Waiting for Columbus

by Thomas Trofimuk

Book Overview

On a beautiful April morning, a man is brought to an insane asylum in contemporary Spain, claiming to be the legendary navigator Christopher Columbus. Found in the treacherous Straight of Gibraltar,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385529139
• ISBN13: 9780385529136
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 326 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

I Cried All During the Last Two Chapters

A man washes up on the Spanish shore claiming to be Christopher Columbus. His belief is unshakable and he is institutionalized in Seville. It is unknown how he got into the water and his true identity is unknown as well. He bonds with a nurse named Consuela and it becomes her job to listen to his stories and pass them on to a psychiatrist. During the telling she falls in love with him. He obviously knows a great deal about Columbus as his stories seem dead on accurate in places, but in other places he places modern things in his narrative, like cell phones, for example. As the story progresses Consuela believes they are getting closer and closer to finding out his real identity and what happened to him, but then a man from Interpol shows up. He's been looking for a missing person and Columbus seems to fill the bill. Most of this story takes place in the institution and it seems like two stories in one, the one occurring in the present and the tale the man who thinks he's Columbus spins, the one that takes place five hundred years ago. And as impossible as it seems, the story seems real. Both stories are rife with tension, both exquisitely told. I cared for Columbus and I cared for Consuela. And I cried all during the last two chapters. This is a wonderful book.

Intriguing Tale

This was an interesting and amusing story to read. The main character is patient just brought to an asylum, who thinks he is Christopher Columbus. Of course, that cannot be the case since it is modern day Spain and not the 15th century. This man was found in the Strait of Gibraltar and has no identification at all. His nurse, Consuela, and the second of two doctors to care for him are trying to figure out who he is and his stories of Columbus are their best clues. This man, modern Columbus, tells many tales of how he tries to get ships to sail west. His stories are based in the 15th century with whimsical 20th century details included, such as a TV, a telephone and a meeting at Starbucks. It seems this man could be Christopher Columbus for all the knowledge he has, but clearly he is a man of modern times. I thought this book was well-written and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It required some concentration to read and I did not get through it quickly, but I do not consider it a slow read. It was refreshing to want to savor every word. At times it was a bit confusing because the stories flipped between Columbus' tales and his present circumstances in the asylum. Also, there were so many female characters Columbus talked about that I sometimes forgot which was which and how she fit into a previous story. Overall, I loved it. One of the best books I've read this year.

Great story with good character development

I really enjoyed this book. It took me a few weeks to get through over the summer, but that was more because of my own time constraints than interest in finishing the book. The story jumps around to different people and time periods. It is hard to write much of a review of this without giving away important plot twists. Suffice it to say that I thought this was one of the top five books I have read over the past year or so. It reminds me of the Coffee Trader, although I'm not entirely sure why. Of interest to some, and something I always try to note in reviews, the section and chapter breaks are fairly close together. This makes it an easy book to read in short spurts - although I would have preferred to get through it in one afternoon. There is a lot of complexity in the storyline and I fear I missed some of it because I read this over such a long period of time.

Not to be missed

Having finished WAITING FOR COLUMBUS just a few minutes ago, I now want to reneg every 5-star review I've given any other book, so that THIS title is the first to receive 5-stars. Not since Dale Brown's DA VINCI CODE have I read a book that so awed me with the depth and breadth of it's plot and cast of characters. Christopher Columbus is alive and physically well in a Spanish insane asylum, and struggles to divulge to his caretakers the details of his obsession to obtain the ships the he needs to make his voyage of discovering the New World. But the doctors and nurses surrounding him have their feet firmly planted in the twenty-first century, and understand his tales to be that of a mentally insane patient struggling with his past life and identity. Nurse Consuela, as Columbus' primary care giver, finds herself swept away by the tales of Columbus and frequently swept away by her own forbidden feelings for her patient. Author Thomas Trofimuk has the uncanny ability to take the reader on a journey through history and suddenly yank you back to the modern day with a plot twist or a story turn or a simple yet subtle suggestion in Columbus' tale (Queen Isabella calling on a cell phone?) that leaves you reeling. As you walk through Columbus' life and meet and greet his lengthy cast of friends and lovers, you begin to understand the man himself -- only to be suddenly pinched back to reality and made to remember that the man is in an insane asylum and can't possibly be Christopher Columbus -- or can he? I'd give this book 10 stars if it was possible. Don't miss it. Don't miss it, don't miss it, don't miss it.

Come Sail Away..........

I think this is the author's first novel, but you would never know it. This is a beautiful, haunting tale that is.....and please don't wince when you read this......a real page-turner. I very rarely encounter a book that meets that description, but this one does. Obviously, the narrator is not Christopher Columbus. But who is he? More importantly, what has happened to him that he feels the need to fantasize that he is Columbus? ....I think you'll find the answer clever and intriguing. The peripheral characters are fascinating as well. The Interpol cop that is on Columbus' trail has had his own share of bad life experiences and my heart really went out to him. Also, Consuela the nurse...who is tasked with helping Columbus discover his missing history....is also beautifully drawn. Parts of the book deal with "Columbus" telling Consuela of his adventures at the court of Ferdinand and Isabel. These sections are both beautifully imagined and extremely funny. I finished reading this book while I was sitting in the waiting room of a salon (keeping my wife company for her cut-and-color). I'm not ashamed to admit that the tears started flowing pretty freely as I approached the end of the story. Fortunately, I managed to regain my composure before having to settle accounts with the receptionist! Laughs and tears in pretty equal measure. Bravo, Mr. Trofimuk!