The Museum of Lost Things (el. knyga) (skaityta knyga) | knygos.lt

Aprašymas

In The Museum of Lost Things, ordinary characters find themselves bumping awkwardly, haphazardly, into absurd situations that, more often than not, blur the boundaries between the real and the imaginary. Pahl's debut collection of stories summons up a Kafkaesque world, at once familiar and strange, where nothing is quite secure, where things we've always assumed to be safe within our possession can easily, sometimes mysteriously, get lost or vanish into thin air. And what can get lost so easily? Not only plain objects-such as pens and umbrellas and loose change-but also our most important relationships, our good reputations, our biggest opportunities, our youthful passions, our peace of mind, even the very meaning of our lives.In the title story, a middle-aged New York writer, stumbling upon an obscure museum, discovers in its many exhibition rooms all the things he has ever lost, including his old books and umbrellas, friends who've disappeared, the hair he once had on his head, a forgotten manuscript, and a love that got away. Can the past ever be recovered? Or is it just a fading memory, a kind of story we are constantly revising and re-inventing? In other tales, we meet characters involved in similarly strange circumstances. A vacationer in the Caribbean wonders if he is about to lose his regular life when a perfect stranger climbs out of his suitcase, wearing his clothes. A literature professor, whose students inexplicably vanish, is so dedicated to his work he forgets about his lost students and stubbornly decides to finish the semester lecturing to an empty classroom. A diner, after receiving bad service at a restaurant, pledges to go to any length, at whatever cost, to find the elusive waiter on whom he seeks revenge. A decent, unassuming man worries about losing his reputation when a piece of the sky falls into his backyard. A tourist seeks out great cultural sites around the world, only to discover they no longer exist and, moreover, his tour guide is nowhere to be found.Here, in stories revolving around all things lost or having gone oddly missing, are surreal, darkly humorous metaphysical comedies about love and loss, hope and melancholy, and the absurdity of everyday life.