The advantage of a relatively slow down of daily working chores is that I can spend more quality time reading on topics that are currently relatively out of my area of interest, but used to be once. Also, to keep discovering authors whose works were an occasion for pleasant intellectual delights. Like Elif Batuman, whose The Idiot was a very unexpected rendition of the homonymous novel by Dostoevsky.
The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People who Read Them is, as the title suggests, a book about Russian books, with a reference to another book by the same Russian author. Autobiographical stanzas aiming to add some layers of literary criticism to personal encounters, especially during her PhD time at Stanford, the articles included bring humorous takes on serious literary considerations. Also - one of my favorite parts - share very original and interesting insights about Uzbek language and literature, based on the author´s experience learning and practising the language in Samarkand.
The takes are very original, mostly based on personal human encounters projected into complex literary analysis, but although the projection of personal experiences into a theoretical, professional realm may bring life and reality into the theory, a too fast back and forth from a register to another and all the way back may be confusing. Also, some ideas seem to be lost on the way to putting together different arguments. But the unique humour may actually save and excuse some of the partial achievements. And, again, I haven´t ever read until now about Uzbek literature and someone who actually learned the language with dedication and interest.
If you are looking for some good humour while wandering through the maze inspired by Russian literature and those who are possessed-like to read it - although I promise you it is more to it than Dostoevsky and Tolstoy and Pushkin, but it´s a matter of taste after all - this is a good book for the end of the year/month.
Rating: 3 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment