A Review of Memories of the Future by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky (translated by Joanne Turnbull)

Memories of the Future

4 out of 5: This collection of seven loosely interconnected short stories, by turns whimsical and menacing, examines Soviet Moscow in the 1920s. In these stories Krzhizhanovsky primarily focuses on the lives of displaced intellectuals—those who, after World War I and the Russian Revolution of 1917, are left with little to do but wander the city’s streets wondering what happened to their settled lives of respectability. One of Krzhizhanovsky’s protagonists describes Soviet Russia, and particularly Moscow, as a “country of nonexistences,” and it is these nonexistences, left without a place or function in society, that populate Krzhizhanovsky’s stories. While often representing an isolated point of view, Krzhizhanovsky’s stories contain enough dark comedy and signs of hope to mitigate their overall bleakness.

In a self-described style of “experimental realism,” Krzhizhanovsky mixes gritty details (dark rooms in concrete block buildings, frozen boulevard benches) with fantastical elements, including several extended dream sequences. In one story, the Eiffel Tower uproots itself and heads towards the revolution in the East, laying waste to everything in its path. In another, a sociable corpse manages to miss his funeral while trying to experience one more day of life. In the last story of the collection (Memories of the Future), Max Scherter is a man obsessed with the concept of time. He works to build a time machine only to be repeatedly interrupted by war and revolution. Despite the obstacles Max faces, his story is a hopeful one of the perseverance of a noble idea over mankind’s tragedies.

Krzhizhanovsky died in 1950 before any of his stories were published. Now, for the first time, these seven stories are available to an English audience thanks to Joanne Turnbull’s translation and the New York Review of Books. Memories of the Future, although sometimes confusing in its wild departures from reality, gives us a valuable and unique insider’s view into a closed society.

A Review of Lying with the Dead by Michael Mewshaw

Lying With the Dead
3 out of 5: In Michael Mewshaw’s latest novel, three grown siblings, all haunted by a traumatic childhood, converge on their dying mother’s home in Maryland. Maury, the eldest sibling, has Asperger’s and suffers under the guilt of having killed his own father years ago while defending his mother. Candy, the middle sibling, lives with the aftereffects of polio. Still living in Maryland and taking care of her mother, Candy longs for a life and love of her own. Quinn, the youngest, is an actor living in London, who supports his mother financially but otherwise attempts to minimize all contact with his troubled family. When the family comes together, shocking secrets are revealed, culminating in a dramatic, if predictable, ending.

The narrative alternates among the three voices of the siblings, but, because there’s little difference between Candy’s and Quinn’s voices (Maury’s Asperger’s makes his voice a bit more distinct), much of the effect is lost. Further, depicted as unrelentingly abusive and selfish, the mother has few redeeming qualities and forms an unconvincing emotional center of this novel. Mewshaw’s real strength is in writing credible dialog. At least half the book (and probably more) is straight dialog, which keeps the pace lively and engaging. Although lacking depth of characterization, Lying with the Dead is an entertaining and quick-paced family drama.

A Review of Dom Casmurro by Machado de Assis (translated by Helen Caldwell)

Dom Casmurro: A Novel

4 out of 5: This classic Brazilian novel, written by Machado de Assis and first published in 1899, is available in the U.S. in a new edition published last year by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. In this first-person narrative, an elderly Bento Santiago reminisces about his happy childhood, including his devoted mother and his enduring love for his childhood sweetheart, Capitú. Over time, Bento’s adolescent happiness matures into a complicated adult life, rife with drama and tragedy.

As Bento progresses through his life story, his easygoing and often humorous voice adopts a deceptively light tone. This misleading lightness masks a much darker story, one of a man regretful of destroying his happiness with his own crippling jealousy. Not only is Bento the master of his own tragedy, but he also revels in telling the story to us, complete with dramatic flourishes and strategic asides. With strong parallels to Shakespeare’s Othello, Dom Casmurro is a classic story of love won and then lost. Although over a century old, this fresh and modern story remains as relevant today as when it was first written.

A Review of Fun with Problems by Robert Stone

Fun with Problems
4 out of 5: The stories in Robert Stone's newest collection, aptly titled Fun with Problems, run the gamut from west coast to east coast, from the drug-addled dregs of society to the troubled lives of dot-com millionaires. Stone's characters are equally at home listening to Mahler and alluding to Shakespeare as they are prone to drug-induced misbehavior and drunken rages. Lucy, the impulsive, self-destructive protagonist of "High Wire," one of the strongest stories in the collection, could be speaking for all of Stone's characters when she describes herself as "in difficulty."

Stone's style is unrelentingly raw and testosterone-pumped. While potentially off-putting to some, I found Stone's writing to be refreshingly different from the norm, if occasionally overindulgent. Some of Stone's meltdown scenes—and there are many of them—stretch credulity (would the Secretary of Defense really lose his mind over a disparaging comment?). But, for the most part, Stone powerfully portrays humanity at its nadir. Certainly, these are not uplifting or hopeful stories. Rather, they seek to shed light on our darkest instincts and desires, and, on this point, they succeed magnificently.

Happy New Year!

May 2010 be filled with lots of good books for you and your family!