I finished eight books in April, four from the International Booker longlist (plus one former); four by women/POC and a feeble one in German.
- Lichtspiel — Daniel Kehlmann
- Taiwan Travelogue — Yang Shuang-zi, tr. Lin King
- The Deserters — Mathias Énard, tr. Charlotte Mandell
- On the Calculation of Volume II — Solvei Balle, tr. Barbara J. Haveland
- She Who Remains — Rene Karabash, tr. Izidora Angel
- The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories — Susanna Clarke
- The Porcupine — Julian Barnes
- Travel Arrangements — M. John Harrison
Lichtspiel was one of the best longlisted novels for me (along with the Shida Bazyar). There’s a gimmicky ending, which is a big negative, but the portrayal of Pabst is touching and believable, and the Nazis are brilliantly done, with a terrifying mix of charm and random violence. I now want to see the films themselves, so it worked on me.
I wasn’t so keen on the other three. The Deserters is also set largely in Germany, and is overshadowed by the war, but I found the two story threads each too slight to really interest me. I missed the humour of The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers’ Guild; now I’ve no idea what kind of a writer Énard actually is, I need to read more!
Taiwan Travelogue was disappointing. The printed version includes some metafictional apparatus which should put the story in an interesting context, but for some reason this was omitted from the audiobook (and the narrator did not help matters). The political side managed to be underexploited and crashingly obvious, which is quite the combination.
Last of the four was She Who Remains, which I also didn’t like. The first part in particular is a Kadaresque honour code story in an unremittingly bleak world, the twist being the gay/trans aspect with which it is entwined. Unfortunately Karabash pathologises this in a rather offensive and reductive way.
Solvej Balle was shortlisted for the first volume of On the Calculation of Volume; part 2 is not quite so good, as repetition creeps in to the writing rather than just the events. It’s hard to judge whether this is Balle writing poorly (spinning it out to seven volumes!), or whether we should take is as Tara’s shortcoming, but either way it’s not great to read. The development of the idea make continuing worth it however, and there’s a splendid reveal at the end.
The Barnesathon continued with The Porcupine, which I first read when it came out 30+ years ago. There’s lots of lovely writing I’d forgotten, so well worth reading even if not one of his deepest. The central character, like Kehlmann’s Nazis, has a lovely balance of charisma and horror.
Finally, two books of short stories which each set memory bells constantly ringing. The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories is effectively an appendix to Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, which is no bad thing. I kept thinking I’d read parts before, and I’m still not sure whether I had, or it was because they reminded me of the novel. The audiobook is also excellently performed.
Travel Arrangements definitely does repeat material which is worked out differently in some of Harrison’s other works, as is his way. Often baffling, but poetic, funny, and overall an enjoyably weird collection.
I haven’t finished this month’s volume of Pilgrimage (The Tunnel — a big one), so there should be two next month, along with — if it goes according to plan — at least three books for my very normal topic of Scandinavian septologies.