“I Dreamed of Haruki and Other Fantastic Stories”, Robin Edizioni, is the latest novel by the writer Giorgio Pochetti
Writing can also be an economical way of self-analysis and finding a comforting outlet from reality when it’s too gray or heavy… a kind of emergency exit.
Giorgio Pochetti
I Dreamed of Haruki and Other Fantastic Stories by Giorgio Pochetti is a work, published by Robin, that transports the reader to a world halfway between dream and reality. There are three chapters for three surreal and engaging stories. One starts reading and can’t stop until the end is reached. This is possible because Giorgio Pochetti creates such a tension in this work that the reader can’t help but remain engaged. The author leaves clues throughout the narration, which take the form of a charming guide that keeps the reader’s interest high. In these stories, it’s easy to believe in what’s not real, to imagine the impossible as possible, and to travel to worlds far away with an oriental flavor.
Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle
The first chapter of I Dreamed of Haruki and Other Fantastic Stories opens with a relationship that expresses the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, by the German physicist of the last century. This is a principle through which the limits in the measurement of values of physical quantities in a physical system are established. That is, a principle according to which, to determine where and when an object is in space, it is necessary to disturb its reality. It is fascinating to note that the suspension of disbelief in this work is based on such a principle. The author plays with parallel realities, constantly questioning the objectivity of the real world, making a consistent pact with the reader who is never disappointed. “I Dreamed of Haruki” – the first story in the text – is set in Japan and unfolds in pursuit of Murakami Haruki. The protagonist, narrating in the first person, everyday life events tells the far-fetched situations he stumbles upon through descriptions that often take on seductive and enchanted nuances.
I entered the onsen naked, following local customs, but I was not alone. Inside the pool were eight Japanese men with the physique of sumo wrestlers, obviously naked as well. […] I found myself contemplating how surreal my current situation was: naked and small, in the middle of the night, under a light rain, on a foreign island on the other side of the world, in the company of eight huge samurai who only spoke Japanese.
Excerpt from pp. 30-31 of the book “A Never-ending Story” and “Talk about Fate”
In the second chapter, “A Never-ending Story”, readers find themselves immersed in stories within a story, where the imagination is filled with bizarre protagonists with unusual ideas. The reading flows quickly, as if one cannot wait to discover what lies in the next sentences. Julio, Italo, Kurt, and the narrator in a prison in Buenos Aires brighten their days by reading fantasy stories they have written; stories in which it’s easy to immerse oneself despite the sense of surrealism that surrounds them. The book concludes with a final chapter, “When Fate Speaks,” a story in which the reader travels to distant Turkey, where events of a criminal nature color the narrative, imparting a sense of restlessness that persists throughout the story. Mauro is a man who is repeatedly shaken by events he finds himself involved in but somehow manages to find a sense of calm and serenity thanks to the intervention of Commissioner Yilmaz.
Giorgio Pochetti – The Author
Giorgio Pochetti, a researcher at CNR, has always been a lover of writing and books. He started writing at a very young age but it was at 25 that he wrote his first story. He works as a chemical researcher, a role that continuously provides him with interesting ideas for literary activities as he believes these two worlds are complementary and complete each other. In all his stories, there is always some reference to the scientific world. Reading also plays a major role in the life of Giorgio Pochetti; he was greatly influenced by ‘The Arabian Nights’ as a child, and by the surreal elements of Latin American literature as a young adult. Today, he reads everything, but especially novels. Reading and writing to navigate life.
A book, I Dreamed of Haruki and Other Fantastic Stories, in which to lose oneself, carried away by the power of words that narrate surreal worlds. Fantasy and reality become one; it’s a book for those who love the atypical and a lively narration.
Valeria Magini – January 29, 2021
