A Bulgarian writer. His novel has the crazy, rambling, circus-like quality that eastern european cinema can have at times. Basically the story of the author/protagonist growing up in Bulgaria of the 70s, 80s and 90s. He jumps around in history, between characters and other creatures, philosophizes, makes political commentary, tells side stories. The book has digressions titles SIDE STORY.
The myth of the Minotaur is central to the book in some way, but turned on its head. The Minotaur as victim, as a sad story deserving of sympathy. The Minotaur as Everyman lost in the labyrinth of life? Betrayed by the heros, by the big people, by the big ideas and dreams?
He develops a couple of interesting ideas close to my heart.
One is around page 168, where he proposes a hierarchy and a religion of the ephemeral, of the fleeting and the living, instead of the eternal and the dead. The title of the section is BUFFALO SHIT, OR THE SUBLIME IS EVERYWHERE. He points out how all the drama, all the sturm und drang of history would be meaningless if the ephemeral were valued. You can't fight a war about something that will quickly fade.
"Exactly. Man is the measure of all things. And everything that exceeds this measure and lasts longer and remains after his death is inhuman by its very nature, and a source of sorrow and discord as a rule." p. 171
"In the small and insignificant - that's where life hides, that's where it builds its nest. Funny what things are left to twinkle in the end, the last glimmer before darkness." p. 247 (He then goes on to describe two beautifully insignificant sublime moments from his life.)
Partly the result of having lived through the disaster of two big, timeless ideas or ideologies - Communism and Pirate Capitalism?
The last section of the book is called An Elementary Physics of Sorrow. It is a collection of short notes and thoughts that are quite sharp at times.
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