The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
zlata's review against another edition
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 against another edition
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 against another edition
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 against another edition
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 against another edition
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.
laviniag's review against another edition
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.
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