[ book tip by Jade Weighell ] Have you ever had one of those days when you just feel like getting up and walking away from the banal routine of your life?

Raimund Gregorius is a teacher of ancient languages and is renowned for his infallible knowledge and unshakable reliability. On his usual route into work, he bumps into a beautiful woman and his encounter with her reminds him of all the sensations he has been living without and acts as a catalyst for him to up and leave mid-way through a class and to stumble upon a book. The words of the author, Amadeu de Prado, compel Gregorius to get on the night train to Lisbon to find out more about the life behind the profound words.  

Gregorius, other wise known as ‘Papyrus’ to his students, has spent his life in limbo and his journey to Lisbon and his discoveries about Prado allow him to look back at his own life. He gains a new sense of self and reveals a completely different side to his personality that he didn’t even know existed.    

Prado’s story, told through his own philosophical writings and those of people who knew him, reveals a life filled with genius, troubled conscience and convoluted relationships. It raises the themes of language, friendship, love, time, death, belief and the strength of personal principles.    

The novel is written in an intimate and philosophical style, looking deeply into all the issues that affect us most in our lives. It is easy to empathise with Gregorious and the language is wonderfully descriptive. The only faults of the novel are that it is at times a bit slow and there is a lot of repetition when the author, Pascal Mercier, felt it necessary to repeat passages of Prado’s musings instead of trusting the reader’s memory. Also there was occasionally a sense of anti-climax when moments were built up over several chapters and then didn’t quite live up to expectations.  

Overall though, it is a stunning novel. It causes the reader to reflect on their own lives and to re-evaluate any choices that have been made in the past and to then walk into the future with greater hope and expectations.  

[ book info ] Mercier, Pascal: Night Train to Lisbon. (original language: German) Translated from the German by Barbara Harshav. Atlantic Books , Great Britain, 2009 . ISBN: 978-1-84354-713-6.