21st Century Literature discussion

This is for discussion of the entire books, all spoilers allowed.

I definitely have some questions for people, but for now I'd like to leave the discussion open for whatever thoughts people have, rather than immediately guiding things in any particular directions.

For myself, I was surprised how much I loved this book. It went in directions I definitely didn't expect. I thought the way that secondary characters circled around to interact with each other while orbiting around Ludivica was masterful.

Either it ended too quickly or I missed something, as we end where it began, I originally thought. This wasn't the type of book I felt I ever sank my teeth into at any point; yet, it was enjoyable and well worth it. I wanted more of this novel. Wait, would you even consider this a novel…is it a novella?

After burning the library, after I have died, all that remains will be my voice,
In this house all the walls have my mouth.

I loved this particular journal entry of hers. Was anybody else taken by her entries? I thought it was written exceptionally well. I especially enjoyed the prose interspersed with poetry; although the it read lyrically, in general. I watched an interview with Agualusa a while back, he’s an avid reader of poetry. In the interview he said, he absolutely "has" to read poetry in order to write fiction...His ideas come from the poetry, they ignite his story telling ability. It’s quite impressive how he effortlessly weaves it into the fabric of the narrative.

The vignettes, I was fond of this approach to delivering the story. I often did feel disengaged from characters other than Ludo and Phantom, and disenfranchised from the Angolan history; but,I think the vignettes were meant to do this. Think about Ludo, isn't she disengaged and disenfranchised living as a foreign immigrant in Angola (both the country and the continent still remain unknown to the rest of the world...Even today.)? She herself, doesn't adhere to the Angolan nationalism of the time, or have any pride or contentment for the country, until the very end when she releases herself from the mental confines of a past life in Portugal, and instead decides to continue living in the present...In Angola.

The most surprising factor, of course, was that Ludo wasn't even agoraphobic...It was the shame she felt from the accident she was involved with in her formative years. A pigeon named Love was the culprit for three different story lines converging, was it too perfect an ending...I don't know? I am still reeling, in the best way, from its simplitcy. The dream sequence in the end warmed my heart, although I still don't understand how Sabalu became such an important fixture in Ludo's life so very quickly. I'm happy he was looked after, flourished, and am also glad he was able to breathe life back into Ludo. I lost my grasp of the narrative in this last section, which is odd because it’s a great ending!

Maybe this is it...It was too easy, too simple? I'm so used to ambiguous, perplexing, making my own interpretations, that this little jewel literally slipped through my fingers.

3.5-4stars This is a perfect read after having read something heavy, the types of books that linger long after we have turned the last page...You know? It’s the second time AGToO has come to my rescue!

Thanks Whitney! :)

I enjoyed the book. I thought it provided an interesting approach by focusing on the ways in which people react to a civil war. I gave the book 4 stars.

From my review:

The focus is not on the tumultuous events but on the impact they have on individual lives. The characters are caught up in circumstances beyond their control. They struggle to survive amid the horror and brutality. Some do it by physically hiding while others disengage psychologically. But all lapse into some form of oblivion or a yearning for oblivion as a means of coping.

The episodic nature of the narrative with snapshots here, glimpses there, and interlocking threads widens the scope but provides little depth to the events or characters. What emerges from this unusual format is a panoramic view of a civil war and its impact on the lives of individuals. The fleeting glimpses barely skim the surface of character development. But this may be intentional as it opens the possibility that the characters are not intended to be well-rounded and unique. Their experiences and forays into oblivion transcend the individualistic. Instead, they are generic and speak to the universal experience of all who have lived through the turmoil of a civil war and who wish to bury nightmare memories deep in the shadows of oblivion.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Ami wrote: "... I loved this particular journal entry of hers. Was anybody else taken by her entries? I thought it was written exceptionally well. I especially enjoyed the prose interspersed with poetry; although the it read lyrically, in general. ..."

I also really loved the chapter structure, small, self contained parts that eventually all tied together. Two that really stood out to me where the poetry chapters that Agualusa attributes to the Brazilian poet Christiana Nóvoa. I looked for more work by her, but was unable to find any; at least in translation. The first was "Haikai":

I am oyster-sized
kept apart here with my pearls
shards in the abyss

And the second "Exorcism":

I carve out verses
Short
as prayers
words are legions
of demons
expelled
I cut adverbs
pronouns
I spare my wrists

The first chapter, with its evocative title "Our Sky Is Your Floor" reminded me of the recent movie Us, with similar themes of an underclass living below and unacknowledged by those above. "There were thousands of people living underground, sunk deep in mud and darkness, feeding themselves on whatever the bourgeoisie tossed into the sewers."

Ami wrote: "The most surprising factor, of course, was that Ludo wasn't even agoraphobic...It was the shame she felt from the accident she was involved with in her formative years ..."

I would probably say more that her agoraphobia was a result of the shame she felt, but that's a quibble. I'm definitely in the "really tired of rape as a motivating factor in fiction" trope, but I appreciated the way that Agualusa handled it. It was more the way her family responded to the incident, shaming and condemning Ludo, that created her agoraphobia.

I was also wary starting this book that Ludo would be presented as the timid European woman, frightened by the savages running amok in the streets. Fortunately, Agualusa did no such thing. One could argue the opposite, it's in Portugal that is forced into timidity, and in Luanda that she finally connects with people. I loved the letter she wrote to her past self in the penultimate chapter.

Tamara wrote: "...What emerges from this unusual format is a panoramic view of a civil war and its impact on the lives of individuals...."

Excellent review, Tamara! I think you sum it up perfectly.

Rather than dig into the politics and the players, Agualusa shows us the changing lives and fortunes of a set of people who's lives, directly and indirectly, impact Ludovica's. Knowing (or learning about) the politics of the time certainly adds depth to the events, but we can appreciate their changing circumstances, and the terror and uncertainty behind them, while remaining as innocent as Ludovica about politics.

Do you think Agualusa had a specific audience in mind when writing this book? His light touch, which others have mentioned, seems to make it accessible to anyone, whether a scholar of the time of someone who's barely heard of Angola.

Whitney wrote: "Excellent review, Tamara! I think you sum it up perfectly..."

Thank you, Whitney.

Whitney wrote" "Do you think Agualusa had a specific audience in mind when writing this book? His light touch, which others have mentioned seems to make it accessible to anyone, whether a scholar of the time of someone who's barely heard of Angola.

Personally, I don't think he had a specific audience in mind. He titled his novel "A General Theory of Oblivion." That tells me it's non-specific, generic. I think he tries to show the impact of civil war on ordinary people at any time and at any place and how it manifests itself as one form of oblivion or another.

This book reserves character development for Ludu, but fills out the world beyond her walls with interlocking people and events in a satisfying way.

It opened a view into a very distant part of the world for me.

The return of her daughter was particularly affecting. In real life, Joanie Mitchell gave up her daughter at a very young age. Many of her most effective songs were written, really, to that missing person (Blue, Both Sides Now, etc.). When she was reunited, the creatve pressure was released, leaving her happier but less inspired in song. At the end, Ludu expresses that same release.

On a different note, I find the idea that "Paradise is the space we occupy in other people's hearts," powerful.

Whitney wrote: "Ami wrote: "The most surprising factor, of course, was that Ludo wasn't even agoraphobic...It was the shame she felt from the accident she was involved with in her formative years ..."

I would pro..."

I was also wary starting this book that Ludo would be presented as the timid European woman, frightened by the savages running amok in the streets.
Ah, yes... the Heart of Darkness effect. Nope, Agualusa didn’t do this at all. In fact, I thought he merged the cultural aspects (mythical/supernatural and realism) nicely in his story telling.

Quibble
I’m not sure why I have always thought it an either or situation; of course, one can be the symptom of the other. The mind works in mysterious ways.

I had highlighted the same journal entry you posted as well. I highlighted quite a bit, actually.

Mark wrote: "When she was reunited, the creatve pressure was released, leaving her happier but less inspired in song. At the end, Ludu expresses that same release..."

There certainly was release in that letter to her former self in the penultimate chapter, as well as regret for the person she had been all those years. Better to walk among the people than to write poetry on the walls.

Tamara wrote: "Personally, I don't think he had a specific audience in mind. He titled his novel "A General Theory of Oblivion." ."

Good point, it is right there in the title, isn't it?

Still have a few pages to finish later, but so far this is probably the most enjoyable of Agualusa's books. Loved the surreal Mexican standoff with the toy knife...

The writing is mesmerizing. It weaves a kind of cocoon. It occurred to me that in one sense this book is about reading, or rather the potenitail effects of readiing -- how we can find another world to sooth and protect us from the pains of living in a (capitalist) world seemingly bent on destruction.

"If I still had the space, charcoal, and available walls, I could compose a great work about forgetting: a general theory of oblivion."

Elaine wrote: "The writing is mesmerizing. It weaves a kind of cocoon. It occurred to me that in one sense this book is about reading, or rather the potenitail effects of readiing -- how we can find another world..."

Good point. Maybe not just reading, but also writing. Writing can be excellent therapy--a way of sorting out your thoughts and coping with whatever situation you're facing.

As I read this novel I had the near-continuous experience of someone reciting Thomas Hardy's "In Time of The Breaking of Nations" in my head.

That's all.

Lark wrote: "As I read this novel I had the near-continuous experience of someone reciting Thomas Hardy's "In Time of The Breaking of Nations" in my head. ."

Thanks, Lark, that's perfect. I wasn't familiar with the poem, but I can see see why it was on repeat in your head. Here it is for everyone else.

In Time of ‘The Breaking of Nations’
BY THOMAS HARDY

I
Only a man harrowing clods
In a slow silent walk
With an old horse that stumbles and nods
Half asleep as they stalk.

II
Only thin smoke without flame
From the heaps of couch-grass;
Yet this will go onward the same
Though Dynasties pass.

III
Yonder a maid and her wight
Come whispering by:
War’s annals will cloud into night
Ere their story die.

the nuns made me memorize it.

i'm not complaining.

Loved the comment on Marx. Here is the full quote from the Communist Manifesto: "All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind."

Marshall Berman also used the phrase for the title of his book on modernity.

I agree with the comment on captalism -- "thriving like mold amid ruins, had already begun to rot everything, to corrupt everything, thus, to bring about its own end."

While that refers to Angola, I'd say we are beginning to see similar effects in our culture with the corruption and destruction of our own environment.

I was really undecided about joining this read because it didn't sound like the kind of book I would enjoy that much-- I impulse purchased the book towards the end of May, and I just finished reading it tonight. I'm so glad I did, because I really loved it, especially the lyrical and poetical qualities of the writing. It was a very easy book to read. I had been expecting a much more violent and brutal book, considering that it was set during a revolution. I loved Ludo, and I felt so bad for her when her Phantom died and left her alone. I didn't make the connection with the author's name until I had Oblivion in my hands, but I had read his The Book of Chameleons about ten years ago, and really enjoyed it. I'm going to reread it soon.

Suki wrote: "I was really undecided about joining this read because it didn't sound like the kind of book I would enjoy that much-- I impulse purchased the book towards the end of May, and I just finished readi..."

Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Suki. And had the revelation of having read Agualusa before. I will definitely be reading The Book of Chameleons. I was also pretty choked up when Phantom died.

I loved this book. I read it in Feb 2017 (my review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ) and it now sits on a "keeper: shelf. It is nice to see that others also loved it. Thanks Lark and Whitney for the Hardy poem. It certainly does fit.