Don't let the title deceive you-this is a heart warming tale that guides a reader not only through the story but also transforms one's inner experience as the plot develops.
The Tragic Fate of Moritz Tot
by Dana Todorovic
4.0 stars - 2 reviews
Supports Us with Commissions Earned
Currently FREE for Amazon Prime Members
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
Here's the set-up:
The novel was originally published in 2008 in Serbia, where it received
much critical acclaim and was shortlisted for the Serbian Academy of
Sciences and Arts annual best novel award.
It opens with the
narrative of former punk rocker Moritz Tot, who, following an unexpected
call from the Employment Office, becomes a prompter for the Budapest
Opera. He finds himself in a bewildering situation as he tries to cope
on stage while sitting in a small, rudimentary wooden box, realizing
that the text of Puccini’s Turandot is in Italian of which he can not
speak a word. As it progresses, Moritz's story grows even more bizarre
and assumes elements of a thriller when a mysterious stranger enters the
"scene" and begins to pursue him, monitoring his every move.
In
the second narrative, which runs parallel to Moritz's story, Tobias
Keller is put on trial for "having connected the Extraordinary Activity
Device to the faculty of his free will with the intention of exerting
his influence on subject Moritz Tot". While switching between the two
narratives, we begin to understand how the two story-lines and their
characters are linked.
As the plot in Moritz's world develops in
the atmospheric style of Kafka and Bulgakov (as critics have described
it), Tobias Keller discusses with the Disciplinary Committee the life
path of Motitz Tot, which consequently causes them to debate over
age-old questions concerning the human condition, such as the issue of
determinism vs. free will, moral responsibility, faith vs. religion
(making references to Hume, Kant, Kierkegaard, etc.). All this
eventually builds up to an unexpected conclusion where all the pieces of
the puzzle finally come together and the connection between the two
storylines is fully elucidated.
The Tragic Fate of Moritz Tot
offers not only an intricate plot line and the pull of a suspense novel,
but it also provides serious reading material for the philosophically
minded reader seeking a layered work with multiple subtexts.
One Reviewer Notes:
The book is a two-track affair that follows both Moritz Tot (and here the name seems mainly to be just the common Hungarian name, and not a reference to the German word) a punk-ish opera prompter, and Tobias Keller (and again, the name seems not to bear dual meanings), a bureaucrat working for a distant and mysterious supreme being. Moritz' story mostly concerns his strange preoccupation with a man he sees from his window. Keller's story describes trial for breaching rules by interfering in the mundane world and Moritz' life.
The concept of the book is interesting, if not highly original, and much of the line by line writing is good.
Evil Overlord
About the Author
Dana Todorović was born in Belgrade in 1977 to an American mother and Yugoslav father. Aspiring to continue her family's long-standing acting tradition, she studied drama in New York and Indianapolis and obtained a B.A. in Drama Studies from Middlesex University in London. Following her studies, she spent six years working as a translator for the UN and continued to nurture her acting ambitions by taking on occasional roles in films (including one by director Emir Kusturica), until she finally discovered writing as her greatest passion. Her first novel, Tragična sudbina Morica Tota (The Tragic Fate of Moritz Tot), was published in Serbia in 2008. It was well-received by critics and the public alike and was shortlisted for the Branko Ćopić award presented by the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Dana is currently working as a free-lance translator and writing her second novel. She also writes books for children and is an enthusiastic yoga practicioner.
* * *
Don’t miss another great sale – Free and Bargain Quality eBooks delivered straight to your email everyday! Subscribe now! http://www.bookgorilla.com/kcc
* * *
11 MORE FREE Kindle Titles – Just For Today!
Prices may change at any moment, so always check the price before you buy! This post is dated Thursday, May 30, 2013, and the titles mentioned here may remain free only until midnight PST tonight.
Please note: References to prices on this website refer to prices on the main Amazon.com website for US customers. Prices will vary for readers located outside the US, and even for US customers, prices may change at any time. Always check the price on Amazon before making a purchase.
* * *
4.3 stars – 117 Reviews
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
Here’s the set-up:
California teen Sadie James thinks her life couldn’t get any better. She has great friends, an energetic mother she adores, and the beach practically in her own backyard. But her carefree life is turned upside down when she’s rescued by a mysterious and strangely familiar boy who won’t even tell her his name. Each time the boy appears, Sadie’s unexplainable attraction to him deepens along with her need to unravel his secrets. The boy is there to protect her, but as wonderful and exciting as it might be to have an irresistible boy with crystal green eyes protecting her every move, every minute of the day…why does Sadie need one? As Sadie finds answers, she realizes her life isn’t as perfect as she thought. Not only is she caught in a world of dangerous secret agents she never knew existed, but it turns out her true identity may be the greatest secret of all.
* * *
4.8 stars – 9 Reviews
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
Here’s the set-up:
Working mothers of the world, your voice has arrived. Trying to preserve her last few precious shreds of sanity while working and raising children, Romi Brenner has come to terms with the fact that sometimes you have to turn a blind eye to the fashion whims of a four year old, that you can never underestimate the power of a phone with a working mute button, and that pedicures just aren’t for everyone.
* * *
4.3 stars – 122 Reviews
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
Here’s the set-up:
Four Days with Hemingway’s Ghost is not a story of spooks and goblins. It’s a powerful story about two men from two very different times. One man is mortal, the other is immortal. One is painfully ordinary, the other world famous. Jack Phelan is a forty-two-year-old underachiever who lives in South Florida. Although he mows lawns for a living, he’s not what you might expect. He’s got an exceptionally sharp mind and is a self-educated Hemingway aficionado. After Jack gets into an unlikely accident he’s flown by helicopter to the nearest hospital, where he remains in a coma for four days. But somehow, minutes after he blacks out, he finds himself in Key West, Florida–rubbing shoulders with an aged Ernest Hemingway.
* * *
4.5 stars – 13 Reviews
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
Here’s the set-up:
For fans of Suzanne Collins and J.K. Rowling: They can access alien technologies with only their minds. Captured by a psychopath, sixteen year old Glen Davies and his friends Alyssa and Neil must now choose between saving their loved ones and the subjugation of the planet…
* * *
4.0 stars – 4 Reviews
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
Here’s the set-up:
When a stalker threatens Alexandria ‘Princess’ Prescott’s life her father hires Samuel O’Malley, as her bodyguard. But this ultimate Daddy’s girl is not about to take orders from a rent-a-cop she hates on sight. If love is the opposite of hate, her heart is in trouble. When her nightmares of the past force their way into the present will he be able to save her?
* * *
by J.A. Konrath, Jack Kilborn
4.4 stars – 264 Reviews
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
Here’s the set-up:
Start with a tough but vulnerable Chicago cop. Add a hyperactive cat, an ailing mother, a jealous boyfriend, a high-maintenance ex-husband, and a partner in the throes of a mid-life crisis. Stir in a psychopath littering the city with body parts. Mix with equal parts humor and suspense, and enjoy Bloody Mary–the second novel in the funny, frightening world of Lieutenant Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels. Join Jack as she struggles to repair her train wreck of a personal life while tracking down and convicting one of the scariest serial killers in recent memory–a killer for whom getting caught is only the beginning…
* * *
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
Here’s the set-up:
English/Japanese Flashcards – Learn to read and pronounce over 50 animal names in Japanese. Featuring a varied selection of brightly colored cartoon animals from around the world.
* * *
Here’s the set-up:
In a quaint New England town with a history of witches and pilgrims, misunderstood eleven-year-old Norman Babcock can see and talk to ghosts. No one believes him, of course-everyone just thinks he’s weird (including his parents). But when a folktale of a witch who cursed her accusers turns out to be true, it’s up to Norman to save the town from pilgrim zombies! He’ll also have to take on a very angry witch, an annoying sidekick, his boy-crazy teenage sister, and dozens of moronic grown-ups who get in his way. This young ghoul whisperer finds his paranormal talents pushed to their otherworldly limits in this hilarious and spooky adventure!
* * *
4.0 stars – 176 Reviews
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
Here’s the set-up:
When Candice’s in-laws were killed eight months ago buying a huge faux polar bear rug for her Christmas present, she lost more than just two of her favorite people: she lost her husband Ian as well. After only two years of marriage, their guilt and pain have left them living together but apart, unable to really talk for fear of what they’ll say to each other.
* * *
by AK Jennings
5.0 stars – 4 Reviews
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
Here’s the set-up:
Learning Speed Reading is one of the best investments you can make in yourself. Having the ability to filter through and the mindset and techniques to rapidly move through content and absorb knowledge will reap huge benefits in both your personal and professional life.
* * *
3.2 stars – 5 Reviews
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
Here’s the set-up:
Just One Golden Kiss is a steamy retelling of The Frog Prince and other Grimm fairy tales with a vampire and angel twist. When twenty-year-old Lela encounters a golden ball in the forest, she falls into a well. A frog agrees to save her but only if she agrees to give him whatever he desires. And what he desires is her. From the moment the frog pulls her out of the well, Lela’s life is forever changed and she embarks on a sexual journey filled with passion and love during which she also uncovers the secrets of her past.
* * *
Check out our Free Book Search Tool for a boatload of free books
or check here for the best deals today on Kindle!
