضاوت و دراماگُریز کاروفیلیو ، حالتی از دِژاوو رُ خلق میکنه که کاملا سِنسوری هست و نه مربوط به زمان یا مکان؛ کما اینکه دژاوو یکی از عناصر تکرار شونده داستان هم هست.
۲- تضادها (اینو از ریویوی خانم بحرانی عاریه برداشتم) در این داستان کاربرد چند وجهی دارن و اولین کارکردشون خلق درام در رابطه پدر/پسر هست. اینجا تضاد پیر و جوان (اختلاف سنی پدر و پسر بالاتر از معموله)، عصیانگر و منفعل، و درونگرا و برونگرا، در طی داستان و در طی مکالماتِ پدر و پسر به هم نزدیک میشن و مرزهاشون کمرنگ میشه.
این تضادها در جایجای داستان دیده میشن و گاه تبدیل میشن به پاردوکس:
در تفاوت ایتالیای سنتی و مارسیِ مدرن که کسی توش حس خوشحالی نداره، پر از نژادپرستیه و تنها انسانهای خوشبختش یه زوج لزبین مهاجر هستن.
همینطور در تفاوت والدین تحصیل کردهای که میتونن ثقیلترین معادلاتو حل کنن اما در درک فرزندشون یا درک همسرشون ابتر میمونن.
در مورد نثر ساده و زیبای کتاب هم همه جا نوشته شده و من بیشتر توضیح نمیدم.
اما نکات منفی کتاب برای من یکی عدم انسجام کتاب بود و دیگری [اسپویلر در مقابل—->] آرک شخصیت پسر با یک سکانس جنسی. این سکس با اینکه به زیبایی و معصومانگی توصیف شده بود ولی هیچ کاربردی در داستان نداشت.
در خصوص انسجام اینو فراموش کردم بگم:
دلیل این گسستگی در داستان، کمیت بالای مطالبی بود که در مکالمات مورد کنکاش فلسفی قرار می گرفت. این مطالب هر کدوم به تنهایی نیازمند یه کتاب جداگانه ست.
به هر حال کتاب پُرمغز و تفکر برانگیزی بود و یه همخوانی فوقالعاده جذابو منجر شد.
امیدوارم اگه خوندید حسابی ازش لذت ببرید.
June 6, 2024
Tėvo dieną mano sraute pasirodė bent keletas labai jautrių pažįstamų vyrų įrašų apie tai, ką jiems reiškė augti be tėčio. Man pasirodė, kad tai didelės stiprybės, gijimo ženklas. Ir labai didelis indėlis į vyriškumo normų Lietuvoje pokytį. Jūs žinot, kas jūs esate. Labai žaviuosi jūsų atvirumu, bernai.
Tad kai tą pačią tėvo dieną pasigriebiau naują skaitinį, stengdamasi nepamesti gerai pagauto tempo, atrodė, kad tie ką tik feisbuke matyti pasidalinimai perėjo į kitą dimensiją - literatūrinę.
Nuostabus kūrinys apie dvi dienas ir dvi naktis Marselyje, sujungiančias tėvą ir sūnų. Padedančias jiedviems susipažinti iš naujo, užlopyti širdies skyles, pamatyti sūnui tėvą absoliučiai kitoje šviesoje, panerti abiems į meilės gylį.
Žinokit, tikrai labai rekomenduoju.
Ne tik dėl teksto, bet kur kas labiau dėl tokio keisto gerumo ir skaidrumo mintyse, primenančio, kad mūsų tėvai yra tik žmonės, o tikroji pažintis su jais mums gali tapti gyvenimą apverčiančia patirtimi.
Ir užauginančia mus dar kitu lygmeniu.
Labai labai.
Tad kai tą pačią tėvo dieną pasigriebiau naują skaitinį, stengdamasi nepamesti gerai pagauto tempo, atrodė, kad tie ką tik feisbuke matyti pasidalinimai perėjo į kitą dimensiją - literatūrinę.
Nuostabus kūrinys apie dvi dienas ir dvi naktis Marselyje, sujungiančias tėvą ir sūnų. Padedančias jiedviems susipažinti iš naujo, užlopyti širdies skyles, pamatyti sūnui tėvą absoliučiai kitoje šviesoje, panerti abiems į meilės gylį.
Žinokit, tikrai labai rekomenduoju.
Ne tik dėl teksto, bet kur kas labiau dėl tokio keisto gerumo ir skaidrumo mintyse, primenančio, kad mūsų tėvai yra tik žmonės, o tikroji pažintis su jais mums gali tapti gyvenimą apverčiančia patirtimi.
Ir užauginančia mus dar kitu lygmeniu.
Labai labai.
November 8, 2025
Each book I read offers a new perspective. In this post, I share my thoughts on this book in Persian and English. I hope this will be enjoyable for you :)
هر کتابی که می خوانم دریچه ای به دنیایی جدید است. تو این نوشته دیدگاه و تجربه ام از مطالعه ی این کتاب رو به دو زبان فارسی و انگلیسی با شما به اشتراک می ذارم امیدوارم خوندنش براتون لذتبخش باشه :)
Persian (فارسی)
رمان روایت پسر جوانی است که سالها با بیماری صرع زیسته و زیر سایهی دارو و مراقبتهای پزشکی بزرگ شده است. پس از جدایی والدین و زندگی در فاصلهای ناخواسته از پدر، اکنون در آستانهی بلوغ و استقلال، همراه او به مارسی سفر میکند تا در یک ارزیابی پزشکی مشخص شود آیا بیماریاش پایان یافته یا همچنان نیازمند درمان است. این سفر، بهانهای میشود برای مواجههی دوبارهی پدر و پسر؛ دو نسلی که سالها در سکوت و جدایی زیستهاند.
۱. جغرافیا و بستر تاریخی 🌍
کاروفیلیو داستان را در دههی هشتاد میلادی میان دو کشور ایتالیا و فرانسه قرار میدهد.
- ایتالیا: بافتی سنتیتر، درگیر محدودیتهای اجتماعی و پزشکی.
- فرانسه: مدرنتر، پیشرفتهتر در حوزهی بهداشت و درمان، و فضایی بازتر برای تجربهی فردی.
این تضاد جغرافیایی و فرهنگی، نهتنها بستر داستان است، بلکه استعارهای از فاصلهی میان گذشته و آینده، سنت و مدرنیته، سکون و حرکت به شمار میآید.
۲. درونمایههای فلسفی و انسانی 🕊
«سه بامداد» تنها داستان یک سفر پزشکی یا آشتی خانوادگی نیست؛ بلکه تأملی است بر پرسشهای بنیادین زندگی:
- هویت و بلوغ: چگونه انسان در آستانهی استقلال، خود را از سایهی والدین جدا میکند و در عین حال دوباره به آنها نزدیک میشود.
- زمان و گذر آن: دو شبانهروز روایت، استعارهای از لحظههای گذار است؛ لحظههایی که گذشته و آینده در هم تنیدهاند.
- سکوت و گفتوگو: کتاب نشان میدهد که گاهی سکوتها بیش از کلمات حامل معنا هستند؛ سکوتی که هم فاصله میآورد و هم امکان نزدیکی دوباره را فراهم میکند.
- رابطهی انسان با رنج: بیماری صرع، نه فقط یک مسئلهی پزشکی، بلکه استعارهای از محدودیتهای انسانی است؛ محدودیتهایی که ما را وادار میکنند معنای زندگی را دوباره تعریف کنیم.
۳. تمهای فرهنگی و هنری 🎭
در دل روایت، موسیقی، ادبیات و سینما حضوری پررنگ دارند. موسیقی پیانو بهویژه، همچون زبانی مشترک میان پدر و پسر عمل میکند؛ سکوتها و نتهای نواختهشده، همانقدر معنا دارند که کلمات. ارجاعات به کتابها و فیلمها نیز نشان میدهد که این سفر، تنها یک سفر پزشکی نیست، بلکه سفری فرهنگی و روحی است.
۴.سبک نویسندگی کاروفیلیو ✍️🏻
- نثر ساده، روان و مینیمالیستی.
- روایت خطی و کوتاهمدت (دو روز و دو شب) که بار عاطفی سنگینی دارد.
- القای حس سینمایی: در طول خوانش کتاب بارها چنین حسی به من دست می داد که انگار در حال تماشای فیلمی هستم با قابهای دقیق و گفتوگوهای موجز.
- بخش زیادی از روایت بر پایهی گفتوگوهای پدر و پسر پیش میرود؛ گفتوگوهایی ساده اما پرمعنا که بار اصلی داستان را حمل میکنند. برای خوانندگانی که به رمانهای دیالوگمحور علاقه دارند، این ویژگی میتواند جذابیت ویژهای داشته باشد
- نقطهی ضعف: در برخی بخشها روایت بیش از حد روزنامهوار میشود و جزئیات عمیقتر جای خالی دارند.
۵. مقایسه و نقاط قوت 📚
در قیاس با بسیاری از رمانهای معاصر، سه بامداد در
شخصیتپردازی، توصیف وقایع و ایجاد همدلی با خواننده موفقتر عمل میکند. کاروفیلیو با کمترین کلمات، بیشترین بار عاطفی را منتقل میکند؛ چیزی که در بسیاری از آثار امروزی، با زیادهگویی یا شتابزدگی از دست میرود.
۶. ترجمهی فارسی 📖
ترجمهی فارسی کتاب روان، وفادار و بدون سانسور
است. لحن ساده و موسیقایی متن اصلی بهخوبی منتقل شده و خواننده میتواند بدون احساس فاصله با متن، تجربهای نزدیک به زبان نویسنده داشته باشد.
جمعبندی ✨️
سه بامداد بیش از آنکه داستانی دربارهی بیماری یا
سفر باشد، روایتی است دربارهی مواجههی انسان با دیگری و با خویشتن. لحظههایی که در سکوت و در دل شب شکل میگیرند، فرصتی میشوند برای بازشناسی، آشتی و بلوغ. این رمان کوتاه، همچون قطعهای موسیقی، در زمانی اندک اجرا میشود اما پژواکش در ذهن و دل خواننده ماندگار است.
پ ن : در نهایت جا داره از همخوان عزیز، جناب آقای حامد منوچهری تشکر کنم بابت پیشنهادشون برای همخوانی، برای من افتخار و سعادت بزرگی بود تا چنین تجربه ی پُر باری کسب کنم و اولین تجربه ی من از همخوانی به شدت به یاد موندنی بشه 🙏🏻🪻
English (انگلیسی)
The novel tells the story of a young man who has lived for years with epilepsy, growing up under the shadow of medication and constant medical supervision. After his parents’ separation and an unwanted distance from his father, he now stands on the threshold of maturity and independence. Together, they travel to Marseille for a medical evaluation to determine whether his illness has ended or if treatment must continue. This journey becomes the occasion for father and son to meet again—two generations who have lived for years in silence and separation.
1. Geography and Historical Context 🌍
Carofiglio sets the story in the 1980s, between Italy and France.
- Italy: more traditional, constrained by social and medical limitations.
- France: more modern, advanced in healthcare and medicine, offering greater openness to individual experience.
This geographical and cultural contrast is not only the backdrop of the story but also a metaphor for the distance between past and future, tradition and modernity, stillness and movement.
2. Philosophical and Human Themes 🕊
Three O’Clock in the Morning is not merely a story about a medical journey or family reconciliation; it is a meditation on fundamental questions of life:
- Identity and maturity: how a person, on the verge of independence, separates from the shadow of parents while also rediscovering closeness to them.
- Time and its passage: the two days and nights of the narrative serve as a metaphor for transitional moments, where past and future intertwine.
- Silence and dialogue: the book shows that silence can carry more meaning than words—silence that both creates distance and enables renewed intimacy.
- The human relationship with suffering: epilepsy is not only a medical condition but also a metaphor for human limitations, which compel us to redefine the meaning of life.
3. Cultural and Artistic Motifs 🎭
Within the narrative, music, literature, and cinema play a significant role. Piano music in particular becomes a shared language between father and son; silences and notes carry as much meaning as words. References to books and films reveal that this journey is not only medical but also cultural and spiritual.
4. Carofiglio’s Writing Style ✍️🏻
- Simple, fluid, minimalist prose.
- A linear narrative compressed into two days and nights, yet carrying heavy emotional weight.
- A cinematic quality: while reading, I often felt as though I were watching a film, with precise framing and concise dialogue.
- Much of the story unfolds through conversations between father and son—simple yet meaningful exchanges that carry the emotional core. For readers who enjoy dialogue-driven novels, this feature will be especially appealing.
- Weakness: in some sections, the narration becomes overly journalistic, moving too quickly where deeper detail might have enriched the text.
5. Comparison and Strengths 📚
Compared to many contemporary novels, Three O’Clock in the Morning excels in character development, depiction of events, and its ability to evoke empathy. With the fewest words, Carofiglio conveys the greatest emotional weight—something often lost in today’s works through verbosity or haste.
6. The Persian Translation 📖
The Persian translation is fluent, faithful, and uncensored. The simplicity and musicality of the original text are well preserved, allowing readers to experience the novel without feeling distanced from the author’s voice.
Conclusion ✨️
Three O’Clock in the Morning is more than a story about illness or travel; it is a narrative about confronting the other and, ultimately, oneself. The moments that unfold in silence and in the heart of the night become opportunities for recognition, reconciliation, and growth. This short novel, like a piece of music, is performed in a brief span of time but resonates in the reader’s mind and heart long after.
P.S. Finally, I’d like to thank my dear co-reader, Mr. Hamed Manouchehri, for suggesting this shared reading. It was a great honor and joy for me to have such a rich experience, and for my very first co-reading to become such a memorable one 🙏🏻🪻
هر کتابی که می خوانم دریچه ای به دنیایی جدید است. تو این نوشته دیدگاه و تجربه ام از مطالعه ی این کتاب رو به دو زبان فارسی و انگلیسی با شما به اشتراک می ذارم امیدوارم خوندنش براتون لذتبخش باشه :)
Persian (فارسی)
رمان روایت پسر جوانی است که سالها با بیماری صرع زیسته و زیر سایهی دارو و مراقبتهای پزشکی بزرگ شده است. پس از جدایی والدین و زندگی در فاصلهای ناخواسته از پدر، اکنون در آستانهی بلوغ و استقلال، همراه او به مارسی سفر میکند تا در یک ارزیابی پزشکی مشخص شود آیا بیماریاش پایان یافته یا همچنان نیازمند درمان است. این سفر، بهانهای میشود برای مواجههی دوبارهی پدر و پسر؛ دو نسلی که سالها در سکوت و جدایی زیستهاند.
۱. جغرافیا و بستر تاریخی 🌍
کاروفیلیو داستان را در دههی هشتاد میلادی میان دو کشور ایتالیا و فرانسه قرار میدهد.
- ایتالیا: بافتی سنتیتر، درگیر محدودیتهای اجتماعی و پزشکی.
- فرانسه: مدرنتر، پیشرفتهتر در حوزهی بهداشت و درمان، و فضایی بازتر برای تجربهی فردی.
این تضاد جغرافیایی و فرهنگی، نهتنها بستر داستان است، بلکه استعارهای از فاصلهی میان گذشته و آینده، سنت و مدرنیته، سکون و حرکت به شمار میآید.
۲. درونمایههای فلسفی و انسانی 🕊
«سه بامداد» تنها داستان یک سفر پزشکی یا آشتی خانوادگی نیست؛ بلکه تأملی است بر پرسشهای بنیادین زندگی:
- هویت و بلوغ: چگونه انسان در آستانهی استقلال، خود را از سایهی والدین جدا میکند و در عین حال دوباره به آنها نزدیک میشود.
- زمان و گذر آن: دو شبانهروز روایت، استعارهای از لحظههای گذار است؛ لحظههایی که گذشته و آینده در هم تنیدهاند.
- سکوت و گفتوگو: کتاب نشان میدهد که گاهی سکوتها بیش از کلمات حامل معنا هستند؛ سکوتی که هم فاصله میآورد و هم امکان نزدیکی دوباره را فراهم میکند.
- رابطهی انسان با رنج: بیماری صرع، نه فقط یک مسئلهی پزشکی، بلکه استعارهای از محدودیتهای انسانی است؛ محدودیتهایی که ما را وادار میکنند معنای زندگی را دوباره تعریف کنیم.
۳. تمهای فرهنگی و هنری 🎭
در دل روایت، موسیقی، ادبیات و سینما حضوری پررنگ دارند. موسیقی پیانو بهویژه، همچون زبانی مشترک میان پدر و پسر عمل میکند؛ سکوتها و نتهای نواختهشده، همانقدر معنا دارند که کلمات. ارجاعات به کتابها و فیلمها نیز نشان میدهد که این سفر، تنها یک سفر پزشکی نیست، بلکه سفری فرهنگی و روحی است.
۴.سبک نویسندگی کاروفیلیو ✍️🏻
- نثر ساده، روان و مینیمالیستی.
- روایت خطی و کوتاهمدت (دو روز و دو شب) که بار عاطفی سنگینی دارد.
- القای حس سینمایی: در طول خوانش کتاب بارها چنین حسی به من دست می داد که انگار در حال تماشای فیلمی هستم با قابهای دقیق و گفتوگوهای موجز.
- بخش زیادی از روایت بر پایهی گفتوگوهای پدر و پسر پیش میرود؛ گفتوگوهایی ساده اما پرمعنا که بار اصلی داستان را حمل میکنند. برای خوانندگانی که به رمانهای دیالوگمحور علاقه دارند، این ویژگی میتواند جذابیت ویژهای داشته باشد
- نقطهی ضعف: در برخی بخشها روایت بیش از حد روزنامهوار میشود و جزئیات عمیقتر جای خالی دارند.
۵. مقایسه و نقاط قوت 📚
در قیاس با بسیاری از رمانهای معاصر، سه بامداد در
شخصیتپردازی، توصیف وقایع و ایجاد همدلی با خواننده موفقتر عمل میکند. کاروفیلیو با کمترین کلمات، بیشترین بار عاطفی را منتقل میکند؛ چیزی که در بسیاری از آثار امروزی، با زیادهگویی یا شتابزدگی از دست میرود.
۶. ترجمهی فارسی 📖
ترجمهی فارسی کتاب روان، وفادار و بدون سانسور
است. لحن ساده و موسیقایی متن اصلی بهخوبی منتقل شده و خواننده میتواند بدون احساس فاصله با متن، تجربهای نزدیک به زبان نویسنده داشته باشد.
جمعبندی ✨️
سه بامداد بیش از آنکه داستانی دربارهی بیماری یا
سفر باشد، روایتی است دربارهی مواجههی انسان با دیگری و با خویشتن. لحظههایی که در سکوت و در دل شب شکل میگیرند، فرصتی میشوند برای بازشناسی، آشتی و بلوغ. این رمان کوتاه، همچون قطعهای موسیقی، در زمانی اندک اجرا میشود اما پژواکش در ذهن و دل خواننده ماندگار است.
پ ن : در نهایت جا داره از همخوان عزیز، جناب آقای حامد منوچهری تشکر کنم بابت پیشنهادشون برای همخوانی، برای من افتخار و سعادت بزرگی بود تا چنین تجربه ی پُر باری کسب کنم و اولین تجربه ی من از همخوانی به شدت به یاد موندنی بشه 🙏🏻🪻
English (انگلیسی)
The novel tells the story of a young man who has lived for years with epilepsy, growing up under the shadow of medication and constant medical supervision. After his parents’ separation and an unwanted distance from his father, he now stands on the threshold of maturity and independence. Together, they travel to Marseille for a medical evaluation to determine whether his illness has ended or if treatment must continue. This journey becomes the occasion for father and son to meet again—two generations who have lived for years in silence and separation.
1. Geography and Historical Context 🌍
Carofiglio sets the story in the 1980s, between Italy and France.
- Italy: more traditional, constrained by social and medical limitations.
- France: more modern, advanced in healthcare and medicine, offering greater openness to individual experience.
This geographical and cultural contrast is not only the backdrop of the story but also a metaphor for the distance between past and future, tradition and modernity, stillness and movement.
2. Philosophical and Human Themes 🕊
Three O’Clock in the Morning is not merely a story about a medical journey or family reconciliation; it is a meditation on fundamental questions of life:
- Identity and maturity: how a person, on the verge of independence, separates from the shadow of parents while also rediscovering closeness to them.
- Time and its passage: the two days and nights of the narrative serve as a metaphor for transitional moments, where past and future intertwine.
- Silence and dialogue: the book shows that silence can carry more meaning than words—silence that both creates distance and enables renewed intimacy.
- The human relationship with suffering: epilepsy is not only a medical condition but also a metaphor for human limitations, which compel us to redefine the meaning of life.
3. Cultural and Artistic Motifs 🎭
Within the narrative, music, literature, and cinema play a significant role. Piano music in particular becomes a shared language between father and son; silences and notes carry as much meaning as words. References to books and films reveal that this journey is not only medical but also cultural and spiritual.
4. Carofiglio’s Writing Style ✍️🏻
- Simple, fluid, minimalist prose.
- A linear narrative compressed into two days and nights, yet carrying heavy emotional weight.
- A cinematic quality: while reading, I often felt as though I were watching a film, with precise framing and concise dialogue.
- Much of the story unfolds through conversations between father and son—simple yet meaningful exchanges that carry the emotional core. For readers who enjoy dialogue-driven novels, this feature will be especially appealing.
- Weakness: in some sections, the narration becomes overly journalistic, moving too quickly where deeper detail might have enriched the text.
5. Comparison and Strengths 📚
Compared to many contemporary novels, Three O’Clock in the Morning excels in character development, depiction of events, and its ability to evoke empathy. With the fewest words, Carofiglio conveys the greatest emotional weight—something often lost in today’s works through verbosity or haste.
6. The Persian Translation 📖
The Persian translation is fluent, faithful, and uncensored. The simplicity and musicality of the original text are well preserved, allowing readers to experience the novel without feeling distanced from the author’s voice.
Conclusion ✨️
Three O’Clock in the Morning is more than a story about illness or travel; it is a narrative about confronting the other and, ultimately, oneself. The moments that unfold in silence and in the heart of the night become opportunities for recognition, reconciliation, and growth. This short novel, like a piece of music, is performed in a brief span of time but resonates in the reader’s mind and heart long after.
P.S. Finally, I’d like to thank my dear co-reader, Mr. Hamed Manouchehri, for suggesting this shared reading. It was a great honor and joy for me to have such a rich experience, and for my very first co-reading to become such a memorable one 🙏🏻🪻
September 16, 2018
Nella vera notte buia dell'anima sono sempre le tre del mattino
Carofiglio non mi ha deluso. Avevo già apprezzato Testimone inconsapevole qualche anno fa.
Una scrittura essenziale, semplice, ma efficace e nient'affatto banale.
Una storia che, senza velleitarie pretese, percorre insieme strade poco battute di una Marsiglia degli anni '80 ed i sentieri complessi, insidiosi di un - forse classico - rapporto padre\figlio. Un lento ritrovarsi, conoscersi, amarsi.
A me è piaciuto molto, lo consiglio assolutamente.
Carofiglio non mi ha deluso. Avevo già apprezzato Testimone inconsapevole qualche anno fa.
Una scrittura essenziale, semplice, ma efficace e nient'affatto banale.
Una storia che, senza velleitarie pretese, percorre insieme strade poco battute di una Marsiglia degli anni '80 ed i sentieri complessi, insidiosi di un - forse classico - rapporto padre\figlio. Un lento ritrovarsi, conoscersi, amarsi.
A me è piaciuto molto, lo consiglio assolutamente.
February 15, 2022
Author Gianrico Carofiglio, I learned in the end notes of this charming short novel, was a lawyer and a former member of the Italian Senate. He has written a number of novels known for describing complex situations with the utmost clarity of language. Like many attorneys I've known, he has the gift. Translator Howard Curtis has done a nice job of preserving the spirit of the original in his English translation.
Some of his sentences, simple though they may be, ring like coins dropped onto stone:
It was a sad, awkward situation, and I wished I were grown up, healthy, alone, and a long way away.
More than anything else, I remember the cheese counter, with those smells halfway between scent and stink, which even now, as I write, make my mouth water. The names on the lined-up price tags sounded like a children's nursery rhyme or the members of a soccer team: Comté, Reblochon, Camembert, Brie, Roquefort, Chèvre, Beaufort, Saint-Nectaire, Cantal, Cancoillotte, Brocciu.
The Count of Monte Cristo, which I had read twice, first in an abridged version, was one of my favorite novels. I liked stories of adventure, injustice, and revenge, I identified totally with them, and the one I liked most was that one, the story of Edmond Dantes. In the voracious, distracted way I read, though, I had never lingered over the fact that the novel was partly set in Marseilles, the actual place where I was right now. I felt an exhilarating sensation, as if all at once I'd been given the opportunity to visit Smallville, or Toontown, or Gotham City.
This book, which I learned about through Regina's enticing review, was sort of torture to read during Covid -- it discusses all the things I miss so much, like picnics, boating, international travel and mysteriously alluring women. Nothing of much importance happens -- some books could dispatch the plot in just a few paragraphs -- but as a journey to adulthood, these are some of the most important days of our narrator's life, crisply rendered.
There's also a great mathematician joke in there.
This book makes me wish I smoked, because it's the perfect book to read in a cafe, sitting under an awning or umbrella in the rain, wearing your best black raincoat and boots, stabbing out butts, sipping coffee and dreaming of youth and faraway lands. You could knock this little novel out in less than half a pack.
Some of his sentences, simple though they may be, ring like coins dropped onto stone:
It was a sad, awkward situation, and I wished I were grown up, healthy, alone, and a long way away.
More than anything else, I remember the cheese counter, with those smells halfway between scent and stink, which even now, as I write, make my mouth water. The names on the lined-up price tags sounded like a children's nursery rhyme or the members of a soccer team: Comté, Reblochon, Camembert, Brie, Roquefort, Chèvre, Beaufort, Saint-Nectaire, Cantal, Cancoillotte, Brocciu.
The Count of Monte Cristo, which I had read twice, first in an abridged version, was one of my favorite novels. I liked stories of adventure, injustice, and revenge, I identified totally with them, and the one I liked most was that one, the story of Edmond Dantes. In the voracious, distracted way I read, though, I had never lingered over the fact that the novel was partly set in Marseilles, the actual place where I was right now. I felt an exhilarating sensation, as if all at once I'd been given the opportunity to visit Smallville, or Toontown, or Gotham City.
This book, which I learned about through Regina's enticing review, was sort of torture to read during Covid -- it discusses all the things I miss so much, like picnics, boating, international travel and mysteriously alluring women. Nothing of much importance happens -- some books could dispatch the plot in just a few paragraphs -- but as a journey to adulthood, these are some of the most important days of our narrator's life, crisply rendered.
There's also a great mathematician joke in there.
This book makes me wish I smoked, because it's the perfect book to read in a cafe, sitting under an awning or umbrella in the rain, wearing your best black raincoat and boots, stabbing out butts, sipping coffee and dreaming of youth and faraway lands. You could knock this little novel out in less than half a pack.
March 24, 2023
I’ll start by saying that this short novel isn’t at all what I expected it to be. I’ve been a fan of the author’s crime fiction stories for some time. Set in and around the city of Bari, Italy, they offer something different to novels of this genre based in either Britain or America. Thoughtful, literary and lyrical, I believe the differences in settings, culture and tone provide a contrasting experience. So I was excited to spot this audiobook for sale (a book previously unknown to me) and purchased it immediately, without even glancing at the blurb. It was only as I reached something like a quarter of my way through listening to the story that it occurred to me that this was something quite different; I’d been waiting for the crime to be unveiled but now I realised there was to be no crime.
An 18 year old boy called Antonio is ruminating on his life and in particular describing challenges he’s experienced with a medical condition that was to be diagnosed as epilepsy. Now it’s 1980s Italy and his father had, some time ago, tracked a doctor based in Marseilles who appears to be the expert in this field. The father – divorced for some time from Antonio’s mother - hasn’t played a big part in Antonio’s life to this point. But on visiting the doctor for a second time Antonio is advised to stay awake for two full days and nights in order to confirm that he has now been cured. Father and son therefore choose to explore this ancient port city day and night, finding ways to occupy their time in order to avoid the temptation to sleep.
They talk they – about anything and everything – have interesting experiences, meet a wide range of people and generally get to know each other. It’s a fascinating and engaging story of a growing relationship and of self-discovery. It made me smile and reflect on my own life’s experiences and of my relationship with my late father. What a great discovery – I really enjoyed this bittersweet tale. I also now know that the author has more than one string to his bow and have already spotted a further non-crime novel of his that I’ll be working my way through very shortly.
An 18 year old boy called Antonio is ruminating on his life and in particular describing challenges he’s experienced with a medical condition that was to be diagnosed as epilepsy. Now it’s 1980s Italy and his father had, some time ago, tracked a doctor based in Marseilles who appears to be the expert in this field. The father – divorced for some time from Antonio’s mother - hasn’t played a big part in Antonio’s life to this point. But on visiting the doctor for a second time Antonio is advised to stay awake for two full days and nights in order to confirm that he has now been cured. Father and son therefore choose to explore this ancient port city day and night, finding ways to occupy their time in order to avoid the temptation to sleep.
They talk they – about anything and everything – have interesting experiences, meet a wide range of people and generally get to know each other. It’s a fascinating and engaging story of a growing relationship and of self-discovery. It made me smile and reflect on my own life’s experiences and of my relationship with my late father. What a great discovery – I really enjoyed this bittersweet tale. I also now know that the author has more than one string to his bow and have already spotted a further non-crime novel of his that I’ll be working my way through very shortly.
November 7, 2024
با عرض پوزش خانم ها این ریو نخونند چون این کتاب برای آقایون بیشتر کاربردی
واقعا لیاقت این کتاب پنج بود ولی بخاطر سانسور مزخرف اون از دو چیز عادی یکی اولین س.ک.س پسر یکی هم دفعه اول که با پدرش میره تو مغازه فروش وسایل جنسی واقعا چرا باید سانسور بشه این کتاب عالی بود نباید بخاطر سانسور اینجوری پایانش خراب می شد...
بگذریم بیاییم سر اصل داستان جانم براتون بگه این کتاب برا پسر ها فوق العاده هست چون یه رابطه پدر و پسری خاصی هست داخلش که همه پسر ها تو یه سنی با پدرشون وارد این رابطه میشند.
داستان کتاب درباره کارکتر اصلی کتاب یه پسر هست به اسم انتیو که بیماری صرع میگیره پدر و مادرش از هم جدا شدن ولی سر این جریان مجبورند تو ۱۰ سالگی آنتیو ببرند فرانسه شهر مارسی و پس از رفتن پیش بهترین پروفسور دنیا در رابطه به صرع میگه بروید و برای تولد ۱۸ سالگیش یکسری قرص مصرف کنید و تا اون موقع پیش من بیایید..
داستان میگذره و هشت سال بعد میشه و انتیو باید بره پیش دکتر ولی مادرش نمیتونه بیاد برا همین با پدرش عازم سفر میشه و وقتی به اونجا میرسه میفهمند مرحل نهایی درمان آنتیو باید ۴۸ ساعت نخوابه و شروع داستان پدر و پسری غریبه از هم تو این ۴۸ ساعت هست که باهم در شهر مارسی در کشور فرانسه هستند...
واقعا نویسنده پیچیدگی رابطه پدر و پسری را به قدری ظریف در آورد که باید پسر باشی که درک کنی و واقعا درک این رابطه پدر و پسری برا یه خانم قفل و بنظرم درک این کتاب برای خانم ها سخت باشه
اگر یه روزی پسر دار شدم اینو میدم حتما بهش بخونه چون بنظرم تمام پدرها و پسرها نیاز دارن یه بار این کتابو بخونند
واقعا لیاقت این کتاب پنج بود ولی بخاطر سانسور مزخرف اون از دو چیز عادی یکی اولین س.ک.س پسر یکی هم دفعه اول که با پدرش میره تو مغازه فروش وسایل جنسی واقعا چرا باید سانسور بشه این کتاب عالی بود نباید بخاطر سانسور اینجوری پایانش خراب می شد...
بگذریم بیاییم سر اصل داستان جانم براتون بگه این کتاب برا پسر ها فوق العاده هست چون یه رابطه پدر و پسری خاصی هست داخلش که همه پسر ها تو یه سنی با پدرشون وارد این رابطه میشند.
داستان کتاب درباره کارکتر اصلی کتاب یه پسر هست به اسم انتیو که بیماری صرع میگیره پدر و مادرش از هم جدا شدن ولی سر این جریان مجبورند تو ۱۰ سالگی آنتیو ببرند فرانسه شهر مارسی و پس از رفتن پیش بهترین پروفسور دنیا در رابطه به صرع میگه بروید و برای تولد ۱۸ سالگیش یکسری قرص مصرف کنید و تا اون موقع پیش من بیایید..
داستان میگذره و هشت سال بعد میشه و انتیو باید بره پیش دکتر ولی مادرش نمیتونه بیاد برا همین با پدرش عازم سفر میشه و وقتی به اونجا میرسه میفهمند مرحل نهایی درمان آنتیو باید ۴۸ ساعت نخوابه و شروع داستان پدر و پسری غریبه از هم تو این ۴۸ ساعت هست که باهم در شهر مارسی در کشور فرانسه هستند...
واقعا نویسنده پیچیدگی رابطه پدر و پسری را به قدری ظریف در آورد که باید پسر باشی که درک کنی و واقعا درک این رابطه پدر و پسری برا یه خانم قفل و بنظرم درک این کتاب برای خانم ها سخت باشه
اگر یه روزی پسر دار شدم اینو میدم حتما بهش بخونه چون بنظرم تمام پدرها و پسرها نیاز دارن یه بار این کتابو بخونند
December 7, 2021
Such a lovely novel—with a purity that's hard to explain.
It's quite a simple story... a teenaged boy and his father spend 48 hours in Marseilles as the boy carries out a final medical test at the behest of the specialist he sees there regarding the epilepsy they believe he's grown out of. To complete the test he must stay awake for 48 hours; he's given pills that will help him do this. If he's able to get through the two days without sleep—or seizing—he'll be considered "cured" and may live again as a "normal" young man.
His parents—both University professors—have, by now, been separated for a few years; father and son barely know each other and son is apprehensive about spending this time together. Father will stay awake, as well, to ensure son does not sleep. With so many hours "to kill" and in such odd circumstances and locale, they find it uncomfortable at first, but before long, they're able to chat easily. Son learns so much about his father—things he'd never suspected! They open up to one another, even revealing intimacies they'd uttered to no one else before. And by the end of the two days they've been transformed, now feeling certain they know and love one another. (Son even loses his virginity during this time and suspects his father may have arranged it.)😉 When they arrive back home in Italy, for the first time perhaps ever, they embrace before saying goodbye.
Sadly, father dies not long after, but many years later, son has never forgotten those two transformative days they spent together. He's taken in all his father told him and treasures their memories of France. In fact, son ended up following in father's (and mother's) footsteps; he's now a professor at the University.
And that's about it! It's quite a simple story, but it's sweet and there's a kind of purity about it. I believe it'll stay in my mind for quite a long time. I truly loved this book, and although I originally gave it 4 stars, upon reflection, I've decided it's a 5-star read, after all.
So... 5 pure, sweet stars for this very lovely, very simple father-son story. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
It's quite a simple story... a teenaged boy and his father spend 48 hours in Marseilles as the boy carries out a final medical test at the behest of the specialist he sees there regarding the epilepsy they believe he's grown out of. To complete the test he must stay awake for 48 hours; he's given pills that will help him do this. If he's able to get through the two days without sleep—or seizing—he'll be considered "cured" and may live again as a "normal" young man.
His parents—both University professors—have, by now, been separated for a few years; father and son barely know each other and son is apprehensive about spending this time together. Father will stay awake, as well, to ensure son does not sleep. With so many hours "to kill" and in such odd circumstances and locale, they find it uncomfortable at first, but before long, they're able to chat easily. Son learns so much about his father—things he'd never suspected! They open up to one another, even revealing intimacies they'd uttered to no one else before. And by the end of the two days they've been transformed, now feeling certain they know and love one another. (Son even loses his virginity during this time and suspects his father may have arranged it.)😉 When they arrive back home in Italy, for the first time perhaps ever, they embrace before saying goodbye.
Sadly, father dies not long after, but many years later, son has never forgotten those two transformative days they spent together. He's taken in all his father told him and treasures their memories of France. In fact, son ended up following in father's (and mother's) footsteps; he's now a professor at the University.
And that's about it! It's quite a simple story, but it's sweet and there's a kind of purity about it. I believe it'll stay in my mind for quite a long time. I truly loved this book, and although I originally gave it 4 stars, upon reflection, I've decided it's a 5-star read, after all.
So... 5 pure, sweet stars for this very lovely, very simple father-son story. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
December 26, 2017
"Nella vera notte buia dell'anima sono sempre le tre del mattino"
F. S. Fitzgerald
Antonio, 18 anni, e sulle spalle il peso di una malattia, l'epilessia idiopatica, che necessita di cure.
Marsiglia sembra la soluzione ideale.
Inizia così un viaggio, figlio e padre, tante ore da passare insieme, senza dormire, lungo strade buie e quartieri malfamati e locali sconosciuti e misteriosi e proprio per questo affascinanti e, a volte, rivelatori.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"E papà suonò da solo. Io non lo avrei confessato nemmeno a me stesso, ma ero orgoglioso e fiero di lui, e avrei voluto dire a chi mi stava vicino che il signore alto, magro, dall'aspetto elegante che era seduto al piano e sembrava molto più giovane dei suoi cinquantun anni, era mio padre."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cosa sa un figlio del proprio padre; cosa sa un padre del proprio figlio?
La scoperta di una città e insieme la scoperta di sé stessi attraverso un dialogo dapprima esitante, poi sempre più aperto; aneddoti permeati di rimpianto, di illusioni, di nostalgia, d'amore e di pacata allegria.
E sullo sfondo lei, la donna, figura lontana, madre ed ex moglie, bellissima, a fare da contrasto e cartina al tornasole.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"... a un tratto mio padre si fermò.
«Che c'è?» gli chiesi.
Sorrideva in modo insolito, vago e quasi stupito.
«Lo sai che mi sto divertendo?» disse.
«Anch'io» dissi, ed era vero. Non mi ero mai divertito tanto in vita mia."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
È tempo di tornare, Antonio è ormai fuori dal suo tunnel, ma già avverte che ciò che è stato in questi due giorni non potrà più essere ripetuto.
Romanzo delicato, reso ancora più efficace dalla bella scrittura cui Carofiglio ci ha abituati.
📖 Prestito 4 (C.S.)
F. S. Fitzgerald
Antonio, 18 anni, e sulle spalle il peso di una malattia, l'epilessia idiopatica, che necessita di cure.
Marsiglia sembra la soluzione ideale.
Inizia così un viaggio, figlio e padre, tante ore da passare insieme, senza dormire, lungo strade buie e quartieri malfamati e locali sconosciuti e misteriosi e proprio per questo affascinanti e, a volte, rivelatori.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"E papà suonò da solo. Io non lo avrei confessato nemmeno a me stesso, ma ero orgoglioso e fiero di lui, e avrei voluto dire a chi mi stava vicino che il signore alto, magro, dall'aspetto elegante che era seduto al piano e sembrava molto più giovane dei suoi cinquantun anni, era mio padre."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cosa sa un figlio del proprio padre; cosa sa un padre del proprio figlio?
La scoperta di una città e insieme la scoperta di sé stessi attraverso un dialogo dapprima esitante, poi sempre più aperto; aneddoti permeati di rimpianto, di illusioni, di nostalgia, d'amore e di pacata allegria.
E sullo sfondo lei, la donna, figura lontana, madre ed ex moglie, bellissima, a fare da contrasto e cartina al tornasole.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"... a un tratto mio padre si fermò.
«Che c'è?» gli chiesi.
Sorrideva in modo insolito, vago e quasi stupito.
«Lo sai che mi sto divertendo?» disse.
«Anch'io» dissi, ed era vero. Non mi ero mai divertito tanto in vita mia."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
È tempo di tornare, Antonio è ormai fuori dal suo tunnel, ma già avverte che ciò che è stato in questi due giorni non potrà più essere ripetuto.
Romanzo delicato, reso ancora più efficace dalla bella scrittura cui Carofiglio ci ha abituati.
📖 Prestito 4 (C.S.)
October 27, 2017
Forse perché è arrivato in un momento e in una situazione particolare della mia vita (ho 53 anni, ho perso mio padre quando ne avevo 35, e ho un figlio di 20, quindi ho potuto facilmente immedesimarmi in entrambi i personaggi), ma a me questo libro è piaciuto. Molto.
La storia parla di un Balikwas, tutto qui. Ma cos'è un Balikwas? La spiegazione è riportata nel libro: è una parola tagalog, la principale lingua delle Filippine. È difficile da tradurre. Significa qualcosa come: saltare all'improvviso in un'altra situazione e sentirsi sorpreso, cambiare il proprio punto di visa, vedere cose che credevamo di conoscere in un modo diverso.
In poche parole, è ciò che ti capita quando all'improvviso, nel corso della tua vita, cominci a capire tuo padre, cominci a essere in grado di adottarne il punto di vista, di comprendere le sue motivazioni, le sue aspettative, le sue grandezze e le sue ferite. E riesci ad accettare tutto ciò.
Però, devo dire la verità, al libro avrei assegnato 4 stelle se 5 se Carofiglio non avesse conquistato anche l'ultima regalandomi una delle migliori definizioni del jazz che io abbia mai letto: “Perfetto viene dal latino perficere, cioè compiere. Imperfetto, in senso etimologico, è ciò che non è compiuto. L'incompiutezza distingue il jazz da ogni altro genere musicale”.
E, aggiungo io, l'incompiutezza in fondo, non è altro che una condizione imprescindibile per sentirsi liberi.
La storia parla di un Balikwas, tutto qui. Ma cos'è un Balikwas? La spiegazione è riportata nel libro: è una parola tagalog, la principale lingua delle Filippine. È difficile da tradurre. Significa qualcosa come: saltare all'improvviso in un'altra situazione e sentirsi sorpreso, cambiare il proprio punto di visa, vedere cose che credevamo di conoscere in un modo diverso.
In poche parole, è ciò che ti capita quando all'improvviso, nel corso della tua vita, cominci a capire tuo padre, cominci a essere in grado di adottarne il punto di vista, di comprendere le sue motivazioni, le sue aspettative, le sue grandezze e le sue ferite. E riesci ad accettare tutto ciò.
Però, devo dire la verità, al libro avrei assegnato 4 stelle se 5 se Carofiglio non avesse conquistato anche l'ultima regalandomi una delle migliori definizioni del jazz che io abbia mai letto: “Perfetto viene dal latino perficere, cioè compiere. Imperfetto, in senso etimologico, è ciò che non è compiuto. L'incompiutezza distingue il jazz da ogni altro genere musicale”.
E, aggiungo io, l'incompiutezza in fondo, non è altro che una condizione imprescindibile per sentirsi liberi.
April 6, 2021
"Le merveilleux nous enveloppe, mais nous ne le voyons pas! "
-Charles Baudelaire
Where do I go with this review? ‘Three o’clock in the Morning’ is a story about an Italian father and his son visiting a French Specialist and being asked to stay awake for two whole days and nights to test whether the son is finally cured of his epilepsy. They walk around, visit some sights, visit a jazz club, drink coffee, meet people, and just interact with each other. It sounds dull, but it is everything but dull. It’s just a beautiful read, one about life and about getting insight into who we are. It is one that I am sure to reread in the near future.
-Charles Baudelaire
Where do I go with this review? ‘Three o’clock in the Morning’ is a story about an Italian father and his son visiting a French Specialist and being asked to stay awake for two whole days and nights to test whether the son is finally cured of his epilepsy. They walk around, visit some sights, visit a jazz club, drink coffee, meet people, and just interact with each other. It sounds dull, but it is everything but dull. It’s just a beautiful read, one about life and about getting insight into who we are. It is one that I am sure to reread in the near future.
March 27, 2018
Arrotondiamo un po' per un romanzo leggero leggero, ma che ha il fascino della bella scrittura di Carofiglio.
July 8, 2022
Labai patiko! Ypač rašymo stilius - perteikta kartu giliai, bet ir kartu labai paprastai ir suprantamai.
Sakyčiau, ši knyga tai ne vien istoriją apie ligą. Manau tai labiau istorija, apie dalykus, kurie nebūtų įvykę, jei ne liga. Tai tik dar kartą patvirtina, jog niekas neįvyksta šiaip sau. Daug knygoje analizuojama tėvo ir sūnaus santykis... Kas mane labai palietė.
Labai giliai palietusi knyga. Vertinu 10/10
Sakyčiau, ši knyga tai ne vien istoriją apie ligą. Manau tai labiau istorija, apie dalykus, kurie nebūtų įvykę, jei ne liga. Tai tik dar kartą patvirtina, jog niekas neįvyksta šiaip sau. Daug knygoje analizuojama tėvo ir sūnaus santykis... Kas mane labai palietė.
Labai giliai palietusi knyga. Vertinu 10/10
October 28, 2021
A quick, translated fiction following a son and father's shared connection over the course of two days as they await news from a doctor. The conversations that flow between them cover a wide range of the complexities of life and show that one will always have the opportunity to connect with those around them, if they only take the chance.
May 4, 2021
This turned out to be so much better than I expected it to be
March 4, 2020
Lo stile di Carofiglio è un incantesimo. Mi ipnotizza, positivamente, fino all'ultima parola.
May 9, 2018
Sarò generosa, arrotondo a quattro stelline. Diciamo che sono molto generosa ma la lettura è stata veloce e tutto sommato piacevole e oggi sono di buon umore (cosa strana).
Certo, il libro é costruito a tavolino per finire in classifica, ma con dignità e capacità, e toccando le corde giuste: un rapporto padre-figlio da recuperare, il figlio quasi adulto, un padre quasi anziano, una città interessante, qualche tematica sociale come la malattia e le coppie omosessuali sfiorata appena appena, qualche racconto di vita alternativa, un bel capitolo sul jazz. Tanta roba, pure troppa. Fosse stata approfondita sarebbe stato un ottimo libro.
Così si accontenta di finire in classifica, e di essere presto dimenticato. Ma per oggi sono quattro stelline.
Certo, il libro é costruito a tavolino per finire in classifica, ma con dignità e capacità, e toccando le corde giuste: un rapporto padre-figlio da recuperare, il figlio quasi adulto, un padre quasi anziano, una città interessante, qualche tematica sociale come la malattia e le coppie omosessuali sfiorata appena appena, qualche racconto di vita alternativa, un bel capitolo sul jazz. Tanta roba, pure troppa. Fosse stata approfondita sarebbe stato un ottimo libro.
Così si accontenta di finire in classifica, e di essere presto dimenticato. Ma per oggi sono quattro stelline.
August 18, 2023
Antonio, a fifteen-year-old living in Italy, is diagnosed with idiopathic epileptic seizures. He goes on medication and must follow guidelines that result in being ostracized by his schoolmates. This coming-of-age story covers his initial diagnosis, a second opinion from a doctor in Marseilles, and a follow-up three years later, where part of his treatment requires him to stay awake for 48 hours. During this time, he and his father get to know each other, and speak about topics they have never before broached. It is a subtle and creative story. The characters felt real to me. It is short and flows beautifully. I found it easy to read in one sitting. It is a story of father-son bonding, but never ventures into sentimentality. It is a fine piece of writing.
September 26, 2018
Carofiglio si cimenta con il più classico dei romanzi di formazione.
Sceglie di giocare in trasferta, da Bari a Marsiglia.
Soprattutto, per il personaggio del padre, esce dai consueti panni del laureato in legge e indossa quelli del matematico, regalandoci alcune simpatiche storielle sulla categoria (provo ad azzardare la fonte: "L'ultimo Teorema di Fermat" di Simon Singh, consigliatissimo).
Non sbaglia neanche questa volta, si dimostra anzi uno dei pochi a saper cambiare genere con disinvoltura, considerata la sua già nota bravura nel poliziesco, nel saggio giuridico ed in diversi scritti di natura politica.
Sceglie di giocare in trasferta, da Bari a Marsiglia.
Soprattutto, per il personaggio del padre, esce dai consueti panni del laureato in legge e indossa quelli del matematico, regalandoci alcune simpatiche storielle sulla categoria (provo ad azzardare la fonte: "L'ultimo Teorema di Fermat" di Simon Singh, consigliatissimo).
Non sbaglia neanche questa volta, si dimostra anzi uno dei pochi a saper cambiare genere con disinvoltura, considerata la sua già nota bravura nel poliziesco, nel saggio giuridico ed in diversi scritti di natura politica.
January 10, 2018
I libri che mi piacciono, quelli che mi appassionano veramente, normalmente mi lasciano una nostalgia, una voglia di tornare sulle pagine lette al fine di ricercare le sensazioni percepite.
Questo è uno di quei libri!
Bello, intimista, sensuale.....un ritorno al Carofiglio di "Il passato è una terra straniera".
Sicuramente 5 stars.
Consigliato.
Questo è uno di quei libri!
Bello, intimista, sensuale.....un ritorno al Carofiglio di "Il passato è una terra straniera".
Sicuramente 5 stars.
Consigliato.
July 4, 2024
Oldukça zayıf olduğu için uzun uzun yazmaya değecek bir roman değil. Ne hikaye gelişimi var ne karakter derinliği ne de başka bir şey. Baba-oğul konuşuyorlar işte, o kadar. Hele öyle bir “eril” sonu var ki tam facia. Bulaşmayın hiç.
July 5, 2025
Karofiljo briljira, kakav god zadatak ispred sebe da postavi! Za čitanje, najbolje u 3 sata ujutru, uz 5⭐️ i citat: "Ljudi ne vjeruju da je matematika jednostavna, samo zato što ne znaju koliko je život komplikovan." I ne mogu više da se složim od toga!
April 23, 2021
The quotation that gives Gianrico Carofiglio’s tender novel its title is from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Crack-Up: “In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o’clock in the morning.” It lends an appropriate sense of time suspended, of earnest seeking and extreme circumstances: The main action of the book takes place over just a few days in June of 1983, when teenage Antonio and his father are stranded in Marseilles while there for Antonio to be seen by an epilepsy specialist. The gift of this time outside of time allows them to get to know each other better, such that the memory of the trip will be precious to Antonio even decades later. I appreciated how the limited setting heightened this short novel’s emotions. Carofiglio invites readers to peer between the leisurely progression of events to see the bond that is being formed.
See my full review at BookBrowse. (See also my related article on HarperVia, a new publishing imprint for international literature.)
See my full review at BookBrowse. (See also my related article on HarperVia, a new publishing imprint for international literature.)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 939 reviews