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Vesna's Reviews > At the Lucky Hand: aka The Sixty-Nine Drawers
At the Lucky Hand: aka The Sixty-Nine Drawers
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Vesna's review
bookshelves: 2020-releases, fiction, translated, magic-realism, ex-yu, 2022-theme-danube-countries, read-2022-contemporary, favorites, tr-knjige
Dec 22, 2022
bookshelves: 2020-releases, fiction, translated, magic-realism, ex-yu, 2022-theme-danube-countries, read-2022-contemporary, favorites, tr-knjige
A magical novel of how people meet each other in the books while simultaneously reading them. Readers as characters and the other way around� not knowing each other in reality except through the doors of reading as a way of imaginary life story-making.
And through this book I was also encountering the real and imaginary world of my childhood, the street where I was born, Natalija Dimitrijević by another name (it’s a beautiful character who lived on this street in the novel, I knew more than one Madame Natalija), and others� the vanished world of my childhood days. Thank you, Joe, for encouraging me to read it.
Gorgeous writing and a reminder that reading with detachment or vain pseudo-literary critical ambitions (my heart still aches for the novel’s Anastas Branica and his tragic casualty from one such reader) has no place in the hearts of true book lovers. Instead, when we immerse ourselves in reading it’s then transformed into a creative process in which life and imagination intermingle and take us to beautiful places and other readers�
And through this book I was also encountering the real and imaginary world of my childhood, the street where I was born, Natalija Dimitrijević by another name (it’s a beautiful character who lived on this street in the novel, I knew more than one Madame Natalija), and others� the vanished world of my childhood days. Thank you, Joe, for encouraging me to read it.
Gorgeous writing and a reminder that reading with detachment or vain pseudo-literary critical ambitions (my heart still aches for the novel’s Anastas Branica and his tragic casualty from one such reader) has no place in the hearts of true book lovers. Instead, when we immerse ourselves in reading it’s then transformed into a creative process in which life and imagination intermingle and take us to beautiful places and other readers�
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Reading Progress
November 20, 2020
– Shelved
November 25, 2022
–
Started Reading
December 9, 2022
–
51.49%
"This novel has a magical spell on me. Want to stay in it, not leave it, savor it slowly."
page
173
December 22, 2022
–
Finished Reading
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by
Joe
(new)
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rated it 5 stars
Dec 22, 2022 02:59PM
I thought this was the kind of book that you would love to read, Vesna. I'm happy that you enjoyed it as much as I did, but that Natalija lived on the same street as you did in your childhood, which I still remember as beautifully described in the novel, takes it to a whole new level. Magical is the perfect way to describe it.
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Joe wrote: "I thought this was the kind of book that you would love to read, Vesna. I'm happy that you enjoyed it as much as I did, but that Natalija lived on the same street as you did in your childhood, which..."Not only the street, Joe, but this too:
In the East wall was an enormous lattice window, where each of the five sashes was subdivided into nine equal fields, and these numerous panes, which made the room swarm with flashes, gave off the feeling of a glass botanical garden in which instead of plants thrived books.
My heart sang because it’s the exact description of our room with the large lattice window (also facing East!) and my mother’s books. I was spellbound both as a kid who grew up on this beautiful character’s street and as a reader mirroring the novel about the readers entering their memories, escapes from the realities, and dreams meeting other readers in the books they read. Puno hvala (thank you so much 🙂)!
Daniel wrote: "This is a fascinating review, Vesna!"Thank you so much, Daniel! The book and the experience of reading it were truly unique and fascinating.
Linda wrote: "Wonderful review, Vesna"It makes me happy to know you had a chance to read it, Linda, even more so as this novel has such a special meaning for me. Thank you!
Sounds as if you found very special and very personal links with this book, Vesna. Wonderful.
Fionnuala wrote: "Sounds as if you found very special and very personal links with this book, Vesna. Wonderful."Very much so, Fionnuala, and it means a lot that you took the time to read and comment on it. I can see how the novel can have universal appeal as it was translated into a dozen languages and Joe, who is an American, loved it so much that he encouraged me to read it. It's enchanting, melancholic, humane, innovative in form, and very much relatable to the lovers of books and reading, but it also had that extra personal touch for me. Unforgettable.
Wonderful review of the wonderful book.
Vit wrote: "Wonderful review of the wonderful book."Thank you, Vit. Thanks to your reviews of Petrović's books I learned about this remarkable author and then Joe gently nudged me to read this novel. It's now firmly ensconced on the bookshelf of my all-time favorites.
