Virginie Despentes – Vernon Subutex Two

Virginie Despentes – Vernon Subutex Two

Vernon Subutex is living in the streets of Paris now; he found a quite comfortable place in the parc des Buttes Chaumont and doesn’t really care about his old acquaintances. But they show up one after the other since there are still things going on all connected to him. First of all, Emilie’s apartment was broken into and Vernon’s rucksack has been stolen. He didn’t really care about it, but he had something that many people were keen on seeing destroyed: tapes with recordings of Vernon’s and Alex Bleach’s discussions in which the later and now dead musician reveals that Vodka Satana hasn’t died from an overdose but was killed. A whole bunch of people gathers on the Parisian hill, all grieving their own kind of loss, searching for meaning in their life and finding in Vernon the piece that holds them all together.

I liked the second instalment of the Vernon Subutex series a lot more than the first. I had the impression that the different stories which are told somehow better fit together and they are a lot more interesting than in the first. Even though Vernon Subutex still gives the novel the title and he is definitely the linking item between all of the characters, he just plays a minor role here.

It is not obvious from the beginning how all the characters relate, sometimes it needs a longer explanation to reveal the missing link. But Virginie Despentes has equipped them all with stunning lives that are not only interesting to read but also very diverse and each offer something completely new. What she manages in this way is to offer a broad picture of the French society, especially since her characters come from all kinds of classes and normally they wouldn’t really interact. But here, it does not only work, but it is convincing and great to read.

Liese O’Halloran Schwarz – The Possible World

Liese O’Halloran Schwarz – The Possible World

Being invited to a birthday party isn‘t something that comes easy for Ben. Too many things can happen, all is so unpredictable with other boys, but his mother can convince him to go nevertheless. And then, the most unexpected happens: a murderer comes to the party and kills the two mothers in the house as well as all of the kids, except for Ben. In hospital, Lucy can only determine that he hasn’t been hurt physically, but there seems to be a kind of trauma since Ben wants to be called Leo and remembers life with a certain Clare. At an elderly home somewhere in town, Clare is fighting again against having to socialise. Her life alone in a recluse hut and later with her foster child Leo has simply been perfect. How come Ben remembers being Clare’s son Leo?

Liese O‘Halloran Schwarz‘ novel is one of the rare books that you just open and then get completely lost in. I read it in just one sitting because I simply did not want to get away from her characters. It is bittersweet, often melancholic, but you see the good heart the characters have and you are convinced that there must be something good coming from them. It is a perfect feel-good book, even though it tells harsh reality in an emergency room and the story of a child given away by his mother.

I liked the alternate narration of the three protagonists, even though it did not completely make sense at the beginning, you slowly manage to put together the puzzle pieces that form a new and complete picture. All three are very sensitive characters, misunderstood by the people around them and therefore lonely. I guess these kind of people recognize each other what helps them to find each other. What also links them is the fact that they are highly intelligent and question the world: why do the things have to be the way they are and why don’t people change something about it?

A beautifully written story about non-mainstream characters who can easily be overlooked.

Tomoka Shibasaki – Spring Garden

Tomoka Shibasaki – Spring Garden

Taro lives alone in one of Tokyo’s anonymous block of flats. His family is far away and they are hardly in contact, his father died already ten years ago, yet the memories of him are still alive. His neighbours, he only knows the names that were given to the flats they inhabit, but not who is living close to him. Since the flats are going to be destroyed soon, they will have to leave anyway.  One day, he observes a woman walking around the sky-blue house neighbouring their block. She seems to try to look into it through the window. When she realises that she is spotted, they make contact and Nishi explains Taro why she is behaving this strangely: the house is actually quite famous, she even possesses a book about its interior and her greatest wish is to enter and have a look herself. A singular friendship forms between the two neighbours, centred around a building close but far away for them.

Tomoka Shibasaki’s novel “Spring Garden” has many typical features of what I expect from Japanese literature. First of all, the characters. We have two protagonists who seem to live a life without close connection to other people, loneliness and isolation are reoccurring themes in Japan’s novels and from the news I read about the country this really seems to be a major topic. Yet, it is not the suffering from being alone that is central, they seem to have accepted that this is just how it is for them. When they finally bond with somebody – even if it is just a weak connection like the one of neighbours – there are many societal rules which prevent an honest friendship in my opinion. E.g. when Taro is given a present he does not like, it is not easy for him and he nevertheless feels obliged to behave in a certain manner. Even to eat things he doesn’t like in order not to appear impolite.

Some aspects I found really strange and I do not know if this is the case because the character of Taro is a bit bizarre or if this is just a cultural matter which is quite far from the world I life in. Taro keeps the mortar and pestle in his kitchen cupboard with which he turned the remains of his father’s bones into powder to distribute them. They remind him of the father and he frequently thinks about him when he comes across the two utensils. Both, first the idea of working on a deceased’s bones and keeping the utensils close to pots and pans is very astonishing to me to put it politely.

The most interesting part of the novel for me was the house that Taro and Nishi go to explore, first through the book and the outside, later also from the inside. It is not only the poetical language, especially about the lighting of the colourful windows, which makes it quite impressive, but also how human boing have an impact on the outer world. Even though the walls and windows are the same, with the change of the inhabitants, the whole ambiance can change and everybody leaves his mark on his surroundings.