M Sarki

http://msarki.tumblr.com/post/77537072041/moo-pak-by-gabriel-josipovici

There was only one bit of text from this book that I deemed worthy of snatching, clipping for posterity, and it wasn't that there was a lack of words from which to find a sampling of a nugget here and there which carried meaning as well as enough weight in which to share their additional importance as sentences go on and on my page. But anyone reading this review to the end will have read the segment lifted from this very fine book.

Between the covers there are enough references to Thomas Bernhard and Samuel Beckett to pique the interests of the most discerning reader who holds the above-mentioned artists in as much high esteem as does the author Gabriel Josipovici. But there are numerous other literary mentionables present such as Swift, Shakespeare, Stevens, and Keats among other writers whose names do not begin begin or end with the letter S. I found in my brief critical research that the fault some critics have of Josipovici centered on his presumed pretentiousness and use of this novel as a vehicle in which to prove how smart he is and obviously well-read. I did not take this digressive work of Josipovici as anything but what it was. His main character Jack Tolenado is no doubt a brilliant man, an ex-University lecturer who became disenchanted with his work as do so many of us victimized and faced with a long drawn-out career. Things change. When we get older it becomes uncomfortably obvious that we are no longer in step with the younger generations and in fact we are loathe to change our own ways enough to climb again on board this swiftly moving train. Most of us who stubbornly persist in these unhappy situations turn into the sniveling crybaby bitches and mean curmudgeons older people too easily get branded as, guilty or not. I found Jack Tolenado quite enjoyable and I attempted to learn as much from him as possible on the many leisurely walks I shared in my reading of this wonderful little novel.

One paragraph was all it took Josipovici to get his message across. But the paragraph lasted for a hundred and fifty-one pages. Thomas Bernhard might even have been glad that for once another writer actually pulled the same stunt off successfully, much as Bernhard did so often himself. It is not an easy thing to do. Quite the contrary. For one, your character indeed better have a personality that can carry the bulk of the many words on every page. And of course, the writing must also be good. I found the entire experience a delight to read, though I have never been to England and had literally no frame of reference for the many parks and paths and zoos in which they were meandering through, or the many anecdotal memories Jack put forth as segments of his ongoing research of the last twenty-five years and his current ten-year attempt at finally finishing his magnum opus.

For lovers of digression and those given to enlivened activities such as listening-as-hostage to a brilliant man speak on a bevy of subjects, then this book is for you. Of course, if you already know it all, or think you know better, than this book just might not be your cup of tea. But I personally enjoyed reading this book deluged with dialogue and instruction, and I confidently knew that at any time I could shut this talking head off and return instead to that incessant egoistic monologue pressing inside my very own head.

… Most artists do not help us, he said, they hinder us, they lead us astray, they bludgeon us with noise and then leave us with nothing and less than nothing. Only a fews artists, he said, and we soon discover which ones for ourselves, have the ability to lead us inward and forward and to make us look with the eye of hope and anticipation at the world and ourselves. Left to our own devices, he said, we grow small and hard and get to hate this small hard thing and end in lethargy and despair. We need the artists who matter to remind us constantly that there are possibilities there, in the world and in ourselves, and that hard work and the deployment of energy do have their rewards.