Feldman's Faves: November 18, 2024

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE

LET’S GO, ARGOS! Spectacular win for the home town heroes last night.

Epic week last week – Taylor Swift, two-hour Matt Wilpers Led Global Power Zone ride, Bills/Chiefs,  and the Raptors actually almost won a game. WOW.

This was a bucket list weekend for Emily who got to do a live class at the Peloton Studio in NYC. Happy for you and a little bit jealous.

This week’s theme is metaphysical in nature.

ALISS AT THE FIRE By: Jon Fosse – Norwegian writer, Jon Fosse won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2023. I originally started reading his 600 plus page tomb, Septology, but I couldn’t power through it. I am clearly not smart enough. So when I noticed a far more accessible novella of his entitled, Aliss at the Fire, which many say is a very good gateway read to Fosse, I decided to give it a try.  I am glad I did as this book is one of the most original stories I have ever read but in terms of style (it is one long stream of conscience paragraph that makes Jack Kerouac look like Ernest Hemmingway).  But beyond that the writing style is almost musical in a way that has a lot of repetition that builds out in to a wider story (think of a compass in grade school that draws bigger and bigger circles). The story is multi-general tale of tragedy linked to death in the Fjord near the protagonist’s family home.  Time is collapsed and events happen in the 1800’s and the 1900’s that are different but the same. It also captures very effectively the way people’s minds wander and link various ideas at once in an almost dreamlike state. This book really is different but in a  very good way. As one reviewer notes, “In this simple tale by the Norwegian author Jon Fosse, a middle-aged woman lies down on a bench in her house beside a fjord and thinks back to 23 years earlier when she stood by the window waiting for her husband, Asle. On that stormy day in late November, Asle took his rowing boat out onto the water and never returned. Written in a single paragraph, in the form of an extended interior monologue, Fosse's haunting story begins in 2002 and unwinds to cover five generations. Signe relives the day of her loss over and over. Nothing is forgotten. She recalls the final exchanges with her husband, the look of his retreating back, her sense of anxiety, before she confronts the ghosts of her husband's family and an earlier tragedy over 100 years before. Gradually, the voices of these ghosts and their lives intermingle with her own: "They just stand there, they just don't move, she thinks. They stand there, they stand there as though they had been standing there since time immemorial she thinks. And she stands there. She stands there and looks at Asle, at Brita, Kristoffer, Old Aliss." The fjord has been both friend and foe to the numerous generations that have passed through the old house. As well as providing a livelihood for the fishermen, it also proves an implacable force of nature in the winter months when it becomes a dark, brooding presence, "grey and black and colourless". Reeling back the years, Asle's great-great-grandmother Aliss nearly loses her son Kristoffer in the dark waters. Later, in 1897, Aliss witnesses the death of her grandson, also called Asle, who drowns in the fjord at the tender age of seven. It is some measure of Fosse's talents that he manages to weave such a compelling narrative from a largely static setting, although it comes as no surprise to discover that he is also an acclaimed playwright. Nothing really happens and yet there is something quietly dramatic about Fosse's meandering and rhythmic prose, aided by Damion Searls's limber translation, which has a strangely mesmerising effect. In this slim novella, the story is stripped down to its emotional core, making for an intense reading experience. Fosse paints a harsh, unforgiving landscape and conveys with delicate precision Signe's pain and bereavement that the long, lonely years have done little to dispel.”  Having enjoyed Aliss so much, I may give Septology another try.  Here’s a good review from  Kirkus  - https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jon-fosse/aliss-at-the-fire/

Meditative Story - Navigating life in my own skin, by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel -  There is something magical about going on a family road trip when you are a kid.  I went on many with my parents and sister when I was little and some of my fondest and most vivid memories of my childhood are those trips and what we learned about each other and ourselves.  I also remember loving the Cracker Barrel, a lot….those massive breakfasts, yum…. In this PODCAST we hear about a childhood road trip taken from California to Louisiana in the 1950s and what this meant for young black family (including the need for them to drive without stopping since it was unsafe to sleep on the road and virtually impossible for them to find a hotel that would let them stay…just nuts).  But it is those times where nothing is planned and you are just together that creates some of the most impactful and important memories. Here’s an excerpt from the PODCAST itself, “In precisely chosen words, the writer, artist and Zen priest Zenju Earthlyn Manuel tells a story from her girlhood, a road trip from LA to Louisiana in 1957. While five-year-old Zenju sits in the back seat dreaming of cowboys, her parents navigate an altogether different landscape. From them, from the trip, Zenju now believes she’s learned how to find her way in the world, in her skin.“: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/meditative-story/id1472106563?i=1000672194323

Thank you for your ongoing engagement and participation. And remember to stay safe, stay healthy and to docket daily.

Jon