One Note Symphonies, Sean Brijbasi, Writer's Club Press (iuniverse.com), 2001
This sort-of novel consists of a series of staccato-like bits of story that change location and tense totally without warning. These aren't very short stories, or even vignettes; it's more a case of a paragraph here, and a couple of paragraphs there.
In one part of the book, Martin, the main character, is asked to paint a portrait of a young woman at a moment when she is laughing. Unfortunately, Martin is of the opinion that the woman is rather ugly when her mouth is open like that. In Helsinki, a married man named Bernhard, entranced by the quivering nostrils of a woman named Marikka, takes her out to dinner, then they have sex. Napoleon Bonaparte thinks that he is a bicycle. Along the way, the reader will also meet a blue balloon, a red crayon, a talking monkey and a cocktail waitress named Darkbloom. There is also quite a lot of eroticism, both real and imagined, in this book, mostly invloving Martin.
This book doesn't follow the usual literature rules about plot and storyline. It is also an acquired taste sort of book. The reader will either really like, or really hate, the constant change of tense and location and narration. I really liked it, and, for those looking for something different, think this is well worth reading.
Showing posts with label brijbasi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brijbasi. Show all posts
Monday, October 29, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Still Life in Motion
Still Life in Motion, Sean Brijbasi, Pretend Genius Press, 2004
This is a group of very short stories, practically vignettes, on a variety of subjects.
A husband discovers that his wife is a shoplifter. A man walks into a hospital, asking for a refill on brain, or a new one, then discovers that he likes playing dead. Another piece consists of excerpts from unwritten novels. In a room across the street is a large, blue balloon that seems to float on its own. A married couple are living in a apartment with a picture of a tiger on the wall, which turns into a love-letter affair between a man named Stanislau Verbinsky and a woman named Elizabeth. After years of work, a man introduces a new punctuation mark called the rhetorical question mark. Imagine a pair of play-by-play announcers watching an author typing at a keyboard.
Those who like "modern" writing, where stories are told in broad strokes, with little or no background information, will enjoy these stories. On the other hand, those who like their fiction with character development, storyline, climax and all those English Literature terms, should consider looking elsewhere.
This is a group of very short stories, practically vignettes, on a variety of subjects.
A husband discovers that his wife is a shoplifter. A man walks into a hospital, asking for a refill on brain, or a new one, then discovers that he likes playing dead. Another piece consists of excerpts from unwritten novels. In a room across the street is a large, blue balloon that seems to float on its own. A married couple are living in a apartment with a picture of a tiger on the wall, which turns into a love-letter affair between a man named Stanislau Verbinsky and a woman named Elizabeth. After years of work, a man introduces a new punctuation mark called the rhetorical question mark. Imagine a pair of play-by-play announcers watching an author typing at a keyboard.
Those who like "modern" writing, where stories are told in broad strokes, with little or no background information, will enjoy these stories. On the other hand, those who like their fiction with character development, storyline, climax and all those English Literature terms, should consider looking elsewhere.
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