Time Shelter
Georgi Gospodinov · b. 1968 · Bulgaria
Originally Vremeubezhishte (Bulgarian) · translated by Angela Rodel
Why it matters
A clinic recreates past decades floor by floor to calm dementia patients, a therapy so popular that whole nations start voting on which decade to move back into. Gospodinov's tender, absurdist allegory for Europe's retreat into nostalgia, and the first Bulgarian novel to win the International Booker Prize.
At a glance
speculative fictionphilosophical novelsatire
Difficulty 6/10medium pace304 pagesEssayistic digressions and a conceptual, allegorical structure outweigh plot in the traditional sense.
Deep dive
A clinic built floor by floor out of the past becomes Europe's referendum on which decade it would rather live in than face its present.
Where to go next
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