A man with apparently nothing else going on gets in his car one day. With no destination in mind, he turns right, then left, then right and so on. He literally runs out of road when his car is stuck in the mud in a Norwegian forest.
So begins A Shining, a novella by the new Nobel Prize-winner Jon Fosse, which will be published by Transit Books at the end of October.
In just over 100 pages, the unnamed narrator reveals nothing about the circumstances of his life. But the reader does learn something of how his mind works. The narrator shows he was lost before he got in the car and started driving. In the woods, he can't decide what is the most prudent course of action. Then, every time after he comes to a decision and takes action, he points out the folly of what he has just done.
There is much circular reasoning in his endless interior monologue. There also is a lot of back and forth, do this or do that, which reinforces how he got himself lost in the forest. In his life, as with his car, there is no place for him to turn around.
Eventually, he abandons his car and starts walking forward, through the forest, in case he can find someone to help with his car. Night falls and it begins to snow. He finds a large stone to sit on but knows he dares not fall asleep. So he tries to retrace his steps. He realizes that his actions are the result of impulses, that this is not prudent, and he doesn't know why he does these things.
But then, something happens. From a distance, he sees a shining presence deep in the dark woods, brighter than the moon when it rises.
The narrator makes few conclusions, but some of his observations are headed that way. And that's when A Shining becomes an allegory of someone taking a step outside of his life and taking a look at what matters:
It's true that I'm deep in the dark woods but I'm not trapped. I just can't find a way out of the forest and obviously that's different from being trapped or locked in, because in that case there pretty much has to be someone who's locked you in, it can't be the person themself who locks themself in, or maybe it can be the person themself, and if it's me who locked myself in I didn't do it on purpose, I'm trapped totally against my will, in the dark woods, involuntarily self-trapped, if you can put it that way.
The narrator's monologue is translated by Damion Searls. It's a wonderful job of featuring a rhythm to the narrator's swirling ideas that portray his state of mind. Searls has written biographies, fiction, nonfiction and poetry in addition to translating.
Fosse has been publishing a range of works since the mid=1980s. His most famous work is the multi-volume Septology. Thanks to A Shining, it is a work that I am interested in savoring.
Book Notes:
- Fiction can be a remarkable way to understand. Sources suggesting possible reads that reflect Israel and Palestine interests:
10 Books About Israel by Israeli author Lavie Tidhar in The Guardian
Contemporary Israeli Literature as compiled by the Jewish Book Council
7 Novels and Memoirs about Palestine and Palestinians by Marcello di Cintio, posted on Electric Literature
17 New Books by Palestinian Writers That are Worth Reading (from 2021) at Middle East Eye
- Among the new fiction titles due out today:
Family Meal by Bryan Washington. From the publisher:
From the bestselling, award-winning author of Memorial and Lot, an irresistible, intimate novel about two young men, once best friends, whose lives collide again after a loss.
My Brilliant Friend: The Graphic Novel by Chiara Lagani. Adapted from Elena Ferrante’s beloved book.
Normal Women by Ainslie Hogarth. From the publisher:
In this darkly comic story about how we value female labor—and don’t—a new mother becomes embroiled in danger when her friend, a controversial entrepreneur, goes missing.
My Death by Lisa Tuttle. From the publisher:
A widowed writer begins to work on a biography of a novelist and artist—and soon uncovers bizarre parallels between her life and her subject’s—in this chilling and singularly strange novella by a contemporary master of horror and fantasy.
Weave Me a Crooked Basket by Charles Goodrich
In 2008, an unlikely group of new friends become land defenders.
Land of Snow and Ashes by Petra Rautiainen. From the publisher:
The haunting, gripping story of Lapland's buried history of Nazi crimes during World War II.
Iced by Ray Shell. From the publisher:
A timeless tale of one man’s decline into the depths of addiction that is at both a shocking study of the addict’s life, and a deeply compelling and often uplifting tale of human love and loss.
The House of the Coptic Woman by Ashraf El-Ashmaw. From the publisher:
Tightly plotted and taboo-breaking, this explosive story takes readers to the roots of religious strife where the smallest of sparks can start a bonfire.
Homeward by Angela Jackson-Brown
Set in 1962 Georgia, a young woman finds her cause.
We Have Always Been Who We Are by Sofia T. Romero. From the publisher:
From Pushcart Prize–nominated author Sofia T. Romero comes a breathtaking debut collection of interrelated stories suffused with magical realism.
by Joie Davidow. From the publisher:
This beautiful new work of historical fiction was inspired by the diary of an 18th-century Roman Jewish girl who was imprisoned in a convent cell by the Catholic Church in an attempt to forcibly convert her.
What We Kept to Ourselves by Nancy Jooyoun Kim. From the publisher:
The New York Times bestselling author of the Reese’s Book Club pick The Last Story of Mina Lee returns with a timely and surprising new novel about a family’s search for answers following the disappearance of their mother.
Touched by Walter Mosley. From the publisher:
Intergalactic visions, deadly threats, and explosive standoffs between mostly good and completely evil converge in a dystopian fantasy that could only be conceived by the inimitable Walter Mosley, one of the country’s most beloved and acclaimed writers.
Blackouts by Justin Torres. From the publisher:
A book about storytelling—its legacies, dangers, delights, and potential for change—and a bold exploration of form, art, and love, Justin Torres’s Blackouts uses fiction to see through the inventions of history and narrative.
Roman Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri. From the publisher:
The first short story collection by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author and master of the form since her number one New York Times best seller Unaccustomed Earth • Rome—metropolis and monument, suspended between past and future, multi-faceted and metaphysical—is the protagonist, not the setting, of these nine stories.
Freeman’s Conclusions edited by John Freedman. From the publisher:
Featuring new work from Rebecca Makkai, Aleksandar Hemon, Rachel Khong, Louise Erdrich, and more, the tenth and final installment of the boundary-pushing literary journal Freeman’s, which explores all the ways of coming to an end.
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