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Mansarda (1962)

by Danilo Kiš(Favorite Author)

4.07 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0967889375 (ISBN13: 9780967889375)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Serbian Classics Press

review 1: This is a story about a young man in Belgrade named Orpheus. His name alone resonates both in a literary and in a mythical way, creating an interest in his story from the opening pages. It also helped that, as the translator wrote, he is "a writer and a lute-player," and "a philosopher, a dreamer and--probably--a perpetual student". Thus he is a man after my own heart. What followed the opening was a dream-like, somewhat picaresque tale of his experiences in Belgrade with his friends, neighbors and a young girl named Eurydice. He describes that he first met her during a period when "I was feverishly demanding answers from life, so I was caught up in myself". (10) One of the list of philosophical questions (Orpheus liked to make lists, not unlike a literary predecessor name... mored Rabelais) that he was contemplating was, conveniently, "the question of love", which leads him into an attempt to describe Eurydice. Here is his attempt to describe her voice:"The voice of a silver harp, of a viola with a mute, of a Renaissance lute, the voice of a Swedish guitar with thirteen strings, of Gothic organs or a miniature harpsichord, of a violin staccato or a guitar arpeggio in a minor key." (12) Did I mention the dream-like quality of the story?Orpheus lives in an attic with his friend Igor and the episodes in his life are strikingly imaginative, providing a contrast with his encounters with other people who seem reality-bound in contrast. Early in the book he describes his attempts to protect his books from rats, but this episode like so many others could easily be a dream. It is not that he does not notice the world around him, for at one point he decides to meet the world as it really is; but this does not deter him from his primary aim. He plans with his friend Igor (also known as Billy Wiseass) to "dedicate ourselves to our studies" at a rented tavern in a small country town. ""Books are an invention. . . But we will gather around us all kinds of desperados (we especially like this word in those days) and listen to authentic stories, authentic life experiences. Only that will constitute the true school of life," Billy explained excitedly." (74)Orpheus is writing a book called The Attic, as he tells his neighbor one morning. The neighbor replies that Orpheus should be careful not to ruin his eyesight with writing by candlelight. Rather he should write by daylight or at least accept the light bulb offered to him. Orpheus replies that "I write by candlelight . . . So that I create the right atmosphere." (108)This is a novel written by candlelight and it is in the shadows that the world creeps into the life of young Orpheus. His real life is in his mind and it is as interesting and beautiful as any imagined world could ever be. His life is the artist's life and his world is the writer's world with lists of qualities, learned digressions, and a touch of irony. In all of this the literary allusions seem fitting, just as the book naturally becomes a bit of a miniature bildungsroman.
review 2: This is Danilo Kiš's first novel and that comes across quite transparently. The novel claims to be the story of a young aspiring writer coming of age in a dark dank damp mice and roach infested attic in Belgrade, in the 1950s, while writing a semi-autobiographical novel titled The Attic. I suppose in part it is all of that, but what starts off as a commendable effort to preserve the narrative from old realist constraints associated with the genre of Bildungsroman, very quickly goes awry, mostly because it is, after all, the first novel of a super-educated twenty-something. This means it rapidly throws away all narrative pretence and becomes a succession of disconnected allegorical scenes set in imaginary places such as "The Bay of Dolphins," "The Island," "Walpurgis Night," which, granted, is not exactly an imaginary place, but it still constitutes an instantly recognisable web of connotations, within the European imagination. To make things even less palatable, the sequence of allegories breathes erudition. It abounds in historical, philosophical and literary references, some of which are more obviously placed than others, and it becomes the reader's duty to identify them, if anything, because it becomes the only source of entertainment. Yes, this is sadly the case. The novel does however redeem itself towards the end, when the young author finally descends from his attic and has a regular conversation with an actual human from his building. He is then struck by the simple beauty and quiet mystery of everyday people and life, or so it seems, and even though he does not say it explicitly, he becomes disgusted at his own self-absorption. This is a good sign. One, moreover, that must have likewise hit the real Kiš when he was as young as the narrator, or else he wouldn't have gone on to produce his later fiction, which is haunting, enigmatic, and indeed, one of the most self-effacing I have ever read. So, in spite of its flaws, The Attic might well be worthwhile for anybody who is interested in witnessing and following the admirable process by which some people who suffer from the compulsion to write, discover that the only way they can do it is impersonally. less

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