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A review by adam613
Occupation by Julián Fuks
4.0
"Opposition was the only thing that could make sense in a present in such disarray. Only disorder was reasonable faced with the unreason of order."
Occupation is the upcoming release from Charco Press and the newest piece of autofiction from Julián Fuks. The sequel to Resistance is a narrative of the writer's conversations with refugees occupying a building in downtown Sao Paulo, with his terminally ill father and his wife during her pregnancy. Under the surface, Fuks associates the obvious and not so obvious degrees of occupation through these relations.
"Every man is the ruin of a man."
Through his relationship with his ill father and his wife trying to have a baby, the narrator philosophizes the fragility of life and the cost of isolation and solitude. He wonders about themes such as freedom, mortality, and a writer's role and relationship with his subjects. The links between the obvious and not so obvious connections in themes are navigated intelligently and beautifully by Fuks.
"A refugee from everything, from the blaze of the world, a refugee from myself."
From interviews, the writer hears of many stories from those in exile who are occupying the abandoned Cambridge Hotel. These horrific stories shared by the refugees from countries such as Syria give way to the strength and light brought by their resistance. The juxtaposition of occupation is that they are fighting their situation with the method that brought on their exile sums up the duality of life.
"But because it's always necessary to make the attempt, even if it's only to fail again, and in that failure to survive."
Through concise voyeuristic chapters, this book gave an intimate glimpse into the innermost aspects of the lives of these characters. Clearly presented and crafted passages are both entertaining and insightful. This novel is easy to devour and will require a second reading to discover more of the depth offered in Occupation by Julián Fuks.
Once again, Charco has done an excellent job not just at discovering amazing authors, and translators such as Daniel Hahn do such a wonderful job. Thank you very much, Charco for my review copy before the August 17 publication date.
Occupation is the upcoming release from Charco Press and the newest piece of autofiction from Julián Fuks. The sequel to Resistance is a narrative of the writer's conversations with refugees occupying a building in downtown Sao Paulo, with his terminally ill father and his wife during her pregnancy. Under the surface, Fuks associates the obvious and not so obvious degrees of occupation through these relations.
"Every man is the ruin of a man."
Through his relationship with his ill father and his wife trying to have a baby, the narrator philosophizes the fragility of life and the cost of isolation and solitude. He wonders about themes such as freedom, mortality, and a writer's role and relationship with his subjects. The links between the obvious and not so obvious connections in themes are navigated intelligently and beautifully by Fuks.
"A refugee from everything, from the blaze of the world, a refugee from myself."
From interviews, the writer hears of many stories from those in exile who are occupying the abandoned Cambridge Hotel. These horrific stories shared by the refugees from countries such as Syria give way to the strength and light brought by their resistance. The juxtaposition of occupation is that they are fighting their situation with the method that brought on their exile sums up the duality of life.
"But because it's always necessary to make the attempt, even if it's only to fail again, and in that failure to survive."
Through concise voyeuristic chapters, this book gave an intimate glimpse into the innermost aspects of the lives of these characters. Clearly presented and crafted passages are both entertaining and insightful. This novel is easy to devour and will require a second reading to discover more of the depth offered in Occupation by Julián Fuks.
Once again, Charco has done an excellent job not just at discovering amazing authors, and translators such as Daniel Hahn do such a wonderful job. Thank you very much, Charco for my review copy before the August 17 publication date.