אין לי מושג איך הגעתי לקרוא אותו ומי המליץ עליו, אבל אני שמח שהגעתי. ספר איטלקי מקסים, ארוטי ומורכב שבבירור לא כולם אוהבים, אבל אני קראתי אותו תוך כמה ימים כשכל הזמן החיוך לא מש מפני. ( )

The author (and translator's) use of language is very nice, but a couple of idiosyncratic things about the book caused me to struggle with it a bit. First, the author persisted in changing narrative perspectives (third to first person) at random times, and even to different first person perspectives -- without warning the reader that it was happening. Second, there seems to be a bit of a sub-story about the author himself (not sure if it's actually true), that is mixed in with the main story. The way it jumped back and forth caused some narrative steam to be lost. Both of these significantly interfered with the flow and reading enjoyment of the book. ( )

This novella begins promisingly with an account of how the hours and the days pass in a mansion inhabited by some archetypes who are quite eccentric, and then moves on to a poetic episode of erotica. There the fun stops for a while; the lyrical passage of the days deteriorates into an excruciating description of a series of incongruous packages which arrive at the house, and the erotica is gone for quite a while. Though it's easy from the cover to think that one is going to be immersed in eroticism, it must be said that the erotic episodes are rather drowsy by the standards of Anglophone readers who are used to more rough-and-tumble stuff. The book's strengths are its occasional deployment of magic realism and when it sets out to, as mentioned, describe the passage of time. A mixed blessing is the eponymous narrator's usage of a mix of first- and third-person narrative which is striking when not confusing. The author makes little effort to flesh out his characters or bother with a plot, especially a plausible one. The author, especially toward the end, feints toward a theme of the process of authorship, but this idea was too oblique for me to see what he was trying to get at. This is an appealing book in many ways, but it will not please traditionalists. ( )

In its posturing this story and the characters reminded of Six Characters in Search of an Author ( )

This latest novel from Baricco is a must read for all who love the dreamy narrative style on one hand and the precise, meticulous phrasing on the other hand. A story set in no time, without named protagonists, with an unclear time spend, very little information on the place of the action .... like a dream.
As i already stated about Baricco: the stories are like dreaming with your eyes open.
An allegory on power, sexuality, family relations, old habits, gentleman and servants, repeating history, the lost son and .... fun, lots of fun.
Baricco references widely to his older work, but in a very subtle way, and also to other works from Hamlet to some of the newest authors, mixes narrative viewpoints from the protagonist to "the writer", works with timelapses and .... well with practically everything.
Do not read this book for the story or the plot.
DO read this book because of its creativity, pleasure of reading, laughing and most of all, because if you love reading, you will get a treat you'll not lightly forget. ( )