Category: south and central american fiction

Open secret by Carlos Gamerro

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An open secret by Carlos Gamerro

Argentina Fiction

Translator – Ian Barnett

Carlos Gamerro is an argentina writer and literary critic ,born in 1962 he was broguth up speaking both spanish and english ,he has published six novels so far this is the first out in english and another the island due out next year .He has also translated shakespeare and Harold Bloom into spanish .

An open secret was the third novel I’d read from Argentina last year that dealt with the Dirty war period  .Yet again it took another twist on the time ,the other two Purgatory took a wife who’s  husband disappeared ,Kamchatka was told from a young sons point of view at the time .Now An open secret set in the present and uses a young man called Fefe as he  returns to the town where his grandfather was Mayor and he spent summers as a boy ,he arrives at the small town of Malihuel ,he has a agenda and that is to get to the bottom of what happened to Dario Ezcurra who disappear in the dirty war time of 1976 to 1983.But tells them he is researching a piece on a fictional murder in a small town .As the action unfold the fact that only one man in a town of three thousand has become symbolic for the country as a whole as the futher Fefe goes the more people where there or knew what had happened ,you feel the  danger as the locals try to close ranks and Fefe feels he might be in danager himself from the locals .

“So why did you choose us ? I mean there are so many towns in the province ” Don Leon wants to kno now .

“I used to come here as a boy ,”I reply”every summer.That’s how Gudio and I know each other ”

“He’s Echerzarrea,your grandfather ? ” Gudio chimes in.”poli’s son”

Fefe says why he came to Malihuel

I felt Gamerro caught a nation looking towards its self and fefe was in some ways a nations concious looking at what happened at that time ,and malihuel is a typical villages as Gamerro describes it intersped in the chapters the every day argentina place and I think this is him symbolising the place as thou it was any where in the country they all have petrol stations cafes  etc .The book is paced  very in the thriller esque mode that constant turning of the screw this is help as the speech has little or no punctuation thus give the effect of speed as thou the words can’t come quick enough ,  as Fefe moves towards the truth ,what was once a friendly place becomes dark and unfriendly as we see what the effect of one mans death had on this small town of three thousand yet even thou the town is small we get to meet a host of strange and wonderful characters almost like a cross section of the country as a whole  .Yet again I’m amazed with the openness Argentina writers are now approach this time in there history .I look forward to Gamerro new novel I enjoted Ian Barnett translation he is based in Argentina and translated other writers from there and you get a feel he has a sense of the rhythm of the language .

Marcelo Figueras winstonsdad talks to the IFFP SHORTLISTED WRITER ,

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I m very happy to bring you a interview with Argentina writer Marcelo Figueras short listed for Thursdays Independent foreign fiction prize 2011 .Thanks to Frank Wynne his translator who mention my interview with him to Marcelo and he said he would be happy to be interviewed as well .Here are the answers .

1.How did you get into writing?

I always wanted to be a writer. Since I was even younger than The Midget! I started with short stories that I copied, illustrated and labelled as ‘novels’ and sold to family and friends. Then I tried to write and draw comics as well. My father still keeps one of those pages (a ripoff of a Burne Hogarth character called Drago, in fact) in his study. And afterwards I pestered my teachers, who in turn read my stories to my poor colleagues at school. They were all extremely kind, and never crushed my one-man industry. And with minimal variations, that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.

2.What gave you the idea for Kamchatka?

I was consciously trying to write a story about what we in Argentina call The Dark Years, or The Iron Years: the period between 1976 and 1983, ruled by our last military dictatorship. Most of the stories I knew back then about that particular time (not many novels, mostly films) were unbearable, and repeated the same pattern ad nauseam: romantic young man / woman, his / her involvement in politics, that leads to kidnapping, torture, death and the inevitable coda at the law courts. And I wanted to write about the other horror, the one that the rest of us, who were not kidnapped but still were victims of violence of another sort, have endured.

3.What are your memories of the time?

My memories are a mixed batch. On the one hand, I was the typical boy on the verge of adolescence: shy, introspective, living in a bubble made of books music comics TV and movies. I played Risk a lot. I watched The Invaders. I enjoyed Houdini, the movie with Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, but rejected its sad, sad ending. I fell in love every day. I danced alone. But on the other hand, I lived in fear. I knew nothing about what was happening, my family had always been apolitical. In spite of that, I sensed something awful was going on: it was everywhere, even in the air, atoms of fear mixed with oxygen and nitrogen. That was one of the main ingredients of the military Junta’s perversity: they tried to keep the appearance of normality, Buenos Aires’ streets were calm and orderly (and filled with policemen), as if nothing out of the ordinary was really happening. But people were being kidnapped in the dark, locked in dungeons, tortured and killed, and their bodies hidden in massive, anonymous graves or dropped into the sea. So something wicked was indeed happening. And my nose picked it up somehow. Even when I reached my teenager years, I was afraid of going out to the streets at night. And if I saw a policeman out there, I retraced my footsteps and avoided him. I still knew nothing about politics, but in some strange way I gathered that being young and inquisitive, I was definitely the enemy for the guys in blue.

4.How much of harry’s character is based on yourself he seemed so real?

Given that Harry was more or less my age, it seemed natural to lend him most of my experiences: the public school and then the religious one, my father, my mother (The Rock!) and my little brother (The Midget!), Risk, The Invaders, my love of books and the rest. I had a bit of a temper, too. And as I answered before, my experience of living in fear also became quite useful.

5..Do you like strawberry nesquik?

I loved chocolate Nesquik, that dark brown powder that you mixed with milk. And as the Midget, I loved it most when it had little, crunchy chocolate bubbles.

6.What does being up for the independant foreign fiction prize me to you?

Being in the longlist for the IFFP meant already a lot, and the shortlist was sheer Heaven. Even if I don’t win, being between the six best novels written in a non-English language is quite a prize in itself.

7.What does being translated into english mean to you?

It means a lot. English is my second language. Most of the novels I read are in English. (And when I say most I’m not embellishing: 98 % is a conservative figure in this respect.) And many of my all-time favorite writers are English: from Shakespeare to Dickens, from Graham Greene to Martin Amis, from Joseph Conrad (well, sort of English) to David Mitchell. Learning English was the only thing my mother really forced me to do, when I desperately wanted to drop out citing well documented exhaustion. I was a really good student, so I thought deserved a break… that luckily, my mom didn’t give me. So I’m really grateful to her. And this modest recognition in the country she admired so much feels to me like poetic justice, given that she encouraged me so much and that she died so, so young. (Not as young as Harry’s mother, but…)

8. Do you ever feel burden by Argentina ‘s glorious writing history?

I don’t feel burdened. Argentina has a great literary tradition (Robert Arlt, Borges, Cortázar and Rodolfo Walsh are amongst my favorites) that wasn’t really helpful at the time of creating Kamchatka. Because for the most part, Argentina greatest writers tend to escape from emotion, embracing stylishness and formal exploration instead. And Kamchatka without emotion would have been a table with only two legs. So I reached my hand to the masters of the form, starting obviously with Dickens. He is the one who taught me that children are more resilient than grownups. Or, to put it in the words Lillian Gish says at the end of The Night of the Hunter: “Children are man at his strongest. They endure and they abide”.

9.Which of your books would you like to see next in English?

I would like very much to see La batalla del calentamiento translated. Because it has many things in common with Kamchatka (emotions being one) but also some fantasy: a giant, a girl with magical powers and a wolf that speaks Latin (that’s me repaying my debts with Europe’s fairytale tradition), mixed with some heavy stuff taken from real life and Argentinian history from the recent past -as in Kamchatka too.

10. Which do you enjoy most fiction writing or script writing or do the two overlap?

As the frogs in Kamchatka, I deem myself amphibious. I need literature and movies to survive. One’s a solitary way of creating; the other is more of a group endeavour. And I like it the most when I can mix both in the right proportions as in a good Martini. (Shaken, yes, but not stirred!)

11.Which Argentina writers should we be watching for?

Mariana Enríquez, Samantha Schweblin, Sergio Olguín, Félix  Bruzzone.

12.What are your favourite books and writers?

Don’t get me started. I’ve mentioned some of them. I would add: Melville, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Salinger, Saul Bellow, Michael Ondaatje, John Irving, Cormac McCarthy, Alan Moore… Do you need more?

The rest is silence by Carla Guelfenbein

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Source – review copy from portobello

Carla escaped the Pinochet regime and lived in england as an exile with her parents from the mid seventies til late eighties ,on her return to Santiago she worked in advertising end up on ELLE magazine as the art director and editor ,she has written three novels ,this is her first to be translated to english .She is considered in her native Chile one of the most important writers of the 21st century .

Now before I start ,I want to say something ,If you like or loved extremely loud and incredibly close well ,this is the book for you ,I m always saying for every book in english there is an equal or more interesting book in translation .the similarities to ELIC  are this Tommy the main character in this book has lost a parent ,and has also not been told the full story of what happened ,like ELIC  this book is littered with photos and drawings relating to the story,it differs that this is a personal disaster where as ELIC was the aftermath of 9/11 .So book starts when young tommy a 12-year-old records a conversation at a family wedding ,listening back on his MP3 he discovers his mother committed suicide and didn’t die of a sickness as he thought ,he is shocked by this news and decides to find out what happened to her ,meanwhile his father Juan’s current marriage is falling apart ,his stepmother Alma is drawn towards an old flame as she feels Juan is withdrawing into himself for some reason ,so we see all the family drawn in different ways as they stand on the brink of a break up  and Tommy finding out more about what happen to his mother via family and friends  ,also a lot about his father .This is a touching and sad book at times it shows what problems dark secrets can cause in a family .Tommy is a wonderfully written character a typical 12-year-old on the verge of adulthood but still a child in so many ways ,he stumbles at times finding out the full picture of his mother Soledad death .

The elephant is quiet for a second ,then says “Soledad didn’t die of an illness .She committed suicide .”

“Didn’t she have an aneurysm ?”

“That’s what they told everyone to avoid scandal ,but Soledad committed suicide .I know it for a fact ”

I feel a pain in my chest the recorder slips out of my hand and bangs on the ground .Mama got sick when I was three  .she got sick all of a sudden ,they told me ,and the she was gone .

Tommy find out what happened to his mother Soledad .

This shows what happens when a son is left out ,a father thinks more of himself and a step mother has her eye drawn to an old admirer .Katherine Silver has tackled this book with real subtle touches a book like this with extra bits apart from the text is a hard work to translated and she has done this well .May I also say I love the cover from Portobello a very tactile and pretty cover befitting the book .

Do you like books with a child as the main narrator ?

What is your favourite Chilean novel ? 

a funny dirty little war by Osvaldo Soriano

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Osvaldo Soriano was a jornalist and writer he worked for the la opinon in the early seventies ,he wrote his first novel in 1973 ,this his fifth novel was published in 1986 and was translated by Nick Caistor.he died in 1997 at the young age of 54 ,his books have been translated in to 15 different languages and inspired films .

 

The book is set in a small fictional Argentina town Colonia vela ,we see what starts as a small argument escalate to a huge conflict .This story has a strong Parable element to it ,we see through the Humour of Soriano writings the effect the Juan Peron had on his country men .we met Suprino the local Peronist boss ,he along with the town’s mayor and others plots to get rid of the assistance of the  deputy mayor Fuentes and his assistant Mateo who has leftist leaning as sympathies .but Fuentes doesn’t want to this leads to a huge stand-off and the local students which have leftist sympathies get involved ,thus the situation ends at near civil war .

Suprino said that the mayor and the party tribunal would take responsibility .

yes ,but not for the shambles.If we get them out ,all well and good :if not ,we’re screwed

let’s go in shooting then .

Hang on let the others do the shooting ,then clear off you’ve got keep your hands clean .Suprino said you’re going to be made police chief in Tandil

There must be thousands of commies there

the place is crawling with them .in the university ,in the steelworks ,you’ll have lots of fun .

Suprino and the local inspector talking .

The action is constant throughout the book and also the laughs as the situations lead from on disaster to another ,This is latin American writing at its best facing the distant past face on and with out rose-coloured glasses .Peron influence over post war Argentina was huge his crimes and death squads is something this country still comes to terms with and books like this help shed a light on that time .the book is very short and took me an afternoon to get through  ,the book was made into a film in 1983 by Hector Olivera .which was critical acclaimed ,the book  and film is a tale of left wing versus right wing politics that was acted out in many towns and areas of latin america during the 70’s .the translation by the acclaimed Nick Caistor is perfect ,he is one of the best at male latin american voices

Have you read this book ?

 

AUTONAUTS OF THE COSMOROUTE BY JULIO CORTAZAR AND CAROL DUNLOP

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source – personnel copy published by Telegram books

Julio Cortazar was a Argentina writer spent his youth around Europe before his family settled back in Argentina ,on leaving university ,he became a translator in france for Unesco ,he lived there until his death in the eighties ,he is considered one of the most influential latin american writers of the period  and european writers including Roberto Bolano and Georges Perec ,he was part of the fifties Noveau roman movement .The book follows Cortazar and his third wife the writer photograph Carol Dunlop,on a trip down one of the main freeways of france from Paris to Marseilles .

The book is made up as a travelogue / guide book in the style of the great books of history by the likes of Marco Polo .We find the preparation ,planning for this Journey down the main road from Paris to Marseilles ,not leaving the road and visiting two rest areas every day and sleeping in the dragon the name they gave their battered VW camper they had got for this voyage of discovery ,so we see the guys organizing food drops gathering scientific equipment a typewriter camera ,so they set of and we see each rest stop described .How the struggle with washing etc . Then we get Julio’s daily observations a map of the route ,what they eaten and Carols photographs of the gallant troop as they try to conquer the route .

The parell highway we’re looking for perhaps only exists in the imagination of those who dream of it ; but if it exists I( its to soon to make categorical affirmations and nevertheless one would say we’re there and have been for the last twenty for hours ;let’s be skeptical reader think before denying reality to this new route by eliminating the “perhaps” from the phrase ,that may well disappear with it ;may he have patience then,at least wait until we’ve been able to gather evidence .

just before they embark on the journey .

What I loved about this book is Julio’s ability to take what may seem something very boring and uninteresting as I 33 journey down a single road not leaving it for that time .But what he does is like slow cooking is in this age of speed and jets ,that as he says you may notice more when travelling at camels pace .So every rest are thou similar to the last is like a new country awaiting observation and discovery with their woods ,dogs that may be there or bins that may look like a little knights helmet ,how will the dragon cope with the heat ? .as the pace is slow they notice little things that pass the every day motorist ,it shows how the ebb and flow of life has sped up  over time .even at the end there is a sadness that the trip went so quickly .I ve had this a good year on my shelves and wish I d pick it earlier to read as it was a book I knew I d love and it was finished in two evening not bad for a 368 page BOOK,I just want to see them reach the next rest area have that next encounter and see what Julio made of it and what pictures there was of this leg of the trip  .the book was translated by Anne McLean from the Spanish .

Have you read Cortazar ? if so what should I read next ?

THE BAD GIRL BY Mario Vargas Llosa

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Well I had this down to rea on my around the world in 52 books list .Having read a couple many years ago by him ,after seeing the aunt Julia film which had a great performance from Peter Falk .Well if you didn’t know Mario won this years Nobel prize being the first Nobel winner from south America since Gabriel Garcia Marquez in 1982 .Mario Vargas Llosa was born in the Peruvian provinces in late thirties ,he went to military academy the subject of his first novel ,his books are both historic and have modern-day setting he often uses his own life experiences in his books .

The bad girl follows the life of Ricardo ,we meet him as a teenager in the 50’s in lima a love affair with lily or as in the title the bad girl starts and ends due to the difference in class etc ,Ricardo does well in his studies and ends up in paris working as a translator in numerous languages ,this is in the sixties so there is a backdrop of the city in the sixties with its protests and bohemian atmosphere ,Ricardo meets Comrade Arlette ,this women reminds him of lily in so many ways they have a passionate affair ,the book continues on the same path him traveling to different cities and meet women with the spirit of Lilly and having increasingly passionate and kinky love affairs .this takes us through london ,Tokyo back to peru and ending up in paris ,all this with a sparkling cast of friends including a mute boy .We see the history of times hippies ,seventies and Japans rise .

My only contact with Peru ,for by now I rarely saw Peruvians in paris ,continued to be the increasingly desperate letters from uncle Ataulfo and Aunt Delores always sent me regards in her own hand ,and from time to time I would send her scores for playing the piano was great diversion in her invalid life .

Ricardo family struggles at home in Peru unde General Alvarado’s dictatorship  .

Now I loved this Llosa has a real flow to his writing that draws you in bit by bit ,there is a lot of sex in this book but it is well written and helps the plot also gives you the true scope of the affair or affairs there is a question whether it is the same women or different women with the same spirit this isn’t answered but I felt form a man falls for the same spirit in different bodies ,the affair is a life long passion the encompasses the world ,these part the cities and times they were written really feel like they are from Llosa own life and that he’d been in paris and in London and Tokyo during the periods described in the book .Worthy nobel winner yes his books are always readable and  meaningful .Like Aunt Julia that was made into a film I could see this novel-making the move into a great film .The book is translated by Edith Grossman ,she has previously tranlated 5 of his books previously as you’d expect is perfection from the best translator of Latin American fiction

Have you read him ?

have you seen the films made of his books ?

SANTA EVITA BY TOMAS ELOY MARTINEZ

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Source – second hand copy brought at book stall .

Translator -Helen Lane -she translated numerous novels in Spanish including Martinez earlier book the Peron novel ,and one I want to read when I get a copy I supreme by Augusto Roa Bastos

Tomas Eloy Martinez was born in San Miguel de Tucuman got a degree from there in Spanish and Latin American literature ,then studied in Paris ,he work in Journalism for many years ,then took to teaching at universities in America .He passed away earlier this year .This book was a choice for September shared read by richard of Carvana de Recuredos ,I had got a copy in the summer so decide to join in,

The book focus on the death and Life of Eva Peron Evita as she was known the wife of the Argentina dictator Juan Peron ,the book is told via the people who come into contact with her body as she was embalmed and put on display ,she died aged 33 after 6 years of the wife of the president .we flash from the present to the past as we find people dealing with the body and what part  Peron and the regime had played in their life ,on a couple of occasions his fellow Argentina writer Jorge Luis Borges is mention and his reaction at the time to Peron ,where he used hidden meaning in his works .in the end we find out how much the rise to power had effect this country girl .

In this novel peopled by real people by real character ,the only ones I never met were Evita and the Colonel .I saw Evita only from a distance in Tucuman , one morning on a national holiday as for Colonel Moori Koeing I found a couple of photos and a few traces of him .the newspapers of the period mention him openly and disparagingly .It took me months to meet the widow ,who lived in an austere apartment on the Calle Arenales and who agreed to see me only after putting me off time and time again .

there are clever Meta fiction touches like this scattered over the book .

I found this book a wonderfully researched and heartfelt book Martinez had lived through the regime so knew at first hand the situations described ,Like most shocking events and times it left a lasting impression on him .The veil is lifted on Eva Peron ,a name which most people know by the saccharin musical ,this book shows the dark side of the story as well as the light side .We find how power corrupts people and the effect it has on the people caught up in the corruption and abuse of power ,many thanks for Richard for picking this that may have sat on my shelf a lot longer ,if not for this reading group .

& OTHER STORIES NEW TRANSLATION PROJECT AND PUBLISHER

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Stefan from &otherstories e-mail me a while ago about their group and its project ,which includes group reads of books in the original language to pick books to be translated in to english the is a great choice of groups with books from spain ,Lithuania and Argentina ,The writers they ve choose all seem to be highly talented writers having won awards in their own country .Lithuania has a booming lit scene post communism like the other Baltic states and the chance to get to read in english will be great .please all look at their site or join the good reads group and find out what is going on in this new NON PROFIT publisher .They are also looking for volunteers to help them along the way so I m sure Stefan and the other from &other stories will be pleased to hear from you .they are also on twitter .

more than just a hatrick ,this brazilian shows flair with a pen

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TITLE  –  A CHAPTER OF HATS AND OTHER STORIES BY MACHADO DE ASSIS .

SOURCE – LIBRARY

Machado Assis is considered the godfather of south american fiction been born in 1839 he was born in to a poor family and eventually rising to become a civil servant and respect writer in his own lifetime the first writer to develop a unique style of writing with influences from the european writing of the time Maupassant ,Chekov .Now the stories are all based in and around Rio in the late 1800’s ,what seems an emerging city and vibrant characters appear from the pages ,the main title story is of a wife and her attempts to get her husband to change his hat ,in other stories there are students drink rats blood ,a love triangle sailors on shore leave .

the choice of hat is not an indifferent act ,as you might suppose ;its is governed by a metaphysical principle .don’t imagine that a person buying a hat is committing a free,voluntary act;the truth id there obeying an obscure determinism .the illusion of freedom is rooted in the purchaser .

a brief description of buy a hat

Now I want to love this book when I ordered it from the library ,in parts I did but in other places I found his prose hard to connect with ,I have at time struggled with other prose of the era by other writers .But the stories I did connect with shone through and Machado humour and laconic wit shone through ,he is a bit like a brazilian Saki at times with the stories poking and highlighting the middle classes and the foibles ,in this exotic capital as it was finding it feet in the world ,It was a great introduction to a writer who I will try again Kinna at Kinna reads suggest I try one of his novels, so I will at some point ,the translation by John Gledson is neat and functional ,the book may suffer from a little stiffness at times whether that iz due to translation or the writing is hard to say .so a real up and down journey for me through this book but that is sometimes the case with short stories collection .

WINSTONS SCORE –

IS A SLOTH VERY BRAZILIAN AND LIKE THIS BOOK NEEDS TO BE READ SLOWLY AND ABSORBED LIKE A SLOTH IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO WORK THROUGH THIS COLLECTION .

the labyrinth of solitude by octavio paz

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Notes –

Paz was one of the greatest writers from mexico he wrote numerous novel and poems ,he was also very active politically during his life and commented on numerous latin american and spanish causes during his life .He was awarded the nobel prize for literature on 1990 and is only third mexican to win a nobel and only nobel laureate in literature .this book is considered his masterpiece .

The Book –

The book is a journey through in a number of different chapters what it is to be mexican ,it examines the mexican psyche ,the history ,there are a number of recurring theme that keep appearing like spain ,indian culture and the Catholic church ,Paz weaves the story with the mexican nation being describe as though they where a person and what are characteristics that are common to all mexican like often a mixed heritage of native indian and spanish family background .how spain running lead to the revolution and the beginning of the mexican state and the laws of the stat regarding education etc ,the church’s influence over everyday life and the state as a whole ,also how the church has adapt to the mexicans as a people .the is lots of mysticism like the journey of being mexican like the ancient quests of labyrinths and how every mexican has this deep well of solitude at the core .

Any contact with the mexican people, however brief ,reveals that the ancient belief and customs are still in existence beneath western forms .These still living remains testify to the vitality of the pre-courtesian cultures .and after discoveries of archeologists and historians  it is no longer possible to refer to these societies as savage or primitives tribes.

the opening of the fifth chapter .

My view –

Paz has encapsulated what to be a mexican is here and it is wonderful reading the history views perception of mexico ,mexico has always fascinated me a country of vast contrasts in class on the edge of the richest country in the world the politics ,chaos of its capital ,I heard that Martin Amis said China and Japan are going to be the new literary centres but i have a feeling mexico has something to tell us all the vast metropolis of mexico city is sure to stir up many amazing stories in the future and as a book to give you a start on the track of mexican lit this has been a great help for me into this vibrant and diverse country .The edition i borrowed from  library was in 1967 ,in later versions a 10th essay was added to the 9 orginals ,this essay dealt with a massacre in 1968 that lead to Paz resighning as an ambasador for mexico in India where he had spent a lot of his later life ,this edition was translated by lysander kemp and was the first translation available .

senselessness by Horacio Castellanos Moya

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This book is one of the rainmaker series of translation .i found this book particularly hard to read as it has very long passages and in places is very violent and sexual ,but in other places has some funny description . it follows a writer as he is reviewing and editing a 1100 page document about an indian massacre in an unknown central american country but as Moya has lived in el Salvador and Honduras you can draw your on conclusions to where it is set ,the writer is undertaking this for the church and the is an under current of them wanting him to less the impact of what had happen to the indians .The writer himself likes to have a drink in the local bars and seduce young women .there is a beauty to Moya’s prose they seem to flow seamless of the page .This was the first book by Moya to be translated in to english .wonderfully by Katherine silver .It is worth reading as there isn’t many book published in english from this region and is only short at 144 pages .

In order to celebrate my first day of work as god intended i arranged to meet my buddy Toto at noon at El Portalito ,the city’s legendary cantina ,fortunately located a mere two hundred yards from my office close enough to prevent the onset of anxiety in someone who is afraid above all else of being punctual as is the case with me ;someone who requires a drink to calm his nerves at the strangest moments .

from the 2nd chapter opening .

senselessness