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A review by jola_g
Arabesques by Anton Shammas, Vivian Eden
4.0
It is astounding how deftly Anton Shammas translates the form of arabesque into the language of literature. The way he tells the history of his Palestinian family resembles an arabesque indeed, with its complexity, swiftly spiralling motifs, interlacing stories within stories and the swirling structure. Besides, arabesques are seamless and neverending — so is this labyrinthine novel with its open structure.
Besides, arabesques are mentioned a few times in the book, for instance: Uncle Yusef, in his great cunning, gives me a tiny key to use to find my way through the winding chambers of the arabesque, where I stand at the gate, ajar, behind which lies another story that will invent itself in a different way. The author delves into the philosophical aspect of arabesques also — the narrator’s life is compared to this form of artistic oriental decoration: Now that my life has followed the course of this winding arabesque, I find myself once more at the place where I started. There are many more recurring symbolic images in Arabesques (1986), subtly interwoven into the story, for instance, smoke.
Arabesque is also a ballet position in which the dancer stands on one foot and holds one arm forward while the other arm and leg are held out behind. I have the impression this is reflected in the novel too: the narrator is reaching back to the past, grappling with the memories of a few generations of his ancestors, and forward at the same time. A part of his book deals with history (The Tale) but there is also an account of what is happening now (The Teller). To be honest, I found the narrator's current adventures at the International Writing Program retreat much less engaging than the family saga.
There is also a metafiction undercurrent plus many literary references. Anton Shammas's book oftentimes feels like a delicious, baffling mixture of A Thousand and One Nights, Borges and Proust. In Arabesques not cookies but plants frequently trigger memories and evoke forgotten emotions, for example, flowers of yellow calycanthus or olive husks: I see myself at the entrance to the olive press. I can smell the olive husks from the distance of many years. It is a thick smell that warmly embraces your senses and then withdraws when a breeze blows touched with the edge of autumn. There are so many voluptuous descriptions in Arabesques which immediately engage all your senses. Thanks to Maryana’s brilliant comment I realized that arabesque is also a music term, referring to a meandering intricate melody built around circling phrases. This novel is exactly like that!
In the beginning, Anton Shammas declares: I’ll write about the loneliness of the Palestinian Arab Israeli, which is the greatest loneliness of all. He keeps his promise. His novel is a story of futile efforts to belong while being always 'the other', 'the foreigner', always in between: countries, religions, cultures. Even the words Palestinian Arab Israeli sound like a farfetched oxymoron but this is exactly who the narrator and his ancestors were.
Despite the many strengths of this novel — and I have only discussed the ones which especially stand out in my view — it was not a reading experience I am likely to repeat. As I tend to be a capricious reader and may change my mind, a note to self, just in case: draw the family tree while reading. The number of characters in this book is overwhelming and the constant feeling of befuddlement was irksome and frustrating in the long run. Just to give you an idea: five different characters are called Anton Shammas. I hoped Afterword by Elias Khoury would be helpful but besides admitting he felt confused also and discreetly promoting his own book he did not offer much enlightenment. I am aware that this is a labyrinthine novel and my feeling of being lost was exactly what the author was aiming at but it annoyed me anyway. I enjoyed and appreciated Arabesques but it is rather love out of convenience, not spontaneous, passionate enchantment.
Anton Shammas's novel is truly impressive in scope and structure. The information that the afterword was originally written for a conference on Arabesques at the University of Michigan in 2010 startled me a bit at first. The whole conference devoted solely to one obscure book? After having read this multilayered, ambitious, kaleidoscopic novel, which can be approached from so many angles, I am no longer surprised.
Arabesque 11, painting by Shah Nawaz.
Besides, arabesques are mentioned a few times in the book, for instance: Uncle Yusef, in his great cunning, gives me a tiny key to use to find my way through the winding chambers of the arabesque, where I stand at the gate, ajar, behind which lies another story that will invent itself in a different way. The author delves into the philosophical aspect of arabesques also — the narrator’s life is compared to this form of artistic oriental decoration: Now that my life has followed the course of this winding arabesque, I find myself once more at the place where I started. There are many more recurring symbolic images in Arabesques (1986), subtly interwoven into the story, for instance, smoke.
Arabesque is also a ballet position in which the dancer stands on one foot and holds one arm forward while the other arm and leg are held out behind. I have the impression this is reflected in the novel too: the narrator is reaching back to the past, grappling with the memories of a few generations of his ancestors, and forward at the same time. A part of his book deals with history (The Tale) but there is also an account of what is happening now (The Teller). To be honest, I found the narrator's current adventures at the International Writing Program retreat much less engaging than the family saga.
There is also a metafiction undercurrent plus many literary references. Anton Shammas's book oftentimes feels like a delicious, baffling mixture of A Thousand and One Nights, Borges and Proust. In Arabesques not cookies but plants frequently trigger memories and evoke forgotten emotions, for example, flowers of yellow calycanthus or olive husks: I see myself at the entrance to the olive press. I can smell the olive husks from the distance of many years. It is a thick smell that warmly embraces your senses and then withdraws when a breeze blows touched with the edge of autumn. There are so many voluptuous descriptions in Arabesques which immediately engage all your senses. Thanks to Maryana’s brilliant comment I realized that arabesque is also a music term, referring to a meandering intricate melody built around circling phrases. This novel is exactly like that!
In the beginning, Anton Shammas declares: I’ll write about the loneliness of the Palestinian Arab Israeli, which is the greatest loneliness of all. He keeps his promise. His novel is a story of futile efforts to belong while being always 'the other', 'the foreigner', always in between: countries, religions, cultures. Even the words Palestinian Arab Israeli sound like a farfetched oxymoron but this is exactly who the narrator and his ancestors were.
Despite the many strengths of this novel — and I have only discussed the ones which especially stand out in my view — it was not a reading experience I am likely to repeat. As I tend to be a capricious reader and may change my mind, a note to self, just in case: draw the family tree while reading. The number of characters in this book is overwhelming and the constant feeling of befuddlement was irksome and frustrating in the long run. Just to give you an idea: five different characters are called Anton Shammas. I hoped Afterword by Elias Khoury would be helpful but besides admitting he felt confused also and discreetly promoting his own book he did not offer much enlightenment. I am aware that this is a labyrinthine novel and my feeling of being lost was exactly what the author was aiming at but it annoyed me anyway. I enjoyed and appreciated Arabesques but it is rather love out of convenience, not spontaneous, passionate enchantment.
Anton Shammas's novel is truly impressive in scope and structure. The information that the afterword was originally written for a conference on Arabesques at the University of Michigan in 2010 startled me a bit at first. The whole conference devoted solely to one obscure book? After having read this multilayered, ambitious, kaleidoscopic novel, which can be approached from so many angles, I am no longer surprised.
Arabesque 11, painting by Shah Nawaz.