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A review by namakurhea
Compass by Mathias Énard
5.0
There aren’t many books like “Compass” by Mathias Enard; carefully translated by Charlotte Mandell. It isn’t ‘fiction’, though the narrator, Franz Ritter and his band of intellectuals are fictional stand-ins. It isn’t an encyclopedia, though it is rich in details (historical, musical, philosophical, all the -cals one could think of). Allow me then to settle on “contemplation”; as this word best describes the experience of reading this book.
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“Oriental” and “Occidental”; two terms representing the “East” and the “West”. But who set these boundaries? On what grounds? And for what reasons? This compartmentalization of culture and history may have been trigerred by some patriotic sentiments; the wish to belong. But on the other side of the coin is also a process of “othering”; a deliberation of who is us and who is not us. We use compass to find our bearings. But what is east of East? Is it not West? And what is west of West? Is it not East? These are important contemplations, especially in our world today where we face what Enard calls as “the violence of identity” pinned on our selves by the other.
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It isn’t just his thesis that gives the book brilliance, it is also the way he propose them; a true disciple of “show, don’t tell”. There are A LOT of details covered in the book. The book introduced me to Clemente Susini’s anatomical Venus, Balzac (the first French Novelist to include a text in Arabic in his novels), Usama Ibn Munqidh, Karol Szymanowski’s “Songs of an Infatuated Muezzin” just to name a few! It is a book that you should not just read. You need to google the history, listen to the youtube samples, to savor the art.
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There are some funny bits as well, an example is tastefully marked with a huge “LOL” in a photo above haha. It definitely is an apt book for @transitsanta #AmongTheElements theme. And I am thankful that they carry this because this truly is a taste breaker! For me at least. A long reading journey, and yet very rewarding indeed.
.
“Oriental” and “Occidental”; two terms representing the “East” and the “West”. But who set these boundaries? On what grounds? And for what reasons? This compartmentalization of culture and history may have been trigerred by some patriotic sentiments; the wish to belong. But on the other side of the coin is also a process of “othering”; a deliberation of who is us and who is not us. We use compass to find our bearings. But what is east of East? Is it not West? And what is west of West? Is it not East? These are important contemplations, especially in our world today where we face what Enard calls as “the violence of identity” pinned on our selves by the other.
.
It isn’t just his thesis that gives the book brilliance, it is also the way he propose them; a true disciple of “show, don’t tell”. There are A LOT of details covered in the book. The book introduced me to Clemente Susini’s anatomical Venus, Balzac (the first French Novelist to include a text in Arabic in his novels), Usama Ibn Munqidh, Karol Szymanowski’s “Songs of an Infatuated Muezzin” just to name a few! It is a book that you should not just read. You need to google the history, listen to the youtube samples, to savor the art.
.
There are some funny bits as well, an example is tastefully marked with a huge “LOL” in a photo above haha. It definitely is an apt book for @transitsanta #AmongTheElements theme. And I am thankful that they carry this because this truly is a taste breaker! For me at least. A long reading journey, and yet very rewarding indeed.