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A review by arirang
One Another by Monique Schwitter, Tess Lewis
3.0
Eins im Andern by Monique Schwitter was shortlisted for the German Book Prize and won the Schweizer Buchpreis (Swiss Book Prize).
Now it is available in English as One Another: A Novel translated by Tess Lewis
The novel opens:
When you suddenly google your first love, it’s in response to the sound of knocking you hear just before you fall asleep and hear even louder the moment you look in the mirror in the morning and catch sight of the deep vertical crease between your eyebrows.
Our narrator - a theatre director and a native of Zurich but who lives in Hamburg with her husband and two boys (4 and 2) googles her first love Petrus, from 20 years earlier, only to find that he has committed suicide. This prompts her to think back on her relationship with Petrus and her second love, his brother Andreas: the resemblance to the Twelve Apostles doesn't pass her by:
Petrus, then Andreas: The beginning of the series, if you’re going to take the names seriously, a series of twelve, twelve names, twelve men, one after the other.
How many loves does anyone have? If I kept on with my story, would I end up with twelve? Probably not. And yet: the way I count depends on what I tell. But one thing is certain: however I count, whatever I tell, my husband should come last.
She attempts to tell the story of her past loves, mapping the chapters to the apostles - although as her current husband is her 5th major relationship, the correspondence isn't easy - but loses controls of her own story:
Life is not cooperating. It intrudes into my book and grabs at the plot. It’s your own fault if you think you can tame, order, channel life by writing, your own fault if you think you can take hold of love, examine, and - above all - understand it!
And the story she is writing is the novel we are reading - and indeed her biography has certain overlap with the author's own. Although asked to do a reading from the book (she reads the chapter that opens the novel) she pushes back neatly on the tendency to confuse author and narrator:
Because audiences tend to confuse a first-person narrator with the author, a tendency that grows when the author reads the first-person text aloud. ... Possibly, my introverted, unhappy reading turns the audience's tendency to confuse the narrator with the author into a certainty that one, precisely one and only one person is standing here before them: the narrator. An woman unlucky in love. The whole reading a single drawn-out cry for love, a call for help to the men in the audience.
Her marriage comes under pressure after her husband proves to have a secret gambling problem, leading her to welcome flirtation from a 17 year old student in her literature class, and the stories she tells get at times quite surreal - a short assignation with a man who tells her the story of Undine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undine_(novella)), and an 8 hour train ride to Zurich following a flying (!) penguin, which turns out to have been designed by a former boyfriend as a logo for an insurance company (I suspect a complete coincidence, but the UK insurer Pension Corporation does actually have a penguin as a logo - https://www.pensioncorporation.com/)
An interesting novel - at one level a relatively straightforward tale of a life in relationships, but actually rather more than that.
3.5 stars.
-------------------------------------------------------
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 of the novel:
https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2019/03/28/20021/#more-20021
And the list of books to date:
16: Mar-19 One Another: A Novel by Monique Schwitter tr. Tess Lewis, published by Persea Books
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2765624081)
15. Feb-19 “Muslim”: A Novel by Zahia Rahmani. tr. Matthew Reeck, published by Deep Vellum
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2730288379 )
14. Jan-19 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. Dec-18 [b:The Barefoot Woman|39380515|The Barefoot Woman|Scholastique Mukasonga|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1525184189s/39380515.jpg|21500195] by Scholastique Mukasonga, tr. Jordan Stump, published by Archipelago Books
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2637696439)
12. Nov-18 [b:Hotel Tito|34013791|Hotel Tito|Ivana Simić Bodrožić|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498865508s/34013791.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://images.gr-assets.com/books/1519533015s/38740409.jpg|1240091] by Ahmet Altan tr. Brendan Freely and Yelda Türedi, published by Europa Editions
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2577180059)
10. Sep-18 [b:Moving Parts|41067335|Moving Parts|Prabda Yoon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1533676831s/41067335.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://images.gr-assets.com/books/1537044322s/41838373.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://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507842222s/36327044.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://images.gr-assets.com/books/1521404289s/39316490.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://images.gr-assets.com/books/1522435794s/39685923.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://images.gr-assets.com/books/1511121491s/36625238.jpg|50111360] by Alicia Kopf, tr. Mara Faye Letham, published by And Other Stories
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2689973384)
4. Mar-18 [b:Trick|39006270|Trick|Domenico Starnone|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1520293303s/39006270.jpg|53150764] by Dominico Starnone tr. Jhumpa Lahiri, published by Europa Editions
3. Feb-18 [b:Love|35210752|Love|Hanne Ørstavik|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1506793555s/35210752.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://images.gr-assets.com/books/1405446846s/22729471.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://images.gr-assets.com/books/1513104328s/37479611.jpg|147509] by César Aira, tr. Chris Andrews, published by And Other Stories
Now it is available in English as One Another: A Novel translated by Tess Lewis
The novel opens:
When you suddenly google your first love, it’s in response to the sound of knocking you hear just before you fall asleep and hear even louder the moment you look in the mirror in the morning and catch sight of the deep vertical crease between your eyebrows.
Our narrator - a theatre director and a native of Zurich but who lives in Hamburg with her husband and two boys (4 and 2) googles her first love Petrus, from 20 years earlier, only to find that he has committed suicide. This prompts her to think back on her relationship with Petrus and her second love, his brother Andreas: the resemblance to the Twelve Apostles doesn't pass her by:
Petrus, then Andreas: The beginning of the series, if you’re going to take the names seriously, a series of twelve, twelve names, twelve men, one after the other.
How many loves does anyone have? If I kept on with my story, would I end up with twelve? Probably not. And yet: the way I count depends on what I tell. But one thing is certain: however I count, whatever I tell, my husband should come last.
She attempts to tell the story of her past loves, mapping the chapters to the apostles - although as her current husband is her 5th major relationship, the correspondence isn't easy - but loses controls of her own story:
Life is not cooperating. It intrudes into my book and grabs at the plot. It’s your own fault if you think you can tame, order, channel life by writing, your own fault if you think you can take hold of love, examine, and - above all - understand it!
And the story she is writing is the novel we are reading - and indeed her biography has certain overlap with the author's own. Although asked to do a reading from the book (she reads the chapter that opens the novel) she pushes back neatly on the tendency to confuse author and narrator:
Because audiences tend to confuse a first-person narrator with the author, a tendency that grows when the author reads the first-person text aloud. ... Possibly, my introverted, unhappy reading turns the audience's tendency to confuse the narrator with the author into a certainty that one, precisely one and only one person is standing here before them: the narrator. An woman unlucky in love. The whole reading a single drawn-out cry for love, a call for help to the men in the audience.
Her marriage comes under pressure after her husband proves to have a secret gambling problem, leading her to welcome flirtation from a 17 year old student in her literature class, and the stories she tells get at times quite surreal - a short assignation with a man who tells her the story of Undine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undine_(novella)), and an 8 hour train ride to Zurich following a flying (!) penguin, which turns out to have been designed by a former boyfriend as a logo for an insurance company (I suspect a complete coincidence, but the UK insurer Pension Corporation does actually have a penguin as a logo - https://www.pensioncorporation.com/)
An interesting novel - at one level a relatively straightforward tale of a life in relationships, but actually rather more than that.
3.5 stars.
-------------------------------------------------------
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 of the novel:
https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2019/03/28/20021/#more-20021
And the list of books to date:
16: Mar-19 One Another: A Novel by Monique Schwitter tr. Tess Lewis, published by Persea Books
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2765624081)
15. Feb-19 “Muslim”: A Novel by Zahia Rahmani. tr. Matthew Reeck, published by Deep Vellum
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2730288379 )
14. Jan-19 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. Dec-18 [b:The Barefoot Woman|39380515|The Barefoot Woman|Scholastique Mukasonga|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1525184189s/39380515.jpg|21500195] by Scholastique Mukasonga, tr. Jordan Stump, published by Archipelago Books
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2637696439)
12. Nov-18 [b:Hotel Tito|34013791|Hotel Tito|Ivana Simić Bodrožić|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498865508s/34013791.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://images.gr-assets.com/books/1519533015s/38740409.jpg|1240091] by Ahmet Altan tr. Brendan Freely and Yelda Türedi, published by Europa Editions
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2577180059)
10. Sep-18 [b:Moving Parts|41067335|Moving Parts|Prabda Yoon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1533676831s/41067335.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://images.gr-assets.com/books/1537044322s/41838373.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://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507842222s/36327044.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://images.gr-assets.com/books/1521404289s/39316490.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://images.gr-assets.com/books/1522435794s/39685923.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://images.gr-assets.com/books/1511121491s/36625238.jpg|50111360] by Alicia Kopf, tr. Mara Faye Letham, published by And Other Stories
(my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2689973384)
4. Mar-18 [b:Trick|39006270|Trick|Domenico Starnone|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1520293303s/39006270.jpg|53150764] by Dominico Starnone tr. Jhumpa Lahiri, published by Europa Editions
3. Feb-18 [b:Love|35210752|Love|Hanne Ørstavik|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1506793555s/35210752.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://images.gr-assets.com/books/1405446846s/22729471.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://images.gr-assets.com/books/1513104328s/37479611.jpg|147509] by César Aira, tr. Chris Andrews, published by And Other Stories