Zemii ゼミ

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Stories Alive! Time Shelter

We can help you forget...

Shella Zelenz's avatar
Shella Zelenz
Sep 01, 2023
∙ Paid
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Zemii Tours is honored to present the third in many Stories Alive! Tours. The third tour is based off of the novel Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodoniv. Published in 2020, this International Man Booker and Strega European Award-Winning novel takes you to a “clinic for the past,” located in Zürich, Switzerland.

The Story

From the backmatter: “In an apricot-colored building in Zürich, surrounded by curiously planted forget-me-nots, Gaustine has opened the first “clinic for the past,” an institution that offers an inspired treatment for Alzheimer’s sufferers: each floor reproduces a past decade in minute detail, allowing patients to transport themselves back in time to unlock what is left of their fading memories. Serving as Gaustine’s assistant, the narrator is tasked with collecting the flotsam and jetsam of the past, from 1960s furniture and 1940s shirt buttons to nostalgic scents and even wisps of afternoon light. But as the charade becomes more convincing, an increasing number of health…

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