Status
Call number
Genres
Publication
Description
A new novel of artful understatement about mortality, estrangement, and the absurdity of life from the acclaimed author of Unformed Landscape and In Strange Gardens On a day like any other, Andreas changes his life. When a routine doctor's visit leads to an unexpected prognosis, a great yearning takes hold of him--but who can tell if it is homesickness or wanderlust? Andreas leaves everything behind, sells his Paris apartment; cuts off all social ties; quits his teaching job; and waves goodbye to his days spent idly sitting in cafes--to look for a woman he once loved, half a lifetime ago. The monotony of days has been keeping him in check; now he hopes for a miracle and for a new beginning. Andreas' travels lead him back to the province of his youth, back to his hometown in Switzerland where he returns to familiar streets, where his brother still lives in their childhood home, and where Fabienne, a woman he was obsessed with in his youth, visits the same lake they once swam in together. Andreas, still consumed with longing for his lost love and blinded by the uncertainty of his future, is tormented by the question of what might have been if things had happened differently. Peter Stamm has been praised as a "stylistic ascetic" and his prose as "distinguished by lapidary expression, telegraphic terseness, and finely tuned sensitivity" (Bookforum). In On a Day Like This, Stamm's unobtrusive observational style allows us to journey with our antihero through his crises of banality, of living in his empty world, and the realization that life is finite--that one must live it, as long as that is possible. Praise for Unformed Landscape: "Sensitive and unnerving. . . . An uncommonly intimate work, one that will remind the reader of his or her own lived experience with a greater intensity than many of the books that are published right here at home." --The New Republic Online "If Albert Camus had lived in an age when people in remote Norwegian fishing villages had e-mail, he might have written a novel like this."--The New Yorker "Unformed Landscape has a refreshing purity, a lack of delusion, a lack of hype."--Los Angeles Times… (more)
User reviews
This isn’t a happy feel-good book, but it isn’t necessarily a depressing book either. There is no earth-shattering climax at the end, but instead a slow build-up to what ultimately felt, to me, like the correct choice. The author never tries to explain the character or his motivations; he just lays out what Andreas thinks or says, which was refreshing, but occasionally confusing and distancing at times.
Overall, a thought-provoking read, and definitely recommended
Andreas fell in love, with a woman named Fabienne, in his youth and even though his love was unrequited he dreamed of her throughout his life. Every woman was compared to the picture he held in his mind, the standard of his ideal.
Andreas became sick and he made a visit to the doctor. His chest x-ray showed an abnormality and a biopsy was scheduled. By this time Andreas has started an affair with Delphine, a woman half his age. When the results came in, Andreas was called to the doctors office. During the wait to see the doctor Andreas realized that the fear of knowing was too great. He felt if he didn't actually hear the doctor read the results that all would be fine and that it couldn't hurt him and left without talking to the doctor. He then chose to cut all ties and start fresh. He sold or threw away everything he owned, except for a suitcase with some clothes and a statue that reminded him of Fabienne. He made a plan to go back to Switzerland and the village that he grew up in and find Fabienne . He had kept her memory locked in a time where he had never really gotten to know her and she never aged. His love, over the years, had morphed into an unrealistic idea of love. He realized that he had held onto a fantasy that had shaped his adult life and now realized what he really wanted.
This book was a bit of a let down. I was so excited to have been chosen for it and couldn't wait to read it. I got through the book quickly, but it was very depressing. I kept thinking, at some point, Andreas was going to make a big change and it never really happened. His "big" change was written in a boring, slow, unsatisfying manner. When he broke ties, sold his things and left he, himself ,stayed the same. He never tried new things or really tried to make his life different. Sure, he pulled up stakes, but he stayed monotonous. I truly feel that the ending of the book should have been the middle with alot more story left to come!
Overall, the book was well written, but it was somewhat depressing to realize that many people probably go through life regretting choices they have made and lose out on what they do have in their lives. In the end, he does finally realize how special his relationship is with Delphine and begins to live in the present rather than the past.
The book feels mundane because Andreas leads a life whose mundanity only reflects his meaningless world around him. The only thing that gives him any meaning is his unrequited love for Fabienne. The only real details worth remembering in Andreas' life surround her; it is as if the color of the world is desaturated except for when he thinks about Fabienne and his limited encounters with her--only these times possess color. While some might find the narrative a bit bleak, or dare I say, 'immoral', Andreas' story is ultimately a hopeful one. It's not so much about Andreas' idealistic "story" as much as the reality of choosing that person who continues to be the one who chooses you in return. Mutuality and reciprocation may ultimately find a home in a story full of unilateral selfishness.