'“Stratis Haviaras was (is?) [Was: viz.–Ed.] a curator at Harvard library and a poet who wrote two stunning novelsAnother update from Neglected Books:
'“Stratis Haviaras was (is?) [Was: viz.–Ed.] a curator at Harvard library and a poet who wrote two stunning novels – in English – around WWII Greece from a child’s-eye view that saw very good reviews and quickly disappeared. The first, When the Tree Sings, is set during the German occupation. It’s impressionistic and poetic and has less of a narrative, with descriptions of the daily horrors of the time written in a kind of dreamy, detached prose: An old man began to dig with teeth and nails for roots, moaning weakly from hunger. Then two kids were blown to pieces by a land mine as they tried to disarm it and use the dynamite cakes to kill fish in the bay. I saw their little arms in smoking sleeves hung from a fig tree, trembling – so simple.
'"And I saw a woman in black overcome by crows, and a younger woman crawl (sic) to the roadside, dragging her entrails over the dust."
'It got a number of glowing reviews (‘This first novel…is one of the most power, uncompromising, exquisitely written and imaginatively conceived of any that I have read.’ – Time Out, etc) in 1979, but is certainly neglected now. Same fate for its follow-up in 1986, Haviaras’ second and last novel, The Heroic Age, follows a band of orphan kids who’ve spent much of the war living in the mountains, as they’re rounded up and put in work camps after the war. This one has more of a narrative and is, I think, even better than Haviaras’ first novel, but you really can’t go wrong with either of these, both of which got paperback printings from major presses (Picador and Penguin) and so should be fairly easy to dig up.'...more
"On the fringes of London society a young man drifts, wondering what to do with his life. His friends live off their wits and other people. People lik"On the fringes of London society a young man drifts, wondering what to do with his life. His friends live off their wits and other people. People like Otto, the young Germam diplomat, whose charm lies in his wallet, and Mrs. Lamont, middle-aged and fighting it, reliving her life through the unorthodox exploits of her proteges.
"From the shelter of Mrs. Lamont's wing, the young man tries to establish his own standard of behavior and finds a solution to the problem of living. But is the answer to be found by going to nude parties with trendy vicars? And will falling in love with the beautiful and ill-named Virginia only make matters worse?" From the back cover of the 1982 Abacus paperback edition of the novel.
This was William Trevor's first novel (published 1958) and it could be described as mildly ribald, picaresque, even sentimental journey and like all mildly ribald picaresque sentimental journey novels the path to maturity and wisdom is full of pitfalls, if not pratfalls and of course nothing goes to plan. The most interesting thing about this novel is that its author after giving birth to this very damp squib of a novel managed to get anyone to read, let alone publish, his next novel which was absolutely extraordinary 'The Old Boys'.
I can't pretend that 'A Standard of Behavior' is even a mildly good novel, it is a reworking of themes from novels as diverse as Evelyn Waugh's 'Vile Bodies' and Christopher Isherwood's 'Mr. Norris Changes Trains' but always bearing in mind that this novel is not even a worthy pastiche. It is a very 1950s novel, its setting owes more to the Dublin of William Trevor's time at Trinity College than London or anywhere in England.
I read it not because I am completist in terms of reading everything by an author, even ones like Trevor who I regard as one of my favorites, but because I am always curious about early novels that authors disown. 'A Standard of Behavior' is also incredibly easy, and cheap, to get hold of. The novel came out in 1958 originally but was republished in 1967 by Sphere and in 1982 by Abacus.
It is not a waste of time to read the novel, William Trevor is even here a very good writer, and it is salutory to be reminded of the days when publishers, literary agents and others took on writers they thought promising and nurtured them. I don't say times were better, they were different....more
"This remarkable first novel tells the grim story of two brothers who, on a hot and volatile August night in a Florida port town, roam as if in a nigh"This remarkable first novel tells the grim story of two brothers who, on a hot and volatile August night in a Florida port town, roam as if in a nightmare from one sad misadventure to the next. The violence and tragedy of their lives--a legacy passed down from their abusive, alcoholic father and promiscuous mother--is inescapable; they hasten to it with each step they take to flee from it.
"Author Daniel Vilmure does not coddle or pander to his audience. He declines to name the brothers or to establish precisely their ages. One can only guess that they are about 11 and 16. All but two of the chapters are narrated by the younger brother, and much of the book’s irony derives from his limited point of view. The other two chapters are narrated by the older brother, who is illiterate. His discovery of the truth of his paternity initiates the story’s headlong rush toward disaster.
"Despite the verbal limitations of his two narrators, Vilmure manages to convey, vividly and viscerally, the complex emotions--the confusion, anger, frustration, and rage--felt by his characters. The transmission of these feelings is so direct that one hardly notices the intermediary role that literary technique plays. Only upon rereading does one fully appreciate how skillfully this talented young writer weaves recurring images, motifs, and complex psychological states into one seamless whole." From the review in The Los Angeles Times, December 13, 1987 (can be found at: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-x...).
I have begun my review by quoting the above review because the synopsis on Goodreads is totally inadequate and I do want to encourage others to read this exceptionally fine novel. There is another splendid review from The Harvard Crimson at: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/19... but as it goes into more plot detail then I wounld want to reveal. The Harvard Crimson is also the literary magazine of Harvard which Daniel Vilmure contributed while at Harvard, and the articles he wrote for it can be found at: https://www.thecrimson.com/writer/940...). I also want to quote a brief extract from the review the novel received from The New York Times:
"A gratifying first novel. The talent of the author, who was born in Tampa in 1965, shines in the books compelling imagery, irony and framing device. His vivid terse language aptly embodies the hard-driving, violent drama, and makes us feel we are running through the night with these brothers driven by a painful loss of innocence, and fate."
I have provided so many quotes from others because I loved this novel and am afraid that my words won't be sufficient to encourage you to seek out and read this powerful, beautiful and moving novel. I suppose I should add that this is not tale of happy-ever-after but more along the lines of Scott Fitzgerald's disillusioned 'there are no second acts in American lies' except in 'Life in the Land of the Living' the two unnmaed brothers have no hope of reaching an entr'acte, never minda second act. They are the first generation of children to experience the death of the American dream after the launch of the wonders of monetarism and trickle-down economics by Regean and his successors. Their parents (although it is unstated it is clear they under forty) can remember when their unnamed Florida town was a bustling port but for the sons it a wasteland as scared clean of life as the ruins of Pompei but considerably less substantial.
Within the desolation of their town, their lives and everything around them the only thing that the two brothers have is their love and dependence on each other for meaning and purpose. But don't expect a greeting card warm-and-fuzzy type of feel-good relationship of two-against the world. This is a codependent love based on violence, alcohol and pain, but that makes it all the more real because love in families is complicated. The two brothers in Mr. Vilmure's novel resemble characters from Cervantes with the elder brother in the process being consumed by demons as horrifying as Quixote's giants while the younger brother is a Sancho Panza whose dogged loyalty is magnificent as well as tragic.
It is a great novel and like all great novels whose authors who fail to find a niche in New York's publishing world of back slapping self-promotion, it and he, have vanished into that sub-basement of near total obscurity that only Goodreads and the two reviews, one of them this one, now posted against this novel (as of September 2024) tries to rescue it from....more
I discovered Per Petterson via 'Its Fine by Me' and 'Echoland' both of which i loved but didn't at first realise that I was following the same charactI discovered Per Petterson via 'Its Fine by Me' and 'Echoland' both of which i loved but didn't at first realise that I was following the same character, Avrid Jansen. Once I did I had to read this, the first Avrid Jansen novel, and I loved it. Although described as a collection of short stories I believe it is more a collection of linked vignettes. It is only of novella length and it is all seen through the eyes of Avrid Jansen between the ages of, roughly, six and ten. You don't need to read any of the other Avrid novels or any other work by Petterson to enjoy this novel, but if you have then you will recognise themes that reoccur in his work.
I am not going to elaborate those themes now, I think it would be better to look at them within the context of his later works because Petterson's stories about Avrid are more than tales of growing up, they are the tale of Norway and how it has changed since the 1960s.
But really I don't want to overburden this utterly delightful little work with exegesis which will only impair a reader's enjoyment of this perfect little account of a boys first steps on the road to adulthood, and even that burdens this work with to much direction.
It is wonderful to read a work about children that is not labeled YA, books about children can be for adults, after all we spent time as children and many adults spend a lot of time bringing children. I can't think of a subject more central to adults.
A beautiful novella which is a good a place as any to discover what truly remarkable writer Per Petterson is....more
(Please note the author's surname is Vaughan not Vaughn)
This is a fine novel, just not a very exciting one and although I am loath to use simplistic c(Please note the author's surname is Vaughan not Vaughn)
This is a fine novel, just not a very exciting one and although I am loath to use simplistic comparisons it is useful to consider this novel against 'The Go-Between'. Both are tales of a young pre-adiolescent boy who is caught up in the confusions, lies, evasions and hypocracies of adults without the means, knowledge, sophistication and maturity to understand what is going on. But 'The Go-Between' is a tightly plotted and focused novel about the use, corruption and destruction of innocence. 'A Season by Lamplight' is, despite only being 200 pages, a difuse collection of themes involving WWII, families, Northern Ireland, ghosts, the politics of Southern Irish neutrality, German spies, ghosts, the IRA and I could go on. There is too much, much of it superfluous or undeveloped, particularly the Catholic/Protestant divide in Ulster. There are the roots of many good things in this novel and I emphasize it is not bad it is just not very special or memorable. Anyone reading it will enjoy it but there are better novels about Ireland and childhood to read.
Personally I liked all the things most people dislike about the novel, especially Brett Gerson's whiny, obnoxious, self centered attitude, to going frPersonally I liked all the things most people dislike about the novel, especially Brett Gerson's whiny, obnoxious, self centered attitude, to going from being one of America's jeunesse doree, to being almost on welfare. Being self absorbed is more or less the definition of being 15/16 years old (in wealthy countries. It is a bit different for 16 year old Alexis in Our Lady of the Assassins by Fernando Vallejo) and not having something you want is a lot less painful then having everything and having it taken away.
This is a YA novel so my disappointment that it backs away from any real examination of the sharp cruelties and repercussions of a fall from from a position of economic protection to the mundanities of ordinary existence, never mind that it concludes with Brett being rescued from many economic problems associated with the disappearance of his rich boy's life, is probably unfair. That it is more about teaching some vague lesson about growing-up, understanding, accepting people for what they are, and other similar cliches made me want to puke, but then I am disliking it for not being something else, maybe a real novel with depth.
This novel has about as much message as cotton candy has nutrition....more
I came close to giving this novel five stars but I am not sure it is a really great novel, though it a first rate one. Ultimately if I give it five stI came close to giving this novel five stars but I am not sure it is a really great novel, though it a first rate one. Ultimately if I give it five stars I am giving it the same rating I give to Lampedusa's 'The Leopard' and that I can't do.
When the book came out a number of reviewers, I particularly recall one in The Financial Times, remarking on this novel being a change for Michael Arditti who they described as normally writing about religion and faith a la Graham Greene (as if no other author dealt with these subjects, had they never heard of George Bernanos or Francois Mauriac or even, the slightly absurd, English author A.N. Wilson. But what the reviewers didn't see is that Mr. Arditti's novels dealing more specifically with religion, such 'Breath of the Night', are all about searching for truth, knowing thyself and are based on the idea of the unexamined life not being worth living. Admittedly Socrates was the first to say this but it is fundamental to living a Christian life, what do you think the examination of conscience is for?
The Young Pretender is all about a once famous child actor, now grown both up and portly, who discovers, as he attempts to rebuild his career as an adult, what he did not know, did not want to know or chose to forget about his life as a celebrity. The tawdry, and complex, reality behind his celebrity is something he has tried to forget. That it is squalid is unsurprising. Today we are living in a culture soaked in 'celebrity' and happy to ignore the 40 confirmed suicides associated (as of 2024) with reality TV so, although this novel maybe based just over two hundred years ago, it resonates powerfully with our times.
A finely written, rather short, novel that handles its period beautifully. Arditti may not be Lampedusa but he is a fine writer and this is a very good novel.
Although it is not listed, or illustrated, on Goodreads it was the hardback edition of this novel I bought and read....more
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