Juan Rulfo has written very little, a single collection of short stories and a small novel 'Pedro Paramo'. But his reputation (posthumous) is huge and that is an indication of the quality of his works. I have read his 'Pedro Paramo' and one short story 'Luvina'. I cannot claim to have fully comprehended 'Pedro Paramo' and that what I understood from it is what the author intended to convey. The fault would be with me only in such a case. This post as such would be an short introduction to a writer who has haunted me.
'Pedro Paramo' starts off with the narration being done by 'Preciado' who has promised his mother (who has passed away) that he would meet his father 'Pedro Paramo' at Comala which is where he is said to live. He reaches Comala, which seems to be a ghost town. The novel then fragments into a polyphony of voices, with Preciado having visions which are hallucinatory. The narration is fragmented and goes back and forth in time with various characters who are supposedly dead come alive and narrative the story of Comala. The childhood of 'Pedro Paramo' is also narrated, his obsession with a woman he loved and the the events that lead up to him becoming a tyrant being explained. It even seems like that Preciado dies at some point during the narration. (not sure about this), but the other characters continue with their narration. It is not even clear if the whole thing is a complete imagination of Preciado including his own death. But the narration gives an idea of the desolation of the area and inner demons which haunt Comala's inhabitants.
The characters in this novel are haunted by their old memories and as such do not seem to be aware of the time/space they are in and indeed not even aware they are alive or not (i.e) if these characters are not a fiction of Perciado's imagination. The atrocities committed long ago, the betrayals done still haunt the minds of these characters. They are also alone and desolate in this ghost town, with only the memories of the past to keep them company. Their wind is a raging whirlpool of past events and it is their burden to live with them.
The desolation is also present his short story 'Luvina' which is more close to reality than the novel. However there too is a ghost town with no rain at all and where only dust filled winds blow all the time. People live there expecting their deaths only. There is nothing else to look forward too. As Juan Rulfo says '... the only people who lived there were the old men who could not travel, the kids too young enough to leave the place, unborn children and the women.'. Others have all left the place. What is haunting about this novel is the atmosphere which Juan Rulfo builds. There is no violence in this novel, no one dies and there is practically nothing happening in this story. It just has descriptions of 'Luvina' made by a teacher who once lived there. He is telling about Luvina to another person (a teacher presumably) who is about to leave for Luvina. The terrifying descriptions of the havoc that nature has played on Luniva is creepy. It also contrasts with the current environment in which the two persons are present, which is a pleasant place, with a stream running nearby, woods nearby and in the evening sun.
Published in 1955, Pedro Paramo could have been a precursor to the magic realism boom of Latin American that started later, though this work is more in the surreal realm than in magic realism.
'Pedro Paramo' has an introduction by Susan Sontong. Juan Rulfo worked as a travelling salesman throughout his life. One wonders if the pressures and workload of domestic life had a hand in severely curtailing his input or whether he wrote so little because he wanted to. If the pull of day to day life curtailed his input, it is indeed a great loss to us readers, even if he would not be neither the first nor the last person to be pulled down by life.
Showing posts with label Surreality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Surreality. Show all posts
Friday, January 14, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Haruki Murakami - Reality of the Surreal
What does one make of Murakami.Is he a surrealist, post-modernist, writer of modern Japan, detective/sci-fi metaphysical writer or a writer of the vacuum/emptiness that exists in us and the alienation we feel . He is all of them and he is none of them too. If what I have said is confusing to someone, then maybe Murakami is not for them. Just go for the ride. You either hate him as a fake, charlatan or love him, there is no middle ground with him.I personally enjoy his work, contemplate on what he is trying to say and make some inferences, that's all. If one expects a clear story, well defined characters, a moment of epiphany, or at the least a resolution to the story you are going to be disappointed. Murakami is a enigma who can be enjoyed or hated as per your orientation, but trying to decipher him or his novel fully, well good luck to the person.
The characters in his novel don't actually vary much and as such it is almost a template. In most of his works, the main protagonist is a mid 30's man, single/divorced with no current job sometimes(not out of any laziness or lack of talent) and one who has an is stuck in ennui. He is one who does not get flustered by even the most surreal things happening to him, he views them almost as an outsider like in some kind of mild stupor. He is also capable to action when required, but is one who prefers to go with the flow and being reactive rather than proactive. There is in most cases a woman, who, though is not a femme-fatale is mysterious enough. It is when she enters the man's life the story kicks off. His last 2 works (as translated in English), 'Kafka On the Shore' and 'After Dark' buck this trend and are a welcome change.
There is no specific story as such in his works, characters come and go, but at the undercurrent there is a serious core that is running throughout all this. 'Kafka On The Shore' has the thread of two characters who are travelling and are destined to meet and the other thread of the person's search for his mother. These are interleaved with other characters and situations. 'Norwegian wood' has the the late 60's as the background (for it's significance to youth), and also the restlessness of the young where they feel they make lack something even if outwardly they seem to have everything. At a base level of reading his works may seem vacuous, full of style but no substance, but I have never felt it to be so.
The concept of real/unreal have no real meaning in his works. Parallel timelines/universes, talking cats are as common in his works as the daily chore of laundry, making spaghettis etc. In a similar way, genres are also straddled effortlessly, he is a great genre bender.Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of
the World has detective elements with the surreal as does 'Dance Dance Dance', whereas Norwegian woods straddles the metaphysical and the real. 'The Wind Up Bird Chronicle' also looks at Japan's history in the second world war and as such is the novel where a social issue is taken up on a generic scale, along with touching upon urban alienation.
Alienation is one concept that is recurrent throughout his works. The main protagonist in 'The Wind Up Bird Chronicle', thinks about his wife after he comes to know she has left him. He realizes that he does not even know some basic things like the color she likes etc. They have been married for some years now, have not had any great fights, but still they has been something lacking which he has not got, till she has left him. They are symptomatic of couples who drift apart without knowing about it at all and one fine day when they realize it they are surprised, though they have been staring at the truth for a long time. Likewise, the character who commits suicide in 'Norwegian wood', he had good grades, a steady girlfriend, was socially comfortable, had a great future and yet commits suicide.
The canvas/backdrop of his works are beautifully mentioned, though it could also be the translators gift. Whether it is the description of the Mongolian province where hellish events happen or the gloomy, dark, barely lit bar that is the backdrop for most of 'After Dark', his descriptions are evocative. Music and food too are referred constantly, in fact, in 'The Wind Up Bird Chronicle', the main character is referred to as cooking several times. You get the feeling to taste the recipes mentioned by Murakami. But regards to music, his tastes which are eclectic ranging from Chopin to other jazz/blues musicians, those are over my head. This musical notes extend to his prose too.
To me, his most accomplished work is 'Kafa on the shore'. The almost whimsical nature of his earlier works and the somewhat rambling tone of 'The Wind Up Bird Chronicle' have been pared down and we get a much tighter work, though not losing any of his earlier works charm.
I would not go further than this as an introduction to Murakami. I would recommend Murakami highly, just go for it and read him. If you are still skeptical, start off with 'After Dark' which is the smallest of his novels or his short stories. It may be roller coaster, which you love or hate, but hey you may not forget that one experience, even if you do not come back to it again.
Note:
1. Some of the characters and story-lines, especially his earlier works are somewhat interrelated, so it would be better if they are read in the required order to get some context.
2. Translation Issues: There have been multiple translators, of which 'Jay Rubin' is said to be the best.
The characters in his novel don't actually vary much and as such it is almost a template. In most of his works, the main protagonist is a mid 30's man, single/divorced with no current job sometimes(not out of any laziness or lack of talent) and one who has an is stuck in ennui. He is one who does not get flustered by even the most surreal things happening to him, he views them almost as an outsider like in some kind of mild stupor. He is also capable to action when required, but is one who prefers to go with the flow and being reactive rather than proactive. There is in most cases a woman, who, though is not a femme-fatale is mysterious enough. It is when she enters the man's life the story kicks off. His last 2 works (as translated in English), 'Kafka On the Shore' and 'After Dark' buck this trend and are a welcome change.
There is no specific story as such in his works, characters come and go, but at the undercurrent there is a serious core that is running throughout all this. 'Kafka On The Shore' has the thread of two characters who are travelling and are destined to meet and the other thread of the person's search for his mother. These are interleaved with other characters and situations. 'Norwegian wood' has the the late 60's as the background (for it's significance to youth), and also the restlessness of the young where they feel they make lack something even if outwardly they seem to have everything. At a base level of reading his works may seem vacuous, full of style but no substance, but I have never felt it to be so.
The concept of real/unreal have no real meaning in his works. Parallel timelines/universes, talking cats are as common in his works as the daily chore of laundry, making spaghettis etc. In a similar way, genres are also straddled effortlessly, he is a great genre bender.Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of
the World has detective elements with the surreal as does 'Dance Dance Dance', whereas Norwegian woods straddles the metaphysical and the real. 'The Wind Up Bird Chronicle' also looks at Japan's history in the second world war and as such is the novel where a social issue is taken up on a generic scale, along with touching upon urban alienation.
Alienation is one concept that is recurrent throughout his works. The main protagonist in 'The Wind Up Bird Chronicle', thinks about his wife after he comes to know she has left him. He realizes that he does not even know some basic things like the color she likes etc. They have been married for some years now, have not had any great fights, but still they has been something lacking which he has not got, till she has left him. They are symptomatic of couples who drift apart without knowing about it at all and one fine day when they realize it they are surprised, though they have been staring at the truth for a long time. Likewise, the character who commits suicide in 'Norwegian wood', he had good grades, a steady girlfriend, was socially comfortable, had a great future and yet commits suicide.
The canvas/backdrop of his works are beautifully mentioned, though it could also be the translators gift. Whether it is the description of the Mongolian province where hellish events happen or the gloomy, dark, barely lit bar that is the backdrop for most of 'After Dark', his descriptions are evocative. Music and food too are referred constantly, in fact, in 'The Wind Up Bird Chronicle', the main character is referred to as cooking several times. You get the feeling to taste the recipes mentioned by Murakami. But regards to music, his tastes which are eclectic ranging from Chopin to other jazz/blues musicians, those are over my head. This musical notes extend to his prose too.
To me, his most accomplished work is 'Kafa on the shore'. The almost whimsical nature of his earlier works and the somewhat rambling tone of 'The Wind Up Bird Chronicle' have been pared down and we get a much tighter work, though not losing any of his earlier works charm.
I would not go further than this as an introduction to Murakami. I would recommend Murakami highly, just go for it and read him. If you are still skeptical, start off with 'After Dark' which is the smallest of his novels or his short stories. It may be roller coaster, which you love or hate, but hey you may not forget that one experience, even if you do not come back to it again.
Note:
1. Some of the characters and story-lines, especially his earlier works are somewhat interrelated, so it would be better if they are read in the required order to get some context.
2. Translation Issues: There have been multiple translators, of which 'Jay Rubin' is said to be the best.
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