Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A good author's failures can be almost as interesting as his successes. I don't think that Yann Martel would classify this book as a success, the disjointed plot revolves around two books that just don't work. In some ways this nakedly problematic structure is intentional: the point being that there is some suffering that just cannot be contained within words.
It is particularly interesting considering that Yann Martel's earlier work "The Life of Pi" is one of the better books on suffering I have ever read.
I wouldn't listen too much to the readers who were disappointed that this brutal novel doesn't have the same warm tone and happy ending as PI. Lots of readers seemed to have only absorbed the rosy tone of Pi's narrator without recognizing the profound despair and pessimism of the book. Pi is a much darker book than this one.
But, it seems that Martell himself is dissatisfied with his masterpiece bestseller. His protagonist in the book is an author who is living off of a bestseller that people loved because it was about animals. He never praises his earlier work. He tries to write a second book about the horrific cruelty of the Holocaust and it just doesn't work.
Martell may have wanted more people to see to see the darkness in Pi, because in Beatrice and Virgil he openly tells us at the onset that this cute story about animals is about the Holocaust. The darkness of Pi is a spiritual emptiness, but in Beatrice and Virgil he tries to shock us with straightforward violence. The subtlety of Pi is replaced with overt almost gratuitous cruelty. He wants us to know understand that human suffering is the point of his writing. He also constantly complains that he is failing to convey the anguish that is on his mind. The book ends with a howl.
Beatrice and Virgil is a book that doesn't work about a book that doesn't work about cruelty that is unspeakable. Surprisingly though, it is a really good read. Martell's mastery of the written word and his impressive intelligence he displayed in Pi are still radiant in Beatrice and Virgil, making it a pleasure to read.
If Martell is still unsatisfied and struggling with the heavy themes from Pi likely means we are to expect further brilliant work from this author. Beatrice and Virgil is not that brilliant work, but it none the less fascinating to observe the mind of this talented author continue to wrestle with his ongoing questioning of the universe.
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My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A good author's failures can be almost as interesting as his successes. I don't think that Yann Martel would classify this book as a success, the disjointed plot revolves around two books that just don't work. In some ways this nakedly problematic structure is intentional: the point being that there is some suffering that just cannot be contained within words.
It is particularly interesting considering that Yann Martel's earlier work "The Life of Pi" is one of the better books on suffering I have ever read.
I wouldn't listen too much to the readers who were disappointed that this brutal novel doesn't have the same warm tone and happy ending as PI. Lots of readers seemed to have only absorbed the rosy tone of Pi's narrator without recognizing the profound despair and pessimism of the book. Pi is a much darker book than this one.
But, it seems that Martell himself is dissatisfied with his masterpiece bestseller. His protagonist in the book is an author who is living off of a bestseller that people loved because it was about animals. He never praises his earlier work. He tries to write a second book about the horrific cruelty of the Holocaust and it just doesn't work.
Martell may have wanted more people to see to see the darkness in Pi, because in Beatrice and Virgil he openly tells us at the onset that this cute story about animals is about the Holocaust. The darkness of Pi is a spiritual emptiness, but in Beatrice and Virgil he tries to shock us with straightforward violence. The subtlety of Pi is replaced with overt almost gratuitous cruelty. He wants us to know understand that human suffering is the point of his writing. He also constantly complains that he is failing to convey the anguish that is on his mind. The book ends with a howl.
Beatrice and Virgil is a book that doesn't work about a book that doesn't work about cruelty that is unspeakable. Surprisingly though, it is a really good read. Martell's mastery of the written word and his impressive intelligence he displayed in Pi are still radiant in Beatrice and Virgil, making it a pleasure to read.
If Martell is still unsatisfied and struggling with the heavy themes from Pi likely means we are to expect further brilliant work from this author. Beatrice and Virgil is not that brilliant work, but it none the less fascinating to observe the mind of this talented author continue to wrestle with his ongoing questioning of the universe.
View all my reviews