If I Only Had Time

By Evald Flisar

Lost in the imaginary landscapes of novels and films, 22-year-old Simon Bebler learns that he is terminally ill and has at best a year to live. Now the young student wants to cram everything life has to offer into this radically reduced lifespan. Inclined to see himself in the roles of fictional heroes, he begins to live out all the stories he has read or seen on film and experience every mental and physical state a man can experience – good and bad, moral and immoral. He refuses to die feeling he has been robbed of life, so he decides to enact it with real dramatic suspense.

But once the drama is set up, it quickly escapes his control and he is faced with the question of whether he can remain the hero of his adventures or sooner or later become their victim. He finds himself amidst unusual happenings in New York where he meets extraordinary people, among them Al Pacino, Woody Allen, Uma Thurman...

Are they real or simply doppelgängers? The narrative merry-go-round of this philosophical thriller poses questions faster than Flisar’s characters can handle, let alone answer...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sodobnost
• Release date: Dec 16, 2019
• ISBN: 9789617047455

Evald Flisar

EVALD FLISAR is a novelist, playwright, essayist, editor and seasoned traveller. Flisar was president of the Slovene Writers’ Association from 1995 – 2002, and since 1998 is the editor of the oldest Slovenian literary journal Sodobnost (Contemporary Review). He is the author of eleven novels, two collections of short stories, three travelogues, two books for children and fifteen stage plays. Winner of the Prešeren Foundation Prize, the highest state award for prose and drama, the prestigious Župančič Award for lifetime achievement, three awards for Best Radio Play, and many more. His previous novels, ‘My Father’s Dreams and Three Loves, One Death were published with Istros in 2015 and 2016 respectively.