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readingtheend's review against another edition
3.0
tell you what chaps I did not understand this book
timbooksin's review against another edition
1.0
Unfortunately, this book was far too avant garde for my taste. The subject selections and encyclopedic elements were loosely executed and deeply unsatisfying. The techniques were innovative at times but caused a visceral shortage of breathing room so the reader could pause on one concept or story. I was glad to have the photographs embedded throughout as the text absolutely needed them to relieve it of some drag self-aggrandizement. This book definitely has an audience and is worthy of one but it's a special bunch that can access such writing.
drifterontherun's review against another edition
1.0
How many bad short stories do you read through in a collection before you decide to just give the whole thing up?
The first story is given a fair shot to impress, the second one too, but if the first two aren't any good, you're going into that third one a bit more warily. And if the third one's bad? Well, in my case you start skimming, and then skipping, until you get to the story about Laika the dog and realize, after reading through that one, that you should have skipped it too.
If you like this sort of thing, you might classify "Night School" as postmodern literature. I would classify it as a serious waste of time.
Why the very well-regarded Hungarian writer Péter Nádas would pen the afterword to this I have no idea, perhaps he felt obligated since he somehow figures as a character in one of these stories.
The concept, as you might be able to gather from the title, is that each story serves as a "lesson." You've got "Geography/history," "French," "Health/Homeland," etc etc etc. The story I was most looking forward to reading, teased on the back of the book, was, as I mentioned earlier, about Laika the dog (the dog the Soviets sent up into space that ended up basically burning to death). That story, entitled "On the Eve of No Return" is the "Russian" lesson (naturally), but it's located at almost the very end of the book, which means you have to first plod through all the other really dreadful stories to get to a story that is also dreadful, but that may have fooled you into reading it thanks to its more intriguing subject matter.
Oh, and there are little thumbnail sized photos on every page of this thing, which, as I was initially flipping through, I thought was cool, sort of Sebaldian, but that in fact serve no purpose at all since many of these photos often have nothing to do with any of the "stories" (if one can call them that). Why they're there is anyone's guess ... to make this whole thing feel more ... postmodern? To divert attention away from how boring it all is?
If these were actual lessons, given at an actual school, of the day or night variety, they deserve a failing grade.
These are classes you're better off skipping.
The first story is given a fair shot to impress, the second one too, but if the first two aren't any good, you're going into that third one a bit more warily. And if the third one's bad? Well, in my case you start skimming, and then skipping, until you get to the story about Laika the dog and realize, after reading through that one, that you should have skipped it too.
If you like this sort of thing, you might classify "Night School" as postmodern literature. I would classify it as a serious waste of time.
Why the very well-regarded Hungarian writer Péter Nádas would pen the afterword to this I have no idea, perhaps he felt obligated since he somehow figures as a character in one of these stories.
The concept, as you might be able to gather from the title, is that each story serves as a "lesson." You've got "Geography/history," "French," "Health/Homeland," etc etc etc. The story I was most looking forward to reading, teased on the back of the book, was, as I mentioned earlier, about Laika the dog (the dog the Soviets sent up into space that ended up basically burning to death). That story, entitled "On the Eve of No Return" is the "Russian" lesson (naturally), but it's located at almost the very end of the book, which means you have to first plod through all the other really dreadful stories to get to a story that is also dreadful, but that may have fooled you into reading it thanks to its more intriguing subject matter.
Oh, and there are little thumbnail sized photos on every page of this thing, which, as I was initially flipping through, I thought was cool, sort of Sebaldian, but that in fact serve no purpose at all since many of these photos often have nothing to do with any of the "stories" (if one can call them that). Why they're there is anyone's guess ... to make this whole thing feel more ... postmodern? To divert attention away from how boring it all is?
If these were actual lessons, given at an actual school, of the day or night variety, they deserve a failing grade.
These are classes you're better off skipping.
kazen's review against another edition
4.0
Content warnings for short references to child abuse and sexual abuse.
I picked up this book because I love the premise - an encyclopedia of life, a reader for grownups, built up through 21 short stories. Textbook-esque questions and observations are strewn throughout, and while some are funny or just weird others are poignant and made me think.
The stories fall into several loose types. Several look at the history of Eastern Europe (Bán is Hungarian) with a dystopian bent. Some are character studies, or an experimental narrative idea that's spun out. Others examine an aspect of a famous person's life - how the wickedly wonderful subject of Manet's Olympia got the artist to do the painting in the first place. Laika the dog's thoughts before she is blasted into space, never to return. ("This recording is for you, Soviet children, so you can write its message on a sky full of meteors and stardust: THESE PEOPLE ARE ALL GALACTIC LIARS.")
My favorite is an examination of Newton that is free-wheeling and hard to describe. I both laughed and stared into the middle distance, lost in thought. What if instead of watching an apple fall he saw a boulder careening down a mountainside? Or simply threw a ball into the air hundreds of times to watch it rise, slow, hang for an inexplicable moment, then drop? Neither of these is as romantic as an apple falling, and the latter is hard work. Would we have the same thoughts about Newton if he came up with his theory about gravity in one of these other ways?
Other little bits struck a chord, like how people make unthinking exclamations in their native language. When I was in study abroad all of my classmates were multi-lingual, and we would joke that the best way to figure out someone's mother tongue is to punch them and see what language they swear at you in. (Not recommended, obvs.)
I didn't understand everything Bán was getting at, but I don't think that's the point. Some stories are a wash of images with a thread of plot, and I enjoyed drawing connections and going where she led me. That being said, some things were over my head. For example, one story is an email correspondence among characters from Dangerous Liaisons. I haven't read the book and was so lost that I ended up moving on to the next piece.
Overall, though, I loved spending time with this collection. It's odd, subversively feminist, and made me look at certain aspects of life in a new light. I took forever to get through the book because I only read one story at a time, often on a long stretch of my commute, and let it rattle around my head for a day or two. Perfect for any fan of weird and wonderful short stories.
Thanks to Open Letter and Edelweiss for providing a review copy.
I picked up this book because I love the premise - an encyclopedia of life, a reader for grownups, built up through 21 short stories. Textbook-esque questions and observations are strewn throughout, and while some are funny or just weird others are poignant and made me think.
WHAT is the meaning of allegro, ma non troppo? AND HOW DO WE KNOW when allegro is too troppo?
CALCULATE how many angels can fit on the head of a pin if each angel is approximately 45mm and faithless.
WRITE AN ESSAY on this topic: If you had the choice, which of your favorite authors would you choose not to meet?
The stories fall into several loose types. Several look at the history of Eastern Europe (Bán is Hungarian) with a dystopian bent. Some are character studies, or an experimental narrative idea that's spun out. Others examine an aspect of a famous person's life - how the wickedly wonderful subject of Manet's Olympia got the artist to do the painting in the first place. Laika the dog's thoughts before she is blasted into space, never to return. ("This recording is for you, Soviet children, so you can write its message on a sky full of meteors and stardust: THESE PEOPLE ARE ALL GALACTIC LIARS.")
My favorite is an examination of Newton that is free-wheeling and hard to describe. I both laughed and stared into the middle distance, lost in thought. What if instead of watching an apple fall he saw a boulder careening down a mountainside? Or simply threw a ball into the air hundreds of times to watch it rise, slow, hang for an inexplicable moment, then drop? Neither of these is as romantic as an apple falling, and the latter is hard work. Would we have the same thoughts about Newton if he came up with his theory about gravity in one of these other ways?
Other little bits struck a chord, like how people make unthinking exclamations in their native language. When I was in study abroad all of my classmates were multi-lingual, and we would joke that the best way to figure out someone's mother tongue is to punch them and see what language they swear at you in. (Not recommended, obvs.)
I didn't understand everything Bán was getting at, but I don't think that's the point. Some stories are a wash of images with a thread of plot, and I enjoyed drawing connections and going where she led me. That being said, some things were over my head. For example, one story is an email correspondence among characters from Dangerous Liaisons. I haven't read the book and was so lost that I ended up moving on to the next piece.
Overall, though, I loved spending time with this collection. It's odd, subversively feminist, and made me look at certain aspects of life in a new light. I took forever to get through the book because I only read one story at a time, often on a long stretch of my commute, and let it rattle around my head for a day or two. Perfect for any fan of weird and wonderful short stories.
Thanks to Open Letter and Edelweiss for providing a review copy.
bekahmccue's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
arirang's review against another edition
4.0
This one we didn’t understand at all. We’ll have to ask about it when we get home.
Esti iskola: Olvasokönyv felnötteknek by Bán Zsófia was originally published in 2007 in Hungarian, and has now been translated into English as Night School: A Reader for Grownups by Jim Tucker and published by Open Letter.
This is a novel that, were it in English, would be a prime contender for the Goldsmiths Prize, and were the publisher in the UK, for the Republic of Consciousness Prize - my two favourite prizes - as it is highly creative in its literary approach. That said, my reading experience wasn't entirely successful.
The book is a collection of 21 connected short stories (c10 pages each), but connected not by recurring characters or settings, but rather by format. It is presented as a primary-school textbook, each chapter a lesson, complete with exercises for the reader at the end.
One of the last pieces concludes with the thought-provoker:
WRITE AN ESSAY on this topic: If you had the choice, which of your favorite authors would you choose not to meet ?
And many of the lessons themselves usually have an underlying theme which only gradually becomes clear - they may be an imaginative reinterpretation of the life story of a famous person, or a creative story of what might lie behind the creation of a famous painting, for example.
To take one example, the lesson "The Two Fridas (school beyond the border)", delivered in the Health/Homeland section of the syllabus.
The lesson is narrated by one of two identical twins, except one is from South America and the other Hungarian (reflecting the author's own split upbringing), both new kids at a school, and both called Frida.
At one point, as identical twins do, they worry but what happens, thought we in horror, if one of us dies before the other and take drastic action to prevent it:
And so it was: we filched a scalpel and clamp from the doctor's bag, and once he left we went into the bathroom and set about connecting our hearts. Our reasoning was that if we could make the two of them one, then we could not die separately, because the other one would also be me. Our biology teacher would have given us a B+ for this (because, and I quite, an A is only for the most exceptional)
It (hopefully) gradually dawns on the reader that this is all a reference to the painting The Two Fridas by Frida Kahlo:
see https://www.fridakahlo.org/images/paintings/the-two-fridas.jpg
And the exercises for the pupil at the end:
Put your hand on your heart: Do you always wash your hands before an operation?
What do you conclude from the fact that a frog heart keeps beating even without the frog?
In your opinion, what does this tell us about the frog? Also: Is this healthy?
Bán has written extensively on the great WG Sebald and each of the stories is also accompanied by lots of mini black and white photos, here in the margin of the page and rather more surreal than Sebald's, in a sort of dialogue with the text. I understand that in the original the reader may have been invited to cut them out and stick them in appropriate blank spaces on the back cover, although that is not true in the US edition.
It is all very impressive, but doesn't always make for an entirely satisfactory reading experience. In many lessons the main point seems to be spotting the allusion - and I sometimes felt like the pupils in the quote that opens my review. And the quality of the writing (which is actually very high), as well as any emotional as opposed to intellectual resonance, became rather secondary. Even when the allusion was clear, full appreciation of the resulting story sometimes required a depth of familiarity with the source I didn't always have.
Indeed as with most textbooks it would have been better had it come with answers in the back.
The Geography/Biology/History lessons 'Mme de Merteuil Shakes Herself' is one of the easier ones to appreciate: a 20th century continuation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses by email rather than letter. In this story Vicomte survives the duel and indirectly consummates his relationship with Madame de Merteuil as he is the sperm donor for her IVF treatment. As the various characters converge on New York in 2001, the ending becomes a little too obvious.
But then along comes some stories that are genuinely wrenching.
In A Film (24/1), the narrator talks themselves through a series of dives ending in one that will be watched all over the world. As the story progresses, the identify of their final diving toweror twin towers suddenly becomes brutally clear.
And Jolika And Dezso is a good example of a story that requires some context, rather inaccessible for the unprompted English-language reader, to provide the emotional payoff. A rather opaque and allusive story, which includes one section in italics that is clearly a direct quote, and, while the story is largely about hats, ends with the question:
1. IF IT TAKES ONE SECOND for you to hit five targets without reloading and you don't get interrupted, then what time in the afternoon does the water change colour?
Then, from an earlier published translation, I discovered that the quoted section, although unattributed, is from Ernö Szép's memoir, The Smell of Humans, and then the nature of the story becomes horribly clear.
Indeed I was left wondering how many other dark allusions I had missed. The holocaust (Ban's own parents are, I believe, holocaust survivors) and 9/11 are clearly two themes that run through the book, as well as drawing heavily on Hungarian literature and famous paintings. As one story proclaims:
There is something unsaid here, some hint, some dark and unhappy story. Or if not dark and unhappy, then something left unsaid, something that, shut up, sweetheart, you're too young for this, something that, ask your father, something that is there, since only a blind person could not see it, but whereof one cannot speak. One must be silent.
Overall, a wonderfully creative piece and brilliantly translated as well, given the novel dips into various languages and draws on so many sources.
4.5 stars for the concept although 3 for the reading experience (mainly my fault - I perhaps should have let the book flow) so 3.75 overall.
--------------------------
My best guess of the source for the different stories - in spoiler brackets - in each case the stories are not the true ones but the author's imaginative reconstruction:
Geography/History:
Motherwhere - I believe part of the general narrative
French:
Gustave & Maxime in Egypt (Or: The Metaphysics of Happening) - the story of Flaubert and Camp's trip
Chemistry and Physical Education
What Is This Thing Called the Exchange Reaction (destructive affinities)
- the four main characters from Goethe's Elective Affinites play table-tennis doubles
Health/homeland:
The Two Fridas (school beyond the border) - the story of Frida Kahlo's The Two Fridas painting
Physical education:
A Film (24/1) - the 9/11 jumpers
Homeland/Environmental Sciences:
Fidelio (a blog opera) - modern rewrite of Beethoven’s Fidelio
The Foundations of Our Worldview:
The Goblin - unclear to me
Geography/Biology:
The Temptation of Henri Mouhot - this story of the French explorer, has his wife Anna (here, daughter of Scottish explorer Mungo Park; in reality Mouhot's wife Annette was a distant relative) having an affair with (the ficticious) Charles Bovary. Anna also quotes the as yet unwritten novel Heart of Darkness ('The horror! the horror!')
Military Education:
A Box of Photos (captions on the back) - Ernö Szép's memoir, The Smell of Humans
Religion:
Night Zoo - Psalm 137, relocated from the rivers of Babylon to those of Borneo, in the form of an erotic love story between a woman and another (who may actually be an elephant!)
English/Home Economics:
Mrs Longfellow Burns (a biography) - the story of Henry Wordsworth Longfellow and his 2nd wife in particular
Drawing/Art History:
Olympia (une folie sentimentale) - the story has Victorine Meurent forcing Manet to paint her in various poses, in particular for his Olympia
Physics/Biology:
The Mantegna Madonna (folksong for expectant mothers) - the story of Andrea Mantegna Madonna with Sleeping Child (plus bit parts for Isaac Newton and serial killer and GP Harold Shipman)
Singing/Music:
Concerto (with subtitles) - perhaps Beethoven’s pastoral symphony?
Geography:
Expulsion to Paradise - ? (references to ancient Brazilian gods)
Practical Instruction:
Self Help (Or: The Power of Nohoo) - ?
Geography/Biology/History
Mme de Merteuil Shakes Herself - a modern continuation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses by email
Mathematics:
The Mathematics of Randomness - random mathematical observations, including the explorers Count Pál Teleki and Jenő Cholnoky, and a reference to the dating problem (https://plus.maths.org/content/mathematical-dating), although the book incorrectly says to take the 31st percentile not the 37th (actually mathematically 100/e)
Teacher’s Edition/Russian:
On the Eve of No Return (archival recording) - the story of Laika the Dog narrated by Laika
Hungarian:
How I Didn't (exercises in style: a partial inventory) - a succession of missed opportunities for the author to meet famous Hungarian authors, some alive some from the past
Recess:
The Miraculous Return of Laughter - returns to the Motherwhere story, and links in with Little Red Riding Hood
-------------------------------------------------------
This is the latest from the excellent Asymptote Book Club (https://www.asymptotejournal.com/book-club/), which I would highly recommend: the Asymptote Journal team select a piece of world literature each month from some of the leading independent presses in Canada, the US, and the UK.
Their review/introduction to this novel:
https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2019/01/31/announcing-our-january-book-club-selection-night-school-by-zsofia-ban/
And the list of books to date:
14. Night School: A Reader for Grownups by Zsófia Bán, tr. Jim Tucker, published by Open Letter
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2696062099)
13. [b:The Barefoot Woman|39380515|The Barefoot Woman|Scholastique Mukasonga|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1525184189l/39380515._SX50_.jpg|21500195] by Scholastique Mukasonga, tr. Jordan Stump, published by Archipelago Books
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2637696439)
12. [b:Hotel Tito|34013791|Hotel Tito|Ivana Simić Bodrožić|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498865508l/34013791._SX50_.jpg|11121826], by Ivana Simić Bodrožić, tr. Ellen Elias-Bursać, published by Seven Stories Press
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2604065296)
11. Oct-18 [b:Like a Sword Wound|38740409|Like A Sword Wound|Ahmet Altan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1519533015l/38740409._SY75_.jpg|1240091] by Ahmet Altan tr. Brendan Freely and Yelda Türedi, published by Seven Stories
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2577180059)
10. Sep-18 [b:Moving Parts|41067335|Moving Parts|Prabda Yoon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533676831l/41067335._SY75_.jpg|26028272] by Prabda Yoon, tr. Mui Poopoksakul , published by Tilted Axis Press
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2490833670)
9. Aug-18 [b:Revenge of the Translator|41838373|Revenge of the Translator|Brice Matthieussent|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1537044322l/41838373._SY75_.jpg|7114764] by Brice Matthieussen, tr. Emma Ramadan, published by Deep Vellum
8. Jul-18 [b:I Didn't Talk|36327044|I Didn't Talk|Beatriz Bracher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507842222l/36327044._SY75_.jpg|58003377] by Beatriz Bracher, tr. Adam Morris. published by New Directions
7. Jun-18 [b:The Tidings of the Trees|39316490|The Tidings of the Trees|Wolfgang Hilbig|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1521404289l/39316490._SY75_.jpg|60921466] by Wolfgang Hilbig, tr. Isabel Fargo Cole, published by Two Lines Press
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2341008047)
6. May-18 [b:The Chilli Bean Paste Clan|39685923|The Chilli Bean Paste Clan|Yan Ge|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522435794l/39685923._SY75_.jpg|27433539] by Yan Ge, tr. Nicky Harmon, published by Balestier Press
5. Apr-18 [b:Brother in Ice|36625238|Brother in Ice|Alicia Kopf|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1511121491l/36625238._SY75_.jpg|50111360] by Alicia Kopf, tr. Mara Faye Letham, published by And Other Stories
4. Mar-18 [b:Trick|39006270|Trick|Domenico Starnone|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1520293303l/39006270._SY75_.jpg|53150764] by Dominico Starnone tr. Jhumpa Lahiri, published by Europa Editions
3. Feb-18 [b:Love|35210752|Love|Hanne Ørstavik|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1506793555l/35210752._SX50_.jpg|10644559] by Hanne Ørstavik, tr. Martin Aitken, published by Archipelago Books
2. Jan-18 [b:Aranyak: Of the Forest|22729471|Aranyak Of the Forest|Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1405446846l/22729471._SY75_.jpg|3115341] by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, tr. Rimli Bhattacharya, published by Seagull Books
1. Dec-17 [b:The Lime Tree|37479611|The Lime Tree|César Aira|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1513104328l/37479611._SX50_.jpg|147509] by César Aira, tr. Chris Andrews, published by And Other Stories
Esti iskola: Olvasokönyv felnötteknek by Bán Zsófia was originally published in 2007 in Hungarian, and has now been translated into English as Night School: A Reader for Grownups by Jim Tucker and published by Open Letter.
This is a novel that, were it in English, would be a prime contender for the Goldsmiths Prize, and were the publisher in the UK, for the Republic of Consciousness Prize - my two favourite prizes - as it is highly creative in its literary approach. That said, my reading experience wasn't entirely successful.
The book is a collection of 21 connected short stories (c10 pages each), but connected not by recurring characters or settings, but rather by format. It is presented as a primary-school textbook, each chapter a lesson, complete with exercises for the reader at the end.
One of the last pieces concludes with the thought-provoker:
WRITE AN ESSAY on this topic: If you had the choice, which of your favorite authors would you choose not to meet ?
And many of the lessons themselves usually have an underlying theme which only gradually becomes clear - they may be an imaginative reinterpretation of the life story of a famous person, or a creative story of what might lie behind the creation of a famous painting, for example.
To take one example, the lesson "The Two Fridas (school beyond the border)", delivered in the Health/Homeland section of the syllabus.
The lesson is narrated by one of two identical twins, except one is from South America and the other Hungarian (reflecting the author's own split upbringing), both new kids at a school, and both called Frida.
At one point, as identical twins do, they worry but what happens, thought we in horror, if one of us dies before the other and take drastic action to prevent it:
And so it was: we filched a scalpel and clamp from the doctor's bag, and once he left we went into the bathroom and set about connecting our hearts. Our reasoning was that if we could make the two of them one, then we could not die separately, because the other one would also be me. Our biology teacher would have given us a B+ for this (because, and I quite, an A is only for the most exceptional)
It (hopefully) gradually dawns on the reader that this is all a reference to the painting The Two Fridas by Frida Kahlo:
see https://www.fridakahlo.org/images/paintings/the-two-fridas.jpg
And the exercises for the pupil at the end:
Put your hand on your heart: Do you always wash your hands before an operation?
What do you conclude from the fact that a frog heart keeps beating even without the frog?
In your opinion, what does this tell us about the frog? Also: Is this healthy?
Bán has written extensively on the great WG Sebald and each of the stories is also accompanied by lots of mini black and white photos, here in the margin of the page and rather more surreal than Sebald's, in a sort of dialogue with the text. I understand that in the original the reader may have been invited to cut them out and stick them in appropriate blank spaces on the back cover, although that is not true in the US edition.
It is all very impressive, but doesn't always make for an entirely satisfactory reading experience. In many lessons the main point seems to be spotting the allusion - and I sometimes felt like the pupils in the quote that opens my review. And the quality of the writing (which is actually very high), as well as any emotional as opposed to intellectual resonance, became rather secondary. Even when the allusion was clear, full appreciation of the resulting story sometimes required a depth of familiarity with the source I didn't always have.
Indeed as with most textbooks it would have been better had it come with answers in the back.
The Geography/Biology/History lessons 'Mme de Merteuil Shakes Herself' is one of the easier ones to appreciate: a 20th century continuation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses by email rather than letter. In this story Vicomte survives the duel and indirectly consummates his relationship with Madame de Merteuil as he is the sperm donor for her IVF treatment. As the various characters converge on New York in 2001, the ending becomes a little too obvious.
But then along comes some stories that are genuinely wrenching.
In A Film (24/1), the narrator talks themselves through a series of dives ending in one that will be watched all over the world. As the story progresses, the identify of their final diving tower
And Jolika And Dezso is a good example of a story that requires some context, rather inaccessible for the unprompted English-language reader, to provide the emotional payoff. A rather opaque and allusive story, which includes one section in italics that is clearly a direct quote, and, while the story is largely about hats, ends with the question:
1. IF IT TAKES ONE SECOND for you to hit five targets without reloading and you don't get interrupted, then what time in the afternoon does the water change colour?
Then, from an earlier published translation, I discovered that the quoted section, although unattributed, is from Ernö Szép's memoir, The Smell of Humans, and then the nature of the story becomes horribly clear.
Indeed I was left wondering how many other dark allusions I had missed. The holocaust (Ban's own parents are, I believe, holocaust survivors) and 9/11 are clearly two themes that run through the book, as well as drawing heavily on Hungarian literature and famous paintings. As one story proclaims:
There is something unsaid here, some hint, some dark and unhappy story. Or if not dark and unhappy, then something left unsaid, something that, shut up, sweetheart, you're too young for this, something that, ask your father, something that is there, since only a blind person could not see it, but whereof one cannot speak. One must be silent.
Overall, a wonderfully creative piece and brilliantly translated as well, given the novel dips into various languages and draws on so many sources.
4.5 stars for the concept although 3 for the reading experience (mainly my fault - I perhaps should have let the book flow) so 3.75 overall.
--------------------------
My best guess of the source for the different stories - in spoiler brackets - in each case the stories are not the true ones but the author's imaginative reconstruction:
Motherwhere - I believe part of the general narrative
French:
Gustave & Maxime in Egypt (Or: The Metaphysics of Happening) - the story of Flaubert and Camp's trip
Chemistry and Physical Education
What Is This Thing Called the Exchange Reaction (destructive affinities)
- the four main characters from Goethe's Elective Affinites play table-tennis doubles
Health/homeland:
The Two Fridas (school beyond the border) - the story of Frida Kahlo's The Two Fridas painting
Physical education:
A Film (24/1) - the 9/11 jumpers
Homeland/Environmental Sciences:
Fidelio (a blog opera) - modern rewrite of Beethoven’s Fidelio
The Foundations of Our Worldview:
The Goblin - unclear to me
Geography/Biology:
The Temptation of Henri Mouhot - this story of the French explorer, has his wife Anna (here, daughter of Scottish explorer Mungo Park; in reality Mouhot's wife Annette was a distant relative) having an affair with (the ficticious) Charles Bovary. Anna also quotes the as yet unwritten novel Heart of Darkness ('The horror! the horror!')
Military Education:
A Box of Photos (captions on the back) - Ernö Szép's memoir, The Smell of Humans
Religion:
Night Zoo - Psalm 137, relocated from the rivers of Babylon to those of Borneo, in the form of an erotic love story between a woman and another (who may actually be an elephant!)
English/Home Economics:
Mrs Longfellow Burns (a biography) - the story of Henry Wordsworth Longfellow and his 2nd wife in particular
Drawing/Art History:
Olympia (une folie sentimentale) - the story has Victorine Meurent forcing Manet to paint her in various poses, in particular for his Olympia
Physics/Biology:
The Mantegna Madonna (folksong for expectant mothers) - the story of Andrea Mantegna Madonna with Sleeping Child (plus bit parts for Isaac Newton and serial killer and GP Harold Shipman)
Singing/Music:
Concerto (with subtitles) - perhaps Beethoven’s pastoral symphony?
Geography:
Expulsion to Paradise - ? (references to ancient Brazilian gods)
Practical Instruction:
Self Help (Or: The Power of Nohoo) - ?
Geography/Biology/History
Mme de Merteuil Shakes Herself - a modern continuation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses by email
Mathematics:
The Mathematics of Randomness - random mathematical observations, including the explorers Count Pál Teleki and Jenő Cholnoky, and a reference to the dating problem (https://plus.maths.org/content/mathematical-dating), although the book incorrectly says to take the 31st percentile not the 37th (actually mathematically 100/e)
Teacher’s Edition/Russian:
On the Eve of No Return (archival recording) - the story of Laika the Dog narrated by Laika
Hungarian:
How I Didn't (exercises in style: a partial inventory) - a succession of missed opportunities for the author to meet famous Hungarian authors, some alive some from the past
Recess:
The Miraculous Return of Laughter - returns to the Motherwhere story, and links in with Little Red Riding Hood
-------------------------------------------------------
This is the latest from the excellent Asymptote Book Club (https://www.asymptotejournal.com/book-club/), which I would highly recommend: the Asymptote Journal team select a piece of world literature each month from some of the leading independent presses in Canada, the US, and the UK.
Their review/introduction to this novel:
https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2019/01/31/announcing-our-january-book-club-selection-night-school-by-zsofia-ban/
And the list of books to date:
14. Night School: A Reader for Grownups by Zsófia Bán, tr. Jim Tucker, published by Open Letter
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2696062099)
13. [b:The Barefoot Woman|39380515|The Barefoot Woman|Scholastique Mukasonga|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1525184189l/39380515._SX50_.jpg|21500195] by Scholastique Mukasonga, tr. Jordan Stump, published by Archipelago Books
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2637696439)
12. [b:Hotel Tito|34013791|Hotel Tito|Ivana Simić Bodrožić|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498865508l/34013791._SX50_.jpg|11121826], by Ivana Simić Bodrožić, tr. Ellen Elias-Bursać, published by Seven Stories Press
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2604065296)
11. Oct-18 [b:Like a Sword Wound|38740409|Like A Sword Wound|Ahmet Altan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1519533015l/38740409._SY75_.jpg|1240091] by Ahmet Altan tr. Brendan Freely and Yelda Türedi, published by Seven Stories
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2577180059)
10. Sep-18 [b:Moving Parts|41067335|Moving Parts|Prabda Yoon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533676831l/41067335._SY75_.jpg|26028272] by Prabda Yoon, tr. Mui Poopoksakul , published by Tilted Axis Press
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2490833670)
9. Aug-18 [b:Revenge of the Translator|41838373|Revenge of the Translator|Brice Matthieussent|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1537044322l/41838373._SY75_.jpg|7114764] by Brice Matthieussen, tr. Emma Ramadan, published by Deep Vellum
8. Jul-18 [b:I Didn't Talk|36327044|I Didn't Talk|Beatriz Bracher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507842222l/36327044._SY75_.jpg|58003377] by Beatriz Bracher, tr. Adam Morris. published by New Directions
7. Jun-18 [b:The Tidings of the Trees|39316490|The Tidings of the Trees|Wolfgang Hilbig|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1521404289l/39316490._SY75_.jpg|60921466] by Wolfgang Hilbig, tr. Isabel Fargo Cole, published by Two Lines Press
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2341008047)
6. May-18 [b:The Chilli Bean Paste Clan|39685923|The Chilli Bean Paste Clan|Yan Ge|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522435794l/39685923._SY75_.jpg|27433539] by Yan Ge, tr. Nicky Harmon, published by Balestier Press
5. Apr-18 [b:Brother in Ice|36625238|Brother in Ice|Alicia Kopf|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1511121491l/36625238._SY75_.jpg|50111360] by Alicia Kopf, tr. Mara Faye Letham, published by And Other Stories
4. Mar-18 [b:Trick|39006270|Trick|Domenico Starnone|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1520293303l/39006270._SY75_.jpg|53150764] by Dominico Starnone tr. Jhumpa Lahiri, published by Europa Editions
3. Feb-18 [b:Love|35210752|Love|Hanne Ørstavik|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1506793555l/35210752._SX50_.jpg|10644559] by Hanne Ørstavik, tr. Martin Aitken, published by Archipelago Books
2. Jan-18 [b:Aranyak: Of the Forest|22729471|Aranyak Of the Forest|Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1405446846l/22729471._SY75_.jpg|3115341] by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, tr. Rimli Bhattacharya, published by Seagull Books
1. Dec-17 [b:The Lime Tree|37479611|The Lime Tree|César Aira|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1513104328l/37479611._SX50_.jpg|147509] by César Aira, tr. Chris Andrews, published by And Other Stories
More...