Another Life: On Memory, Language, Love, and the Passage of Time
Written by Theodor Kallifatides
Narrated by Kevin Stillwell
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
“Nobody should write after the age of seventy-five,” a friend had said. At seventy-seven, struggling with the weight of writer’s block, Theodor Kallifatides makes the difficult decision to sell the Stockholm studio where he diligently worked for decades and retire. Unable to write, and yet unable to not write, he travels to his native Greece in the hope of rediscovering that lost fluidity of language.
In this slim memoir, Kallifatides explores the interplay of meaningful living and meaningful work, and the timeless question of how to reconcile oneself to aging. But he also comments on worrying trends in contemporary Europe—from religious intolerance and prejudice against immigrants to housing crises and gentrification—and his sadness at the battered state of his beloved Greece.
Kallifatides offers an eloquent, thought-provoking meditation on the writing life, and an author’s place in a changing world.
Editor's Note
Thought-provoking exploration…
During his career, Greek-born Theodor Kallifatides emerged as one of Sweden’s most respected authors, writing poetry, novels, plays, and film scripts. In his thoughtful, philosophical memoir, Kallifatides shares the complicated act of aging, experiencing crippling writer’s block in his late 70s, and his return to his beloved homeland of Greece. It’s a thought-provoking exploration of the passage of time, with commentary on cultural trends in modern Europe.
Theodor Kallifatides
Theodor Kallifatides has published more than forty works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that have been translated around the world. Born in Greece in 1938, Kallifatides immigrated in 1964 to Sweden, where he began his literary career. As a translator, he has brought August Strindberg and Ingmar Bergman to Greek readers, and Giannis Ritsos and Mikis Theodorakis to Swedish ones. He has received numerous awards for his work in both Greece and Sweden. He lives in Sweden.
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Reviews for Another Life
33 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What a beautiful heartfelt ode to his memory, identity, and nostalgia.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Conmovedora memoria de un escritor que se reencuentra con la escritura, con su lengua y el hogar. Con un inicio casi anodino sobre un escritor que a los setenta y cinco años no puede escribir más -y sí, como lector uno dice: oh, sorpresa, otro más-, pero que, conforme va a avanzando en la remembranza y en el repaso de su día a día se entiende, por un lado, el porqué de ese arranque casi anodino y por el otro se va profundizando en conocer a Kallifatides. Sus reflexiones sobre la migración, los refugiados, resultan no sólo esclarecedores sino necesarios, también lo es su rechazo a la odio que, bajo el paraguas de la libertad de expresión, busca perpetuarse -vivió en sus primeros años bajo la ocupación nazi de Grecia-. Suecia ha sido el país donde ha vivido desde finales de los 1960s y en él se casó y formó a su familia, en sueco escribe y no lo dejan de preocupar los problemas que atraviesa ese país, sobre todo su xenofobia. Así lleva al lector hasta su natal Grecia, reflexionando sobre la historia del país y la situación que la crisis lo ha hecho atravesar. Para descubrir, luego de un homenaje que le hicieron y una obra de teatro las palabras adecuadas para volver a escribir, no sólo a escribir sino hacerlo en su lengua materna, el griego. Al modo proustiano, la obra cierra en el momento en que comienza su escritura.