The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico translated by Sophie Hughes (Fitzcarraldo Editions),

Apparently getting a lot of buzz from readers at Foyles in the last week or so.

That's nice for them. As a subscriber I am still waiting for my copy.

You know my views on small presses and customer service

Only just started but really liking this.

Paul wrote: "That's nice for them. As a subscriber I am still waiting for my copy."

That's really terrible. It's even for sale in shops in Barcelona already!

I would say typical.

Well in this case I think Royal Mail are to blame rather than the press having looked in to it.

But ultimately part of supporting small press is realising that Amazon are more efficient for a reason (exploitation of workers; censorship of newspapers etc).

I have just started reading the novel, but I admit that I went into a deep dive when I remembered the author's name popping up a number of years ago--and then remembered the fascinating article he wrote after the Portuguese writer João Tordo used a very (very!) close description of Vincenzo Latronico as an evil (even monstrous) character in his novel "The Good Winter." Latronico wrote a fascinating report about the incident in the journal Doppiozerro (link in english here: https://www.doppiozero.com/ho-creato-...). All of this is just an interesting side story, of course. I am eager to finally read Latronico's fiction.

I received my copy, and I like it so far - however, it's not an immediate hit with me.

Interested in this and also wondering if it might turn out to be a bit shallow and blah. That has been a common pattern for me with these "commentary on middle class lifestyles" novels that appear on longlists

Antonomasia wrote: "Interested in this and also wondering if it might turn out to be a bit shallow and blah. That has been a common pattern for me with these "commentary on middle class lifestyles" novels that appear ..."

Really nice to see you back Antonomasia!

I have the same reservations with this. Living in a city with a big "digital nomad" population I'm also just not sure I can handle reading about the emptiness of life for expats in Berlin. I've read good feedback so far, but...

I read this a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. It felt like a case study of a particular segment of the millennial generation and like Yahaira said in her review it "almost feels like a historical artifact about a generation and about a city".

I thought the writing was appropriately distanced and the length perfect for what it was trying to accomplish.

Heavy Lauren Oyler vibes which I suspect many won’t like. But I am enjoying so far - and I am close to allergic to the publisher so start biased against it.

Not sure if I'll get around to this but the Perec that inspired it is worth reading. This interview with Latronico might be useful for context:

https://ripplingpages.podbean.com/e/v...

the Oyler blurb worried me so much, but thankfully I ended up loving it

I do still want to check out the Perec

I am not sure the distant narrative voice completely works here. the descriptions are spot on though, and I feel like the novel has the perfect length!

There’s a young (well by my standards) couple opposite me on the tube, holding hands and with their other hand each reading a book. He’s reading Crime and Punishment. She’s reading Perfection.

It was the Fitzcarraldo blue that caught my eye; scuffing watch low. Actually on that I only realised recently it is an environmentally motivated choice ie the covers aren’t coated in way most books are.

Halfway through and it’s so hipsterish, it hurts

Yahaira wrote: "the Oyler blurb worried me so much, but thankfully I ended up loving it

I do still want to check out the Perec"

With Perec the emphasis is on the all-pervasiveness of advertising, and the growth of lifestyle journalism rather than online influences - obvs as late 1950s/early 1960s. And partly inspired by Mythologies by Roland Barthes but also seems to anticipate aspects of Bourdieu's work. I like the way it starts out as outwardly sociological in a very detached way and then gradually ups the stakes.

In the interview Anto added - I have only listened to a very small part - he contrasts the novel to Perec’s. That in his trading is more of an external criticism of the consumerist influenced lifestyles of others whereas the author here very much sees himself and his friends as very much part of the phenomenon of social media influenced consumerism so he is part of the very thing he is examining.

Paul I really hope you took a photo of the couple and then sent it to them so they could post to their Instagram. That would be soooo on brand for the book.

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "In the interview Anto added - I have only listened to a very small part - he contrasts the novel to Perec’s. That in his trading is more of an external criticism of the consumerist influenced lifes..."

Did you mean me GY? I'm not sure that Perec is as distanced from his novel as might be imagined, he could be said to be at least adjacent to the social circle he was analysing, and the sections set in Tunisia drew directly from his, and his wife's, experiences there.

I did sorry Alwynne!

And thanks - I don’t know the Perec novel at all so that’s interesting.

I found this excellent and was secretly hoping it would make it to the longlist. The style matches the subject matter perfectly. And indeed, it didn't have to be any longer than it was.

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "Paul I really hope you took a photo of the couple and then sent it to them so they could post to their Instagram. That would be soooo on brand for the book."

They didn't seem to be turning the pages very fast (like at all) so perhaps it was performative. I probably should have spoken to them but that is of course illegal in London.

From October to January, by far the most common book I spotted on (inter city) trains was Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. Usually carried by a woman under 35 who spent at least as much time asleep as reading the book. (Which seems appropriate to those of us who are not fans of Rooney's style.)

At the next opportunity, will be on the lookout to see if it is being replaced by copies of Perfection.

Antonomasia wrote: "From October to January, by far the most common book I spotted on (inter city) trains was Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. Usually carried by a woman under 35 who spent at least as much time asleep as r..."

That sums up my 20s commuting into London, read a chapter then snooze until Waterloo.

I used to not commute with public transport back in the Netherlands and I am always pleasantly surprised by the number of people reading on the London tube, even if it is really crowded. Highlight today was someone engrossed in the Vegetarian by Han Kang.

I was really excited by someone who didn't look like a reader immersed in a big book next to me on the bus this week. Unfortunately it turned out to be Prince Harry's autobiography.

I still practice reading not just on the train but then while walking from the trains station to work Milkman style

BTW having been a bit negative on Fitzcarraldo for my subscriber copy when I emailed they got me a replacement in 48h couriered with tracking info so I and they could check it didn’t go astray.

I hope you will post a photo of the book to instagram thanking them. Ideally with the book propped by a monstera plant on a stripped wood floor.

I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I’m enjoying this book. As a Southern European who lived in Germany for a while (though not in Berlin) before returning to my home country, I find a lot in it that resonates with me.

I also really appreciate the slightly pretentious yet detached writing style, along with the sharp social commentary that comes with it—very reminiscent of Sally Rooney in that regard. (I loved her first two books, though I found the most recent ones less compelling.)

Also as someone in their twenties, I can’t help but relate to the discussions on social media, the decline of the city, and gentrification. The chapter on sex has been my favourite so far. Given that the protagonists seem to be from Southern Europe, I thought the way the book captures the Catholic-rooted shame and guilt surrounding sex and sexual freedom was particularly well articulated. That said, this might just be my interpretation, as the author doesn’t explicitly frame it that way.

Funny as I was betting that Teresa Pauer's Kochen im falschen Jahrhundert would eventually be considered for the International Booker this or next year. It has a similar approach to Perfection as it also talks about contemporary life in the age of digital media consumerism, but it seems Latronico's novel got there first.

Pushkin Press has acquired the rights but it seems they still don't have a publishing date.

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

I have finished Perfection.

Booker novels to have a tendency of capturing a zeitgeist, and Perfection does manage: privileged millennials in Berlin, during its heyday and the subsequent financial after effects.

I thought the book was solid, not great as , say, Amy Liptrot does it better in the instant but it was a good read.

For those interested in the original

https://issuu.com/de_repente/docs/thi...

This was initially conceived as a paragraph by paragraph rewrite of that - as a lockdown exercise and while it is not quite so Oulipian anymore (although that would have been suitable for a Perec rewrite) as a published novel, it’s still very close to the original even in many minor aspects.

My review

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

Very much like Cusk’s Second Place I think this probably really needs to be read alongside the original to realise where he sticks very closely to it (most of the time) and where he deliberately diverges (eg I think the political activism part is much longer) and even where he claims to have diverged but has not (I tend to agree with Alwynne above now on the distancing thing).

I have captured some of that in my review but only based on a fairly superficial look at the original.

Robert wrote: "Halfway through and it’s so hipsterish, it hurts"

My solidarity goes out to Malta! :-)

I also thought this was a solid read, but for all the Perec references and narrative confetti, bottom line for me is that this is another novel about the digital world that lacks nuance and subtlety. Also, the non-characters only serve as devices to illustrate the message, which I understand is intentional (pars pro toto etc.), but still does not help the textual dynamic.

Plus: Who the hell moves from Rome to Berlin? Guys, no, just no! :-) I've always agreed with Kraftklub on this one, who've already been ridiculing what is described by Latronico in a hit song almost ten years ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UdRz...

(I've just got a project (great)
Nothing concrete yet, but very cool
In terms of business, I haven't decided yet
Something in the creative field
(In any case!)
Just not a nine-to-five job (not in the mood)
I find that really annoying
Exactly, I'll just do a fashion blog (awesome)
And then walk through Friedrichshain with my SLR camera
And take photos of street art and interesting people
The main thing is I can be here in Berlin)

I feel like the author largely agreed with you and the band now and is affectionately satirising himself and his peers for doing exactly that some years back chasing a digital nomad dream which they were sure was going g to be great but turned out to be as ultimately unfulfilling as the consumerist dream Perec satirised.

And the novel was also too perhaps a little like that - lots of short term promise and actual fun but maybe ultimately unfulfilling?

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "IAnd the novel was also too perhaps a little like that - lots of short term promise and actual fun but maybe ultimately unfulfilling?"

Hahaha, agreed! Not the author's intent, but definitely the effect of his efforts!

Not sure yet where I'll come out on this score-wise. The prose is wonderfully clear and precise and I think the couple' millennial lifestyle is captured very well. I liked what the novel was doing... but it's 100 pages and felt too long. Ultimately I think I admired it more than I enjoyed it.

The translator seems to have done a wonderful job (not that I can speak to the accuracy) in that there isn't a trace of the awkwardness you can sometimes get in translated works. I would never have guessed it was a work in translation had I not know.

This is one of two I have remaining.

One of the pleasures of translated fiction is as a gateway to worlds one knows nothing about - and millenials, into interior design and Instagram is about as far away from my world as one can get!

Ben. I agree both points.

Very natural translation - and it seems better than the original according to the author (who is an Italian to English translator).

But although very short it also feels more than long enough (Leopard Skin Hat was the same I felt, Small Boat has attracted similar consents even if I did not agree).

Papa Roach also rather skewered this sort of lifestyle in 2000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjeQz...

Paul wrote: "Papa Roach also rather skewered this sort of lifestyle in 2000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjeQz..."

Paul, you're a man full of surprises: I knew you were a lexicon of Radiohead's back catalog, but that you were also an emo kid 25 years ago?! Chapeau, I could never! :-) :-) :-)

He was not.

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "He was not."

I was just joking, Gumble! :-)

Big Papa Roach fan. We had a company away day last year where we had to introduce ourselves by a piece of music that defines us and I chose Angels and Insects.

On another note decided to read the Perec before this and it’s dull. 100 pages of people obsessed with possessions. Hoping Perfection is very different.

Surely pople obssssd with possssions (s what I did thr)