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benchamin7282's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
bestobnacitalica's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
matt_hedgpeth's review
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
tasharobinson's review
2.0
Picked this one up years ago because I was hoping for insight into Francis Ford Coppolla's opaque, disjointed film adaptation of this book. Turns out, the opacity and disjointedness is coming from inside the house. This was a pretty unsatisfying read where it was hard to tell what was going on with the protagonist or the world around him. The summary sounds exciting — ahead of World War 2, old man who considers himself a failure and is about to commit suicide is struck by lightning and wakes up 40 years younger, much smarter, and capable of strange acts of prediction. He thinks he's a new mutation of human, and the Gestapo starts chasing him because they want to experiment on him.
All that sounds like a modern superhero thriller, but the book feels more like a philosophical treatise with a plot, possibly as written by Kafka. Characters drop abruptly in and out of the narrative, with no resolution — some very important characters are probably murdered, but it's never clear whether that's true, and nothing comes of it. Frequently I'd be reading along and suddenly have no idea what was going on, and I'd have to backtrack a page or two because the narrative would change so abruptly and arbitrarily that I'd miss the transition. And pretty much nothing comes of it all. You'd think there would be big ontological or philosophical arguments in a story where it comes out that human beings can be signficantly upgraded through lightning, but the book doesn't much grapple with the implications. Pretty unsatisfying overall.
All that sounds like a modern superhero thriller, but the book feels more like a philosophical treatise with a plot, possibly as written by Kafka. Characters drop abruptly in and out of the narrative, with no resolution — some very important characters are probably murdered, but it's never clear whether that's true, and nothing comes of it. Frequently I'd be reading along and suddenly have no idea what was going on, and I'd have to backtrack a page or two because the narrative would change so abruptly and arbitrarily that I'd miss the transition. And pretty much nothing comes of it all. You'd think there would be big ontological or philosophical arguments in a story where it comes out that human beings can be signficantly upgraded through lightning, but the book doesn't much grapple with the implications. Pretty unsatisfying overall.
al13ex's review
3.0
This is the story of Dominic Matei, an old intellectual who has never finished his lifetime work. He was passionate about many subjects and he had the ambition to study his entire lifetime, until he started to lose his memory. That is the reason why he was in Bucharest, on the verge of committing suicide, when he was struck by lightning. Although Dominic was supposed to die, not only that he survived, but he was also getting younger. During his stay in the hospital, just like a newborn baby, he depended on others for everything, not being able to move or speak.
His entire body began to regenerate, new teeth replaced the old ones, and his memory was dramatically increased, remembering many details relating his first youth. Doctors and scientists tried to understand the miracle and Dominic himself was clueless about his new situation. In his twenties he tried to learn Chinese, but it seemed that his memory was not enough to succeed, so he abandoned it slowly, just to discover that he had the ability to write, speak and understand many oriental languages in addition to ancient languages.
He was an old man in the body of a young adult, given the chance to start over a new life, which he did, and finish his greatest work. Not only that he had all the memories of his old life, but he was immune to the juvenile ignorance and other passing thoughts.
People of a certain age encounter many regrets and often wish for second chances. Eliade invokes subjects such as time and immortality. If people were to live forever, what would they do with all that time? In our case, Dominic is only given a new life, letting go of the old one. He traveled a lot, changed identities and kept many secrets. Moreover, he found a new true love, which he did not believe it was possible. Sadly, he reached the conclusion: "I am bound to lose all that I love."
The simplest conclusion of the story would be for everyone to seize the time, without forgetting what is truly important and to keep in mind that time passes much too quickly. More complex meanings could be extracted and many philosophical discussions could erupt, but I'll leave that for each reader to extract for themselves.
His entire body began to regenerate, new teeth replaced the old ones, and his memory was dramatically increased, remembering many details relating his first youth. Doctors and scientists tried to understand the miracle and Dominic himself was clueless about his new situation. In his twenties he tried to learn Chinese, but it seemed that his memory was not enough to succeed, so he abandoned it slowly, just to discover that he had the ability to write, speak and understand many oriental languages in addition to ancient languages.
He was an old man in the body of a young adult, given the chance to start over a new life, which he did, and finish his greatest work. Not only that he had all the memories of his old life, but he was immune to the juvenile ignorance and other passing thoughts.
People of a certain age encounter many regrets and often wish for second chances. Eliade invokes subjects such as time and immortality. If people were to live forever, what would they do with all that time? In our case, Dominic is only given a new life, letting go of the old one. He traveled a lot, changed identities and kept many secrets. Moreover, he found a new true love, which he did not believe it was possible. Sadly, he reached the conclusion: "I am bound to lose all that I love."
The simplest conclusion of the story would be for everyone to seize the time, without forgetting what is truly important and to keep in mind that time passes much too quickly. More complex meanings could be extracted and many philosophical discussions could erupt, but I'll leave that for each reader to extract for themselves.
zlata's review
Maybe it’s just me but i don’t think an ending of a book has ever frustrated me and confused me as much as this one, and after at least an hour of trying to put the pieces together i am more confused than ever
I am accepting the faith of being haunted by it forever
That being said, the rest of the book is pretty okay, fun to read but still confusing at times especially considering the non linear narrative.
The main character, a scientist who has dedicated his entire life to his work, is hit by a lightning bolt one day, becomes young again and starts noticing his mental abilities increasing. He gets another chance at life but that brings along many interesting questions about time itself and how much humanity values it.
There are a lot of interesting concepts throughout the story that have to do with religion and philosophy - i only wish they were a bit more connected, tied together and explained further, but considering the short amount of pages this book has that wasn’t really something to expect.
I am accepting the faith of being haunted by it forever
That being said, the rest of the book is pretty okay, fun to read but still confusing at times especially considering the non linear narrative.
The main character, a scientist who has dedicated his entire life to his work, is hit by a lightning bolt one day, becomes young again and starts noticing his mental abilities increasing. He gets another chance at life but that brings along many interesting questions about time itself and how much humanity values it.
There are a lot of interesting concepts throughout the story that have to do with religion and philosophy - i only wish they were a bit more connected, tied together and explained further, but considering the short amount of pages this book has that wasn’t really something to expect.
elena_r's review
5.0
Well if this doesn't show people the sheer awesomeness of Mircea Eliade and his pure genius then I don't know what will. This is a literary masterpiece. It's a novella you have to read in a life. It combines a lot of cultural, historical, ocult and theological stuff in less than 100 pages. For a normal reader the book seems very strange. It is indeed a book of mysteries.
_dunno_'s review
3.0
Love story-ul mi se pare ca aduce cumva cu "Adam si Eva" [Rebreanu], doar ca usor mai fad. N-am avut curiozitatea de a vedea filmul lui Coppola si nu cred ca am pierdut nimic.
mariana_cscs's review
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
taitmckenzie's review
4.0
When I saw the Coppola adaptation of this book I somewhat understood why the movie had received so many negative reviews: it was not the action-packed, World War II movie that it's setting might have lent itself towards. Instead, and in true fashion to Eliade's work, the movie dealt primarily with the metaphysical, spiritual, and even paranormal possibilities lurking behind every age, when the aging Romanian professor Dominic Matei is struck by lightning and suddenly rejuvenated, not just physically but with an hypermnesia that allows him to know anything he desires. However, I was somewhat displeased, as much of this came off as slightly removed from the action of the story itself, as if the plot was but an ill-fitting coat hanger for the ideas presented.
As far as Eliade's novella, there is perhaps even less action and drama, and more focus on the possibility of ideas, including a random side adventure into Ireland to witness the Committee to Celebrate the Centennial of the Commemoration of the Death of Irish Poet, Magus, and Irredentist Sean Bran, a scene that seems entirely unrelated to the rest of the book, was dropped from the movie, and yet is one of the more enjoyable sections. "Youth Without Youth" reads more like a synopsis than a fleshed out work of fiction; one could easily imagine it expanded into a tome much like his masterful "Forbidden Forest." However, it also seems possible (the notorious "death of the author" aside) that as this was written at the end of Eliade's life he may have been slightly more concerned with getting the ideas down rather than developing them. If anything it could be a dying scholar and storyteller's wish to have one more chance at life to complete his work, while at the same time realizing the futility of that desire, here cast in terms of Chaungtzu's butterfly parable. Dominic Matei, perhaps Eliade himself, is an old man dreaming that he is a young man dreaming that he is every man, eventually falling into Eliade's spiritual catch-22 of the Eternal Return, bringing the still youthful Matei full circle to die where he had originally desired to commit suicide, having still not completed his life's work but learned to love life in the process.
As far as Eliade's novella, there is perhaps even less action and drama, and more focus on the possibility of ideas, including a random side adventure into Ireland to witness the Committee to Celebrate the Centennial of the Commemoration of the Death of Irish Poet, Magus, and Irredentist Sean Bran, a scene that seems entirely unrelated to the rest of the book, was dropped from the movie, and yet is one of the more enjoyable sections. "Youth Without Youth" reads more like a synopsis than a fleshed out work of fiction; one could easily imagine it expanded into a tome much like his masterful "Forbidden Forest." However, it also seems possible (the notorious "death of the author" aside) that as this was written at the end of Eliade's life he may have been slightly more concerned with getting the ideas down rather than developing them. If anything it could be a dying scholar and storyteller's wish to have one more chance at life to complete his work, while at the same time realizing the futility of that desire, here cast in terms of Chaungtzu's butterfly parable. Dominic Matei, perhaps Eliade himself, is an old man dreaming that he is a young man dreaming that he is every man, eventually falling into Eliade's spiritual catch-22 of the Eternal Return, bringing the still youthful Matei full circle to die where he had originally desired to commit suicide, having still not completed his life's work but learned to love life in the process.