Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by poziomka86
Bartleby & Co. by Enrique Vila-Matas
5.0
The Spanish author Enrique Vila-Matas provides writing of a very peculiar kind. It is writing about writing, writing about authors, writing that brings up big questions by asking witty but seemingly trifle ones. I honestly didn’t know much about “Bartleby” before reading it. When I took the book off the shelf I only knew that I had had this little volume for a really long time and it looked like it had traveled with me quite a lot because my edition is a Polish translation.
“Bartleby & Co.” is inspired by Herman Melville’s short story about a man who, to any suggestion, replies: I prefer not to and therefore he renounces life by saying No to everything. Vila-Matas, in turn, discusses all the authors, or artists in general, who, at some point of their lives, ceased to write (create). It begins with a Juan Rulfo’s excuse about his uncle Celestino dying – an uncle who was the sole provider of all the interesting stories he used in his own writing. It continues on with authors who found writing illogical, pointless or impossible. It discusses authors who killed themselves, went mad, or suddenly moved onto some entirely different plane of activities (in case of one author, it is a study and observation of vultures).
The little book, under 200 pages, loads so much information and important questions, while at the same time it is so fantastically readable and entertaining. There’s, for instance, a mention of Brautigan Library, now located in Vancouver, WA, that collects unwanted and rejected manuscripts. Or we get a very moving, although somewhat fictionalized / not necessarily true, story of a Spanish poet Juan Ramón Jiménez being unable to write after the death of his beloved wife Zenobia. I NEED to read more of Vila-Matas, as well as some of the authors that he mentions in the book. “Bartleby & Co.” is a real treasure, very inspiring and rewarding to its reader. Some of the literary allusions and stories you know of, in which case you feel a certain affinity with the author, then there’s some information that is new to you – you want to write it down, find out more about it, because you feel like it is coming from a friend with similar tastes.
Fantastic reading experience.
“Bartleby & Co.” is inspired by Herman Melville’s short story about a man who, to any suggestion, replies: I prefer not to and therefore he renounces life by saying No to everything. Vila-Matas, in turn, discusses all the authors, or artists in general, who, at some point of their lives, ceased to write (create). It begins with a Juan Rulfo’s excuse about his uncle Celestino dying – an uncle who was the sole provider of all the interesting stories he used in his own writing. It continues on with authors who found writing illogical, pointless or impossible. It discusses authors who killed themselves, went mad, or suddenly moved onto some entirely different plane of activities (in case of one author, it is a study and observation of vultures).
The little book, under 200 pages, loads so much information and important questions, while at the same time it is so fantastically readable and entertaining. There’s, for instance, a mention of Brautigan Library, now located in Vancouver, WA, that collects unwanted and rejected manuscripts. Or we get a very moving, although somewhat fictionalized / not necessarily true, story of a Spanish poet Juan Ramón Jiménez being unable to write after the death of his beloved wife Zenobia. I NEED to read more of Vila-Matas, as well as some of the authors that he mentions in the book. “Bartleby & Co.” is a real treasure, very inspiring and rewarding to its reader. Some of the literary allusions and stories you know of, in which case you feel a certain affinity with the author, then there’s some information that is new to you – you want to write it down, find out more about it, because you feel like it is coming from a friend with similar tastes.
Fantastic reading experience.