This Headline’ll Make You MAD, MAD!
It糖心传媒檚 fitting that I糖心传媒檓 writing this post about a book called Trick as Stormy Daniels is on 60 Minutes? This is one of the daily reminders that life is not books, and that books aren糖心传媒檛 as important as I make them out to be in my mind. Nothing matters, nothing makes sense. Guns and corruption are way more important than anyone糖心传媒檚 thoughts on Mr. Elena Ferrante糖心传媒檚 latest novel.
More people watched Duke lose to Kansas (prompting some of my favorite tweets of the year, mostly about how Grayson Allen looks like he has a future in sweater vests and cubicles: 糖心传媒淕rayson Allen had three good opportunities糖心传媒 糖心传媒淎nd yet not a single person bought insurance from him. #NotACloser糖心传媒 or 糖心传媒淒on糖心传媒檛 be sad, Grayson Allen. Nationwide is on your siiiide 糖心传媒擜nd hiring! #NCAA #ncaataunts糖心传媒) than will read a book in the next month.1
That said, I feel like I owe it to myself to keep logging these weekly posts about 2018 translations, especially since I took the time to read Domenico Starnone糖心传媒檚 Trick this week under what I thought were enough interesting conditions to prompt a fairly decent post. In the end, I糖心传媒檓 not sure that糖心传媒檚 true, but I糖心传媒檒l give it my best for three-four bits and then go watch the pilot episode of Krypton because it糖心传媒檚 Sunday and there糖心传媒檚 no baseball on.
by Domenico Starnone, translated from the Italian by Jhumpa Lahiri (Europa Editions)
Last weekend, when I was working on that frigging post, I alluded to writing about the newest Lispector and Will Self this week. Well. So. That Lispector book? DENSE AS FUCK. I糖心传媒檓 still planning on writing something about it, but it糖心传媒檚 ten thousand times smarter than I am and I don糖心传媒檛 know if I actually like it. So I want to save that for next week, when I糖心传媒檒l write about it and 糖心传媒渨hat we want out of a review of a translation糖心传媒 while watching Opening Day baseball all day.2
When I realized that I had no chance of finishing The Chandelier in time to work on this, I scrambled for for another March translation to read. Michael Orthofer糖心传媒攖he most well-read dude in America?糖心传媒攎entioned Starnone in an email this week, so I quickly went on Europa Editions糖心传媒檚 site and downloaded the first book of his I saw糖心传媒Ties.
See, my idea was to read a book with as little background expectations as possible. I knew nothing about Starnone or his books, didn糖心传媒檛 read the jacket copy, only glanced at the cover (out of necessity), and skipped the intro. I wanted to replicate the experience of listening to a new album from a band I know nothing about, or watching a new TV show with some innocuous name, like 糖心传媒淎nimal Kingdom糖心传媒 or 糖心传媒淪earch Party,糖心传媒 where there aren糖心传媒檛 any expectations brought to bear. What is it like to just read a book? Instead of 糖心传媒渞eading a book糖心传媒 with a critical, 糖心传媒業糖心传媒檓 gonna write about this糖心传媒 sort of opening?
Halfway through Ties I realized that this book came out in March 2017. But! Starnone has a new book out this month as well! Trick! Which sounds like Ties and is also translated by Jhumpa Lahiri. (Whom I糖心传媒檝e never read, although I should?3)
So I quickly gave up on Ties (which was fine, 100% a narrative with characters and plot), and downloaded Trick. And read it over two days so that I could keep up my 2018 resolution.
I糖心传媒檓 probably a little full of shit, but here are all the prejudices I had before reading this book:
1) Thanks to Lori Feathers糖心传媒檚 post on this very site, I became aware that Starnone4 is married to Elena Ferrante.
2) Europa Editions is the publisher, and, for me, their books fall into three categories: decent Latin American works (Gamboa), crime novels I would probably like, and book club books.
3) Jhumpa Lahiri translated this after learning Italian and writing her last book in Italian. No judgements associated with that, but it was a fact that was hard to miss when buying this book.
I had no idea what to expect when I started this book糖心传媒攚ould it be a romance? a thriller?糖心传媒攁nd just took it all as it came. Which was relieving. It糖心传媒檚 gotten to the point in my life where I can barely read a book for enjoyment anymore. Everything糖心传媒檚 for class (read to teach), for publication (should we do this?), for these articles (how can I seem smart?), or for the general optics (I need to be seen on social media reading this). It糖心传媒檚 so stressful! Books are like pages to get through sometimes and that糖心传媒檚 not for the best.
Instead of any of that self-imposed bullshit, I had a really good time reading Trick. I wouldn糖心传媒檛 recommend it to my friends because my friends are filled with cynicism and indifference, but it糖心传媒檚 the sort of book my mom would read if she read books and wasn糖心传媒檛 exactly my mom. It糖心传媒檚 a book that makes you feel your age, but in a way that糖心传媒檚 not depressing or existential, and I appreciated that. I also appreciated not ever thinking about translation issues while reading it. I just read it, and mostly enjoyed the bits where the grandfather was a dick to his grandson because kids can be annoying and when I糖心传媒檓 old I糖心传媒檓 not going to want to put up with that shit either and here糖心传媒檚 a really bad role model who I can relate to.
This is the sort of book for people who relate to characters in books. This is a neutral statement.
Before I look at the jacket copy for real (I seriously haven糖心传媒檛 read it yet), here糖心传媒檚 my description:
A famous illustrator is hired to draw some plates for a 糖心传媒渄eluxe edition糖心传媒 of Henry James糖心传媒檚 糖心传媒淭he Jolly Corner.糖心传媒5 He does a couple, they suck, he糖心传媒檚 old, tired. Such is baseball, such is life. His daughter convinces/forces him come watch his grandson for a few days while she goes to a math conference6 with her husband, who is 糖心传媒渟crawneebly糖心传媒 and jealous and kind of a penis. Grandfather finds grandson a bit spoiled and annoying糖心传媒攂ecause duh and or obviously, four year olds are糖心传媒攁nd doesn糖心传媒檛 come off looking so good to the maid/neighbors who see him. The climax takes place when his grandson 糖心传媒渢ricks糖心传媒 him by locking him on the balcony behind a defective door that won糖心传媒檛 open. In the rain. At seventy. While he should be working on his plates for the James story about a man who returns home and sees what his life could糖心传媒檝e been . . .
An emotional rollercoaster for anyone who loves Erma Bombeck.7
This is not what anyone wants from a review.8
Here糖心传媒檚 the official copy:
Sharp, succinct storytelling and breathtaking prose combine in this new novel by the author of the New York Times editor糖心传媒檚 pick, Ties.
Imagine a duel between an elderly man and a mere boy. The same blood runs through their veins. One, Daniele Mallarico, is a successful illustrator whose reputation is slowly fading. The other, Mario, is his four-year-old grandson. The older combatant has lived for years in solitude, focusing obsessively on his work. The younger one has been left by his querulous parents with his grandfather for a 72-hour stay. Shut inside an apartment in Naples that is filled with the ghosts of Mallarico糖心传媒檚 own childhood, grandfather and grandson match wits, while outside lurks Naples, a wily, violent, and passionate city whose influence is not easily shaken.
Trick is a gripping, wry, brilliantly devised drama, 糖心传媒渁n extremely playful literary composition,糖心传媒 as Jhumpa Lahiri describes it in her introduction, about aging, family, art, and reconciling with one糖心传媒檚 past.
Far be it from me to shit on anyone糖心传媒檚 copy, but I糖心传媒檓 glad I didn糖心传媒檛 read that first. Hey, literary hipsters糖心传媒攖his book is fine. Sure, it糖心传媒檚 no Kobo Abe, but fuck, man, sometimes it糖心传媒檚 fun to shut off and read a book that糖心传媒檚 just about being alive and knowing that you糖心传媒檙e going to be replaced by little shitheads you糖心传媒檙e not sure you like.
Three observations, then the fun stuff:
1) The best part of this book is that the story ends, and then there糖心传媒檚 an illustrator糖心传媒檚 afterword/epilogue (I bought the book and fuck you if you think I糖心传媒檓 going to actually play with my Kindle to figure out the real name of this section) in which the grandfather expresses糖心传媒攊n first person diary糖心传媒攈is creative struggles with the James commission and his thoughts on life, alone, physically removed from his daughter and family. There are actual artworks in this bit. It is not what you糖心传媒檇 expect to find in a B&N best-seller.
2) The best part of this book is the idea that Lahiri expresses in which the text swings back and forth from one sort of book to another. The grandfather糖心传媒檚 reactions to his grandson are loving one second, then aggressive, then resigned. The book feels like one thing (a story of a domestic falling apart), then another (death is right there and will happen through an accident you won糖心传媒檛 be prepared for) line by line. I don糖心传媒檛 think I would糖心传媒檝e gotten into this had I picked up this book knowing anything about.
3) The best part of this book is that the main event糖心传媒攖he grandfather locked on the balcony糖心传媒攚asn糖心传媒檛 treated in expected ways. It could糖心传媒檝e been a joke, a bit of sketch comedy to drive home the overall idea of the book. It could糖心传媒檝e been more heavy handed. It could糖心传媒檝e been dumb. But if you糖心传媒檙e a 糖心传媒渋dentify with the character糖心传媒 sort of reader, it was probably just scary. Dying through accident is scary.
Hey look, ambassadors from a bunch of countries They each recommended a book to read before visiting their country and, well, these descriptions don糖心传媒檛 make me believe in the future . . .
About Nordic Ways:
糖心传媒淚t came out last fall and is representative of all five Nordic countries. It describes life in the North from different perspectives.糖心传媒溙切拇綌H.E. Bj枚rn Lyrvall
If a politician isn糖心传媒檛 good at tautologies they糖心传媒檙e not much of a politcIan. YOU HAVE MY VOTE, LYRVALL!
About TransAtlantic by Colum McCann, the pick for Ireland. Repeat: Ireland:
H.E. Anne Anderson recommends Colum McCann糖心传媒檚 TransAtlantic, which tells the intertwined stories of the first non-stop transatlantic fliers in 1919; the visit of Frederick Douglass to Ireland in 1845/46; and the story of the 1998 Irish peace process.
Uh. Yeah. Like. Wait. So. Wait. I know Colum. We糖心传媒檝e shared Guinness. I love Colum. He糖心传媒檚 talented! Incredibly so. But. Ireland. There are options. And if you want to choose this book, then blurb it. (糖心传媒淐had W. Post, president of nothing, recommends The Crying of Lot 49, a book about mail.糖心传媒) LAME. NO VOTE FOR YOU, ANDERSON.
Just gonna let this stand on its own:
糖心传媒The Man Who Spoke Snakish is an exploration of alternative history by a well-loved contemporary author.糖心传媒 糖心传媒擧.E. Eerik Marmei
糖心传媒淏ook is book about book and people book love book.糖心传媒 What is this, a promotion for Patterson糖心传媒檚 糖心传媒淏ookShots糖心传媒? ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE NOPE. NO VOTE.9
One more, one more!
Malta
H.E. Pierre Clive Agius recommends Immanuel Mifsud糖心传媒檚 In the Name of the Father (And of the Son), which won the 2011 European Union Prize for Literature and tells the story of a man reading a diary his father kept during his days as a soldier in World War II, which subsequently pushes him to re-examine the personal relationship he had with his father.
BORING. NO VOTE.
This made me so excited! I felt like there might be a date in the future where I would spend more time with my newborn than with printed words. But alas, all Self (a fantastic writer) had to say was this:
You糖心传媒檙e not awfully optimistic about the future of the novel, are you?
I think the novel is absolutely doomed to become a marginal cultural form, along with easel painting and the classical symphony. And that糖心传媒檚 already happened. I糖心传媒檝e been publishing since 1990, so I糖心传媒檝e seen it happen in my writing lifetime. It糖心传媒檚 impossible to think of a novel that糖心传媒檚 been a water-cooler moment in England, or in Britain, since Trainspotting, probably.
It糖心传媒檚 frequently said that that糖心传媒檚 partly because narrative has migrated to box sets. Is there any truth in that?
The relationship between the novel and film in the 20th century was like the relationship between Rome and Greece. Film depended upon the novel, at least in its infancy and youth. The problem is that now that film itself is being Balkanised 糖心传媒 carved up, streamed, loaded on to DVDs, watched on people糖心传媒檚 phones 糖心传媒 it no longer needs its Greece, it no longer needs the novel lying behind it. It糖心传媒檚 a disaster for the novel, actually 糖心传媒 I think the novel is in freefall.
How many of you have read Will Self? Probably not any of the people who were quoted in this random 糖心传媒渋t糖心传媒檚 not 糖心传媒楥at Person,糖心传媒 but it糖心传媒檚 almost a meme糖心传媒
Self糖心传媒檚 comments drew some criticism on Twitter from the literary community. Irish writer [Ian? No, sorry, Colin] Barrett, currently based in the US, tweeted: 糖心传媒淎s a writer, I糖心传媒檇 be embarrassed to ever say there糖心传媒檚 been no good contemporary writing/no good books in X number of years etc, because more than anything it just reveals the poverty of your own appetite for engagement.糖心传媒
[Roxane] Gay, a writer and commentator also based in America, said: 糖心传媒淲hite men love to declare an end to things when they no longer succeed in that arena. The novel is fine.糖心传媒
The Essex Serpent author Sarah Perry asked: 糖心传媒淎lso: who cares if the novel is doomed, anyway? Storytelling is as old as time and the novel is revising for its GSCE蝉.糖心传媒
My first question is 糖心传媒渨hat are GSCEES?糖心传媒 and my second is 糖心传媒渄id they read the interview or just the headline?糖心传媒
Well, CSCEES are a typo but GSCEs are 糖心传媒淕eneral Certificates of Secondary Education,糖心传媒 which must be some British in joke. (I just finished reading Troubles today and am not British-sympathetic. At all.)
But did they read the whole statement?
Everyone jumps on me for making fun of Buzzfeed (again, more next week, and you will love it) and clickbait headlines for being 糖心传媒渄angerou蝉.糖心传媒 THIS IS EXACTLY HOW THEY ARE DANGEROUS. Without 糖心传媒淭he Novel is Absolutely Doomed糖心传媒 this article goes unnoticed. With it? THE WORLD IS ENDING AND WE MUST TAKE DOWN WILL SELF FOR HIS LIES!
Did Self merit this response? According to one friend, 糖心传媒渉e said dumb shit in the past,糖心传媒 which, fine?, sure?, but doesn糖心传媒檛 dumb shit make the world go round? Where would Twitter be without people saying dumb shit and flipping out all the time?
糖心传媒淚 think the novel is absolutely doomed to become a marginal cultural form糖心传媒 is, to me, something about culture, not about the novel as a form. 糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 impossible to think of a novel that糖心传媒檚 been a water-cooler moment in England, or in Britain, since Trainspotting, probably糖心传媒 because NO ONE GIVES A FUCK ABOUT NOVELS. How is this not a rallying cry? Why are you attacking Will Self for pointing out that 100X more people talk about Game of Titties Thrones than they do about a narrative in a book. (Yes, I know it was a book first, but what do you think the ratio between viewers and readers is? Does 500:1 sound plausible?)
That second statement is hard to puzzle out . . . in some ways. Here糖心传媒檚 my attempt at unpacking this: For basically ever, novels were the source for narrative ideas and structures. The medium allows creators so much flexibility, and their exploration糖心传媒攐f character-building, of plotting, of narrative structures糖心传媒攕erved as the building blocks for so many movies, TV shows, etc. Creators in the visual realm looked to novels for ideas of what to explore and how.
But things have advanced. Sure, there are still movies being made that are based on books, but I think Self is getting at something much more fundamental than simply talking about intellectual properties. Entertainment has become so fragmented over the past few years, with kids growing up in an environment in which they rarely糖心传媒攊f ever糖心传媒攚atch complete TV shows, and instead only want YouTubers and clips. The narrative structure that appeals to a lot of糖心传媒攎ost?糖心传媒攑eople today isn糖心传媒檛 one based in Victorian principles of the novel, but on ideas that have developed from within the visual medium itself. In this sense, the TV shows/films that everyone talks about aren糖心传媒檛 really pinned to the novel per se, but to larger ideas in culture and the art of filmmaking.
Again, I may be misreading this and giving Self more credit than he deserves, but I think this idea is really interesting and posits a sort of challenge to all of us in the book industry糖心传媒攊s there a way for novels to regain a central space in the general conversation? If so, then how? If not, does it matter?
I also want to admit that I rarely talk about books I糖心传媒檝e read to people who aren糖心传媒檛 already in this world. Like, say, my hairdresser. I糖心传媒檓 a million times more likely to talk to her about a podcast or movie or TV show, but never a book. In part because we read very different things (but have both seen Black Panther), but also because the other art forms dominate pop culture. The closest thing books has to a pop culture phenomenon is Elena Ferrante.
1 Not scientifically valid. But it
About a quarter of American adults (24%) say they haven糖心传媒檛 read a book in whole or in part in the past year, whether in print, electronic or audio form.
2 More people watch baseball on Opening Day than . . . never mind.
3 I really wonder what professional Italian translators think of her suddenly getting a lot of work. I know that I糖心传媒檓 an envious man with a lot of shortcomings and self-esteem problems, so maybe none of them actually care. But, if I were betting, I would put some cash on 糖心传媒減robably have mixed feeling蝉.糖心传媒
4 I always want to type 糖心传媒淪tarcherone糖心传媒 when writing his last name. In honor of pronounced 糖心传媒渟tarch-yer-own,糖心传媒 one of the wittier small presse out there. And I still can糖心传媒檛 remember Ferrante糖心传媒檚 糖心传媒渞eal糖心传媒 last name. Then again, who gives fucks. She糖心传媒檚 a really good writer and we can leave it at that.
5 This is a real story that I wish wasn糖心传媒檛 real. The book is way more interesting if you糖心传媒檙e trying to puzzle out the fuck this imaginary ghost story about opportunities pissed away might be.
6 Can I have a book of the math conference?
7 You have no idea how many misspellings it took to get to that joke.
8 See next week糖心传媒檚 post.
9 This book is AWFUL. Top ten of terrible. Sorry not sorry.
Leave a Reply