Comments on: Visitation, by Jenny Erpenbeck

By: vivek tejuja

vivek tejuja — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:13:15 +0000

Descriptive and passionate writing like this – in the chapters that focus on the gardener and on the Jewish family – is interspersed with the mundane elements and ritualsof life, for example: “Present exigency: The property that is the subject of the proceedings. Pending determination of ownership. Registration number 654.”

The language, in many cases, is like lyrical poetry. I must acknowledge the outstanding translator, Susan Bernofsky, who expertly translated this masterwork from German to English. For literary readers, all I can say is, this is why we read.

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 01:36:00 +0000

Kerry, Leroy: I think the novel is good enough that it will be available for a while, so there is no need to rush. And it does require the right kind of mood when you get to it.

Which segues into my response to John: I have not read any of her previous work and won’t be rushing out to get them (but will probably add them into an order sometime). For me, the “challenge” to Erpenbeck’s style in this novel is not the conventional kind of “difficult” reading — if anything, it is the opposite. While she does move impressionisticly from one era to another, there is an attention to detail at all times that can become wearing — I think that is what produces the delayed response that both Trevor and I had. It is also why I compare her to Berger who, in his best books, has a similar relentlessness to his narrative, at least in my mind.

By: John Self

John Self — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 22:34:47 +0000

I'm grateful to see Kevin's thoughts on this book, as I read and enjoyed Erpenbeck's earlier books The Old Child / The Book of Words last year, but also found them challenging (so much so that I initially gave up, and restarted a few weeks or months after my first attempt). As Trevor says, her books seem to deny us the expected pleasures but give us different, perhaps more enduring pleasures that only become apparent as the book settles in the mind after reading. That, I suppose, is the risk and benefit of any book which is truly sui generis - we want all our books to be unique, but few of them are, and it can be a jolt and an effort when we do find one. (I might say the same of Walter Abish's How German Is It, which I'm currently reading. I have been tempted to give up on it a couple of times, but now feel I will persist, because the pleasures require patience but do come.)

By: leroyhunter

leroyhunter — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 21:34:58 +0000

I’m not much interested in the Mawer, but I mentally have this down alongside Hein’s Settlement that you reviewed so strongly last year Kevin. I’d like to get to them both.

By: Kerry

Kerry — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:29:34 +0000

I love novellas and novels with a slow burn. This sounds excellent. I am putting it on the TBR. As soon as my book buying ban is over, I am ordering it. A recommendation from you, Trevor, and Lizzy is damn near a command to me.

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:48:41 +0000

Max: I do think this fits your interests. If I can add to my hype, while Erpenbeck takes the same circumstances that Mawer does, she addresses them in a fashion that bears more comparison with John Berger, in both circumstance and tone. Since the reader knows the global circumstances in advance (and the author sketches the present day outcomes in the early pages) there is weary inevitableness (which did remind me of Berger) as she fills out the story. I don’t mean that “weary” in a negative sense — rather it reflects the portrayal of powerlessness that is accomplished in the novel.

By: Max Cairnduff

Max Cairnduff — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:43:19 +0000

This is very strongly on my radar. Michael Faber did a piece in the Guardian on it comparing it to The Glass Room (which he didn’t really rate) and I noted Trevor’s review too of course.

Frankly, it sounds exactly my sort of thing so it’s not like I needed selling on it. It’s good to see though how much your view dovetails with Trevor’s and it’s distinctly interesting how it’s grown for both of you with time.

For me a great novella continues to unpack in the mind after it’s been finished. The end result is often greater than just the act of reading it – there’s a continuation beyond the text. This sounds like it’s in that sort of territory.

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:46:45 +0000

Tom: Given your interest in European fiction, I think you will like this one Tom. I am not one of those who thinks that we are suffering from a lack of translated works — there may be a delay of a few years, but there seems to be quite a choice. And I have found novels that explore post-1989 Germany to be of particular interest.

I was aware of that Guardian discussion. Leroyhunter, a regular visitor here, was kind enough to link to my review of Settlement and I noticed a number of incoming visitors from the Guardian, which was much appreciated.

By: Tom Cunliffe

Tom Cunliffe — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 08:06:04 +0000

Sounds just up my street so thanks for bringing it to your readers’ attention. I greatly enjoyed the Simon Mawer book and like you though it should have won the Booker in 2009. I wonder if translations of German novels are going to be the next literary trend – after all those Scandinavian crime novels. There are certainly some fine writers – may I refer you to this fascinating list of German books which readers of the British newspaper the Guardian came up with.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/table/2011/mar/21/1

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 02:09:05 +0000

Graham: Thanks for the link. I agree with you about the “abruptness” of Erpenbeck’s prose. As I indicated in a previous comment, I think that one result of that is a certain emotional distancing for the reader as the book is being read — but the images are so firmly established by it that they do stay with you and become more robust with time. You, Trevor and I have all had the same experience that way.