The Folly - Softcover

Ivan Vladislavić

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0864862377 ISBN 13: 9780864862372

Publisher: David Phillips Publishers, 1993

Synopsis

A vacant patch of South African veld next to the comfortable, complacent Malgas household has been taken over by a mysterious, eccentric figure with "a plan". Fashioning his tools out of recycled garbage, the stranger enlists Malgas's help in clearing the land and planning his mansion. Slowly but inevitably, the stranger's charm and the novel's richly inventive language draws Malgas into "the plan" and he sees, feels and moves into the new building. Then, just as remorselessly, all that seemed solid begins to melt back into air.

About this title

About the Author

Ivan Vladislavic was born in Pretoria in 1957. Formerly assistant editor of Staffrider, South Africa's leading independent literary and cultural journal, he lives in Johannesburg where he works as a freelance writer and editor. His first book, Missing Persons, a collection of short stories, won the 1991 Olive Schreiner Prize. The Folly is his first novel.

Review

'I see the book as a playful-sinister examination of the potentially dangerous false realities of literature, and even of language itself. In a way it is an enactment of its own folly - as we are warned in the title ... It sounds odd, I know, but it gives you the feeling that the very book you are holding is alive in a dangerous and unsettling way, with its own consciousness and self-awareness.' Nicholas Lezard, The Guardian ------- 'Vladislavic is a weaver of spells, and I read his book at once captivated and cautious as to how it would cap off its vaunting fantasy ... a satire on - and a love letter to - human gullibility, and, as such, quite strange, and as special as it is strange.' Jonathan Gibbs, The Independent ------- 'This 1993 debut from the gifted South African of Croatian descent is more Pinter than Kafka and a zany variation on Coetzee's Age of Iron ... outrageously deadpan funny, stylish and prophetic.' Eileen Battersby, Books of the Year, The Irish Times ------- 'The Folly, by Ivan Vladislavic, is wonderful. It's a political allegory (or parable? or something in between?) that must have been amazing to read in the context of emerging democratic South Africa in 1993 but has lost none of its power over the years.' Audrey Schoeman, Guardian Books Blog ------- 'A fascinating piece of fiction ... The Folly is very much about our need to believe and what happens when that belief is lost.' Shiny New Fiction ------- 'Vladislavic has the knack of revealing people's personalities and idiosyncrasies in an understated manner.' Trish Beaver Daily News ------- 'In a country obsessed with social realism, Vladislavic has always tried to find less obvious ways to approach the world. An immaculately-written allegory or parable (though neither word is quite right) about two unlikely neighbours, it's a clever and elegant book that lodges in the mind like a dart.' Damon Galgut ------- 'An enigmatic newcomer to a South African veld endeavours to construct a mansion on an inherited plot of land and, in the process, pushes the sanity of his neighbours to its limit in this heady, lively, and darkly surreal novel by South African writer Vladislavic... Vladislavic's cryptic, haunting tale echoes Jorge Luis Borges and David Lynch, drawing readers into its strange depths.' Publisher's Weekly ------- 'A parable about land, ownership and power? A fable about the imagined other? An allegory of contestation and co-existence, or of the building (and dismantling) of systems? Occupying a tantalizingly unnameable region between fable, allegory and parable, Ivan Vladislavic's first novel announces a powerfully original imagination, expressed in unparalleled stylistic precision and brilliance. Nothing short of a great contemporary writer, he pushes at form and content to make something strangely new and profound of the novel.' Neel Mukherjee ------- 'The Folly is mysterious, lyrical and wickedly funny - a masterful novel about loving and fearing your neighbour. Ivan Vladislavic is one of the most significant writers working in English today. Everyone should read him.' Katie Kitamura

About this edition

• Publisher: David Phillips Publishers
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0864862377
• ISBN 13: 9780864862372
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 160