Train on Thursday: Night Train to Lisbon, Pascal Mercier

I travel with public transport on regular base. One of my favorite past times when in bus or train besides reading is checking out what other people read. I usually look these books up (especially when someone is so hooked they don't notice me checking them out) to see if they would be something for me. In this weekly I will introduce you to the books I spotted while traveling. Feel free to leave a comment with your public transport books. If you want to write your own post feel free to link your post in the comments.

Nachttrein naar Lissabon Pascal Mercier coverRaimund Gregorius is a Latin teacher at a Swiss college who one day—after a chance encounter with a mysterious Portuguese woman—abandons his old life to start a new one. He takes the night train to Lisbon and carries with him a book by Amadeu de Prado, a (fictional) Portuguese doctor and essayist whose writings explore the ideas of loneliness, mortality, death, friendship, love, and loyalty. Gregorius becomes obsessed by what he reads and restlessly struggles to comprehend the life of the author. His investigations lead him all over the city of Lisbon, as he speaks to those who were entangled in Prado’s life. Gradually, the picture of an extraordinary man emerges—a doctor and poet who rebelled against Salazar’s dictatorship.
Earlier this year I read Perlmann's Silence by Mercier. Though in a way the book intrigued me I had a lot of problems with the style of writing. Though I am still curious about this book written by Mercier I am not feeling reluctant to pick it up. Did you read it and if yes what did you think of it?

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