Our International Book of the Month is Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier
r is a profound and introspective novel that follows the journey of Raimund Gregorius, a solitary Swiss classics professor whose life takes an unexpected turn after a chance encounter with a mysterious Portuguese woman. Intrigued by a book of philosophical reflections by a deceased Portuguese doctor and writer named Amadeu de Prado, Gregorius impulsively abandons his predictable life and takes a night train to Lisbon.
In Lisbon, a city steeped in history and atmosphere, Gregorius embarks on a quest to uncover the life and thoughts of the enigmatic Prado. Through conversations with those who knew him – family, friends, and former colleagues – a complex portrait of Prado emerges: a brilliant and unconventional intellectual, a doctor who tended to the poor, and a man deeply engaged with the political turmoil of Salazar's dictatorship.
As Gregorius delves deeper into Prado's world, reading his insightful and often melancholic writings, he begins to question his own life, his choices, and the paths not taken. The novel explores themes of identity, memory, language, loneliness, the possibility of truly knowing another person, and the impact of political oppression on individual lives.
