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Where were you, Robert? by Hans Magnus Enzensberger


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Title of book: Where were you, Robert?

 

Name of author: Hans Magnus Enzensberger

 

ISBN: 014028625X

 

Number of pages: 272 Pages

 

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New Ed edition (10 April 2001)

 

Synopsis:

An enchanting journey through time and through history, this phenomenal European bestseller is a magically evocative novel for readers of all ages. Fifteen-year-old Robert is a dreamer and one evening while he is watching television his eyes blur over and he quite literally disappears from his kitchen. He has become a time traveller. Each journey takes him further from his home and further back through the centuries, and soon he no longer holds any hope of returning...until he becomes a painter's apprentice in 17th century Amsterdam, where at last his photographic memory may help him to return to the future.

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‘Where were you, Robert?’ tells the story of Robert, a fifteen year old boy who daydreams and is often forgetful, so forgetful in fact that he has a habit of picking up random items and putting them into his pocket, a small screwdriver, a calculator, a toy Porsche and the list goes on as the story continues.

 

At the beginning of the story we find Robert experiencing problems with his eyes, blurry visions, the constant urge to rub his eyes and when he does he sees ‘films’ behind his eyelids, (but he does not tell the doctor that part) etc, to resolve this Robert is given eye drops which he promptly pours out and fills the bottle with water. Robert’s story really begins when whilst watching a film on television he begins to rub his eyes and before he knows it, he is in the film on the television, but it is no longer television, it is reality, Robert has found himself in Russia.

 

As the story progresses Robert is transported to different places, every place he ends up in, he is going back slowly in time, becoming confidant to a spoilt princess, a highwayman and so on.

 

‘Where were you, Robert?’ is a book I like to call ‘a hidden treasure’ because I actually found it by accident in Fopp (I was looking for something else). ‘Where were you Robert?’ is very much a hidden treasure, it’s been compared to Harry Potter but I do not see the similarities at all.

 

The only thing that was put me off the book was Robert’s arrogance.

 

All in all, a good read (apart from an arrogant Robert).

 

Rating: 8/10

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