Customer Reviews

Time Gifts (Writings from an Unbound Europe)

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Time is both gift and curse to three people -- a church astronomer persecuted by the Spanish Inquisition, a forgotten scholar of dead, ancient language, and a reticent watchmaker -- courtesy of an enigmatic, literally obscure stranger. He travels through time to visit people carrying years of secret pain, then leaves each with an oppurtunity for their own time journey. These episodes form the first three stories of the book; the fourth story links the previous tales and reveals the stranger's identity. This book's style is clean and clear, with few of the fumblings one might expect for a translated work. The glaring problem is shifting in diction. It isn't appropriate to write a sentence as casually poetic as "He stepped outside to meet the stars, but his foot did not alight on solid ground as it should have," and then follow it with the colloquial "It landed on something soft and squishy." And at other times, the narrator seems to confuse a Derby hat with a top hat. But in a book as otherwise formal and pristine as this one, these are minor quibbles. To convey the effect of time travel, Zivkovic adheres rigidly to Aristotle's unities of time and space, until the moment when each character receives their "gift"; then violently stretches each perspective to reflect disorientation. The travellers are left both grateful and unnerved by the journeys. Each tale ends in an ironic twist which will no doubt remind many of the Twilight Zone television series. But these tales lack the moral force of Serling's vision. Neither are they tales of the wonders held by the future, or exercises in alternate history. They are about the comfort of illusions and the shock of truth. If they feel slight, it's because of Zivkovic avoiding sensationalism, prefering instead to goad the reader into philosophic reflection.

In this Serbian, postmodern, science fiction novel (yeah, you read that right) a mysterious stranger appears in three different times to three different people. He talks to them each about certain aspects of the nature of time and then gives each a "time gift," a visit to another time which will have special significance for him or her. In the book's fourth and final section, the mystery of the stranger and his visits is solved in the most unexpected way while questions of time-theory give way to a unique aesthetic statement.

Not too much can be said about the organizing concept or the ending of this book without ruining its effect on the reader. Like most postmodern writers, Zivkovic depends heavily on the surprise created by the way he unexpectedly warps the traditional structure of a narrative. Postmodern writers generally violate at least one of the big, assumed "laws" of storytelling (good pop culture examples of this are the films of Charlie Kaufman--"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," etc.). This is not to say that Zivkovic's work is a hollow stylistic exercise, however. The final section of "Time Gifts" offers the reader one or two truly substantive problems to ponder over. Zivkovic's prose, also, is often a treat. As an example, here is a priceless image from the novel, which comes as Zivkovic describes the modest amenities in the office belonging to an aging academic, a woman addicted to tea: "Several used tea bags were lying on the newspaper like tropical fish that had died of asphyxiation." A precious little gem, that.

What makes Zivkovic's take on time travel unique is the setting in which each frustrated individual ultimately chosen for the journey lives. The mechanism by which they vault their present condition is one part quiet desperation and many, many parts imagination of a very high order. Reading these tales will leave you pondering them for days.

There are four stories. In three, the solitude of a character is invaded by the presence of a mysterious man. He is constantly in shadow, such that his physical features are difficult to determine. 'As it was, all he could make out clearly were the pale hands folded in his lap, while his head was completely in the shadows, as though missing.' In each of the stories, we discover a little more about the visitor. He wears gloves. He has a penchant for white clothing. And he is interested in time. The first three stories, he presents the characters with a problem involving time. What if you could back and change something? What if the future was made clear? What if we could learn if our theories of the past are true?

Zivkovic's novella is constructed heavily around the twin concepts of time and chaos. Butterflies play a heavy role in the stories, alluding to the concept of chaos theory, which states that a butterfly fluttering its wings can cause a hurricane in a different country.

Consider the first story. A man is sentenced to death. He will burn at the stake, by order of the Church, for heresy against religion. We are not told exactly what his crime was, but it is implied that is has something to do with his occupation as Royal Astronomer. Did he perhaps declare that the Earth was not the centre of the universe? We don't know.

The man is locked within a cell, awaiting his punishment. A mysterious man enters. They discuss the astronomer's punishment, and what it would mean if he had a chance to avoid his fate. The man offers to show the astronomer the future, a future where the monastery he will be burned alive in has been remodelled into an observatory, and named after him in honour of his death. The astronomer, though skeptic, accepts, and the future is shown.

Returning to his cell, the astronomer is given a choice. Will he die in flames and be remembered through the observatory, or will he renounce his discovery and live a comfortable life, though one that is burdened with guilt? The story closes with his answer, which is not revealed.

The second and third stories follow a similar process. A character is introduced, a problem regarding time is present, and a decision is made. Always, the chance for redemption comes at a heavy price. Always a 'time gift' is shown to be as harmful as it is good.

The third story serves to destroy the narrative strength of Zivkovic's novel. Perhaps because most fairy tales operate in threes, with the third iteration proving unique, or at least providing closure, we expect that the third story will show a new insight into the mysterious man. But it doesn't. It's a rehash of the theme that we are familiar with from stories one and two. It is not an exaggeration to say that while the characters, settings and even 'time problems' are different with each story, the concept and theme are fundamentally the same. So similar, in fact, that it is unnecessary to beat us over the head a third time. And yet that is what Zivkovic does.

By the fourth story, then, we are somewhat tired of the concept. Yes, it is clear that the possibility to tamper with time comes with the drawback of negative choice. Yes, sometimes our choices have implications we have not expected. Yes, choices are difficult. This is clear from the first story, enhanced in meaning by the second, and made tiresome by the third. The last story, though, is a little different.

It is here that Zivkovic becomes rather meta, or post-modern, with his storytelling. The fourth story shows a regret on the part of the novelist, Zivkovic. He is unhappy that his time gifts to the characters gave negative as well as positive results, and seeks to rectify his mistakes in the fourth story. Zivkovic plays with the idea of author versus character versus narrative, and while it is interesting, it serves little purpose other than to tie up the loose ends of the other stories. The mystery man doesn't need to be explained, because he is described away as the author. It feels a cheat, a cheap trick for the reader.

What is there to make of Time Gifts? The novel is very short. As much as I disliked the third story, its placement is necessary, if only because without it, the page count of the novel would be in the low sixties. But isn't that a little strange? Time, and its effects, are a healthy subject for novelists. Proust wrote a six-book epic concerning time. Mann wrote one of the great masterpieces of the twentieth century about time. Zivkovic has chosen a vast, rewarding topic, but he is unable to plumb its depths. Indeed, he skims the surface, and repeats himself even then. A shame, because the few ideas presented are interesting, and are handled with skill. A deeper exploration of the themes, coupled with a more compelling story, would have served this novella greatly. Instead, what we have is a flash of greatness, but flashes are forgotten, and ultimately don't matter

A heretic astronomer sentenced to death at the stake by the Inquisition.

A forgotten paleolinguist who regrets a lifetime wasted in her studies.

An old watchmaker crushed under the weight of the years by an unfortunate twist of fate.

What do these disparate people, scattered in different times and places, have in common? That they are all visited by an enigmatic apparition bearing time-gifts, fantastic pocket-watches that grant these three characters the opportunity to travel through time and - who knows? - quench their hopelessness and make some sense from their doomed lives. However, in the manner of the old Twilight Zone episodes, each time-gift entails a price, and unleashes consequences the characters may not be at all prepared to confront.

Before proffering his ambiguous gifts, the stranger engages the characters in conversation, passionately speculating about the nature of time, destiny and free will, chaos theory, cause and consequence, and the chain of events that led to their present situation. Time travel stories are a dime a dozen in this day and age, so none of this is exactly fresh news, but Zoran Živković's prose is engaging and the conclusion to each character's story mildly entertaining. And although I'm not familiar with Serbian, the English translation by Alice Copple-Tošić seemed very elegant and professional despite a somewhat shaky first few pages.

I wouldn't be surprised if you never heard of Zoran Živković before. He is a Yugoslavian author from Belgrade who's been publishing fiction and non-fiction since the 1980s, but only recently started to become known outside his country. Lucky me that he's come to my attention, because Živkovic's an exceptionally talented storyteller and should not be missed. Other titles by the author that are available in English include his short story collections Impossible Encounters (2000), Seven Touches of Music (2001), and the forthcoming The Book, all published by Belgrade-based Polaris. Needless to say, you should get them all.

Time-Gifts is small in size but great in depth. The fourth and final part of the book in particular is extremely interesting, as the motives and philosophy of the mysterious visitor are revealed at last. But who is he, anyway? One person alone knows his identity, an insane painter who receives occasional visits from him in the confinement of her sanatorium atelier.

Want to know who the stranger is too? Then you have to read the book. After all, like life itself, it'd be no fun if you knew how it's going to end.

Dr. Zivkovic is a really unique character. For several decades he has been one of the main driving forces behind Sci-Fi movement in Yugoslavia (both former and new), and now, Serbia. Dr. Zivkovic's publishing company "Polaris" is considered as a main publisher of Science Fiction books in Yugoslavia and, beleive it or not, a couple of world wide known authors had their world premieres there (Clarke's 3001, for example). Dr. Zivkovic is also fameous for being the first person to achieve a Ph.D from Science Fiction at Belgrade University, Serbia.

This is Dr. Zivkovic's second book (the first one "Cetvrti Krug" = "Fourth Circle" unfortunately has not been translated to English yet). The book has four parts - at a first glance, four separate stories, but all of them are sharing a unique message... The last one is particulary powerfull, especially the end which, of course, I will not try to paraphrase here :) While in his first book the influence of Arthur Clarke's style and writing was obvious, in this book Dr. Zivkovic is trying to contribute something original and he succedes big time. Therefore, this book is probably much more interesting to non Yugoslav audience. There is also a CD-ROM multimedia edition of this book published in Serbia containing both Serbian and English versions and the audio recording of the first chapter read by author himself (on Serbian).

I really can only recommend this book to any true Sci-Fi fan and I am looking forward for the next one from Zivkovic...

I've read several of Zivkovic's strange, philosophical tales in the British magazine INTERZONE and I know he's much admired by the likes of Michael Moorcock and David Pringle, so I thought I'd give Time Gifts a shot -- and I can tell you, I was NOT disappointed. This really is an A-class writer, well up there with Borges and Co and with the kind of ideas that once they've slipped into your head you can never get rid of. The book's a bit pricey, but it's essentially a limited edition, I'd guess. The paperback seems a better deal. Whether you're a collector of the likes of Calvino and the best of the South Americans, or have, as I do, a taste for the Slavic cast of mind, you won't regret buying this book. I can't enthuse enough about it! The author seems wise, witty and with a touch of pathos. From an interview I read on the net somewhere I gather he's an anti-Milosevitch Serb, too, and recently took to the streets to say goodbye to the deluded dictator! So a good guy, too!

Mary M. Austin. Mary Morris, Austin.