Fiction
Sniff
by Gregory Papadoyiannis
A different take on the History of Greece, where events that marked the country coexist with neighbourhood gossip, the humble, provincial life and the hustle and bustle of the capital. A story full of little heroes and big mistakes, colourful imagery, black and white sadness, radio shows, films and TV-series. A nostalgic tale about the passing of time that only one sound can capture: sniff! The author manages to cover four decades through the eyes of one child: our hero may have physically evolved but still remains a child from a mental, verbal and emotional point of view. With his toy cars, football trading cards and his favourite comic books as symbols of our well-hidden inner child, a child that is desperately searching for a crack to dampen the dry land of social alienation and petit bourgeois stuffiness. The seemingly simplistic, yet substantial words of the main character, take us on a journey of the Greek reality of the last 40 years. Past events from the political arena, society, sports and the art world make their appearance in a hilarious way, revealing a light-hearted side to what, to our eyes, seemed serious and special until now. A deeply moving, almost heart-wrenching, book that brings back the long lost innocence of an era.
