|
''Night Train to Lisbon'' is a philosophical novel by Swiss writer Pascal Mercier. It recounts the travels of Swiss Classics instructor Raimund Gregorius as he explores the life of Amadeu de Prado, a Portuguese doctor, during António de Oliveira Salazar's right-wing dictatorship in Portugal. Prado is a serious thinker whose active mind becomes evident in a series of his notes collected and read by Gregorius. The book was originally published in German as ''Nachtzug nach Lissabon'' in 2004 and was first published in English in 2008. The novel became an international bestseller.〔 (Accessed in NewsBank Database (Requires Subscription))〕 Danish film director Bille August adapted the book into a 2013 film of the same name, starring Jeremy Irons as Raimund Gregorius. ==Characters== Raimund Gregorius is a teacher at a Swiss gymnasium in modern day Bern, expert in ancient languages (Greek, Latin and Hebrew). He encounters a mysterious woman, which leads him to find an intriguing book. To understand its author, Amadeu de Prado, he abandons his teaching position and goes to Lisbon, where he investigates Prado and Prado's associates. Amadeu de Prado was a doctor who lived during the Salazar Dictatorship, which began in 1928 and ended in 1974. Prado had a strong interest in literature and, because of this awareness, begins questioning the world, the experiences he knows, and the words contained in conversation and written thought. He writes these ideas in a series of notes and journal entries which his sister, Adriana, edits and publishes. His life and his thoughts are strongly influenced by the dictatorship around him. His father is a judge. Prado saves the life of Mendez, the Regime's Chief of Secret Police, and, in reaction to others' criticism of him, joins the resistance movement. Maria Joao is a girl who Amadeu de Prado loved since a child. She seemed to be only one person who knows about Prado well. Mariana Eca is an ophthalmologist in Lisbon and gives perfect glasses to Gregorius when his glasses were broken by an accident. She has an uncle, Joao Eca, who played schubert, and lives in a nursing home now but he knows many things about Amadeu. Gregorius visits him often to talk about Amadeu. Jorge O'Kelly was Prado's best friend and Prado gave him a pharmacy for free. Prado wanted to be a member of the resistance through him and met Estefania who was going out with Jorge and had a good memory. The dictatorship lasted until 1974 and relied heavily upon a brutal secret police force, the PIDE. Salazar himself died in 1970, two years after he had handed over power to Marcel Caetano, who continued his policies until the Carnation Revolution of 1974 overthrew the regime. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Night Train to Lisbon」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|