Another Life: On Memory, Language, Love, and the Passage of Time

Is writer’s block a malady of aging? Prolific Swedish author Theodor Kallifatides, of Greek origin, contemplates his writing angst due to what he considers his old age. In this mood, he reviews his past memories and recalls the ghosts of former friends and the qualities that made them so endearing. On his walks to his writing studio, he notes the changes in the city, mostly unpleasant. He comments on the status of the current immigrants and the changed stance of the Swedes to newcomers. And wasn’t he, himself a Greek immigrant, regarded differently, just a half century earlier? Times change, and, as he notes, so do our values. Returning to Greece with his devoted Swedish wife, this Greek expatriate muses over the visible transformations wrought by time. Once again, he notes the misery and poverty of the residents and their disdain for the newcomers. While he left Greece in his youth due to the poverty, he claims that then poverty and dignity were entwined–now it is only hopeless, dirty destitution. This writing malaise triggers the reflections that lead to this contemplative memoir written in the author’s birth language, Greek, and here skillfully translated for the English-speaking reader. This thought-filled memoir will resonate with mature readers, who can relate to the poignant nostalgia.