“Years later, when many of his memories had already scattered like frightened pigeons, he could still go back to that morning when he was wandering aimlessly through the streets of Vienna, and a vagrant with a mustache like García Márquez’s was selling newspapers on the sidewalk in the early March sun. A wind blew up and several of the newspapers swirled into the air. He tried to help, chasing down two or three and returning them. You can keep one, said Márquez.” (Excerpt from Time Shelter - Georgi Gospodinov, page 14)
Time Shelter, winner of the International Booker Prize, presents a powerful idea: forgetting the past can be dangerous for both individuals and societies. The novel follows a narrator who collects memories and partners with Gaustine to create a unique clinic in Switzerland. Each floor of the clinic recreates a different decade through objects, sounds, and smells, allowing patients with memory loss to relive happier times. Initially, the experiment succeeds, as patients reconnect with their “internal time,” even to the point of believing they can change the past. However, what begins as a therapeutic project gradually expands across Europe, taking a darker turn. Entire nations attempt to recreate chosen periods of their history, culminating in referendums where countries vote on which decade to return to. These efforts expose deep divisions, as each nation clings to its own version of the past, often shaped by suffering rather than happiness. The result is confusion and conflict, as shared history becomes impossible. Ultimately, the novel suggests that nostalgia can be dangerous when it overwhelms the present. While memory can comfort, an excessive return to the past leads to fragmentation and chaos. Despite its serious themes, the narrative is held together by a subtle sense of humour that keeps the story engaging. The novel might have become a purely intellectual exercise, but Georgi Gospodinov brings emotional depth and warmth to the story. The narrator closely reflects the author himself—a Bulgarian shaped by the end of communism, a moment that lingers between past and present. While he shows genuine affection for that era, he also views it critically. Through fragmented memories, Gospodinov creates vivid, fully realized characters, and smoothly shifts between humour, sadness, absurdity, and tragedy. These nuances are effectively conveyed to English readers through Angela Rodel’s sensitive translation. The title Time Shelter itself suggests a paradox: both escaping from time and finding refuge within it—ideas that are appealing but ultimately unattainable. The novel reconsiders nostalgia, portraying it not as a harmless comfort but as something more dangerous, like a fuel that consumes the present and limits the future.
“The first thing that goes in memory loss is the very concept of the future.” Time Shelter
(Excerpt from Time Shelter - Georgi Gospodinov, page 124)
Reference
https://www.the-tls.com/literature/fiction/time-shelter-georgi-gospodinov-book-review-anna-aslanyan
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/may/20/time-shelter-by-georgi-gospodinov-review-the-dangers-of-dwelling-in-the-past
