De wetten van de melancholie

An enjoyable metafictional novel about many things, including the narrator’s grandfather, his own childhood in late Communist-era Bulgaria, and minotaurs. The minotaur and the labyrinth are related to various events and themes of the book, although there are ramblings about many random subjects.

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Early on in the novel, the narrator (who is named Georgi Gospodinov, along with his grandfather) describes two magic realist elements, which are threaded through the rest of the narrative: as a child, he had the ability to enter someone else’s memories and find all their secrets; when he did this with his grandfather, he learned about an incident when his grandfather saw a minotaur at a fair. The narrator learns other secrets from his family, most notably the time when his grandfather was briefly abandoned at a mill.

From here, the narrator further describes his grandfather’s experiences in the war and his own lonely childhood, but there are all sorts of tangents and random musings and even a whole chapter in defense of the minotaur. The minotaur, he notes, is an abandoned child, which he relates to the mill incident and his own childhood stuck in a basement apartment. The narrator loses his ability to enter memories as he grows older and undertakes various projects in response to this loss–obsessing over time capsules and paying strangers for their stories. He also muses on his friend, the eccentric and ambitious Gaustine, who may be a time traveler.

The early sections, even with all the weirdness, were terrific. His descriptions of growing up in Communist-era Bulgaria are interesting, vivid, funny and sometimes sad. Later on, the narrator describes some of his middle-aged ennui and moving numbly around Europe, which was less interesting. I was also hoping for more stories about his grandfather and his family, and the Gaustine plot sort of petered out. Still, overall, the book was smoothly written, thoughtful and entertaining. Although revisionist takes on fairy tales and myths are common now, I don’t think I’ve read one with a defense of the minotaur, so those parts were fun. The book is structured into chapters about one (often random) topic with many short sections. Although it seems like the book should be easy to pick up and put down, I found I was most engaged when I read large chunks at a time. There are also many metafictional/experimental bits--pictures, lists, writing in invisible ink, etc. I liked all this weirdness, but some might find it irritating. Definitely recommended, although maybe for people who like metafiction.

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Screw you, your incohesive drivel and your stupid minotaur, buddy.

This was a struggle to finish. No organizing structure. No themes. No character development. No settings. In my view, pretty much a mess. I kept reading hoping to find something useful, but alas there didn't seem to be much there.