The Dark - Softcover

Chejfec, Sergio

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1934824437 ISBN 13: 9781934824436

Publisher: Open Letter Books, 2013

Synopsis

"Early in Sergio Chejfec's The Dark, the nameless narrator describes his disorientation when looking over a landscape as 'the vertigo of simple things.' This phrase describes the experience of reading Chejfec's novel. . . . These moments, when Chejfec combines exquisite prose with the human yearning for truth and beauty, keep us reading, weighing the novel's contradictions, sifting through the narrator's abstract reflections in search of his life’s meaning."—Rain Taxi

Opening with the presently shut-in narrator reminiscing about a past relationship with Delia, a young factory worker, The Dark employs Chejfec's signature style with an emphasis on the geography and motion of the mind, to recount the time the narrator spent with this multifaceted, yet somewhat absent, woman. On their daily walks he becomes privy to the ways in which the working class functions; he studies and analyzes its structure and mindset, finding it incredibly organized, self-explanatory, and even beautiful. He repeatedly attempts to apply his 'book' knowledge to explain what he sees and wants to understand of Delia's existence, and though the difference between their social classes is initially a source of great intrigue—if not obsession—he must eventually learn that there comes a point where the boundary between observer and participant can dissolve with disarming speed.

In a voice that favors erudite distance, yet simultaneously demands intimate attention, The Dark is the most captivating example of Sergio Chejfec's unique narrative approach, and a resonant novel that calls into question the necessity, risks, and fallout behind the desire and attempt to know another person.

Sergio Chejfec, originally from Argentina, has published numerous works of fiction, poetry, and essays. Among his grants and prizes, he has received fellowships from the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in 2007 and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation in 2000. He teaches at NYU.

Heather Cleary is a translator of fiction, criticism, and poetry. In 2005, she was awarded a Translation Fund grant from the PEN American Center for her work on Oliverio Girondo.

About this title

About the Author

Sergio Chejfec, originally from Argentina, has published numerous works of fiction, poetry, and essays. Among his grants and prizes, he has received fellowships from the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in 2007 and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation in 2000. He teaches at NYU.

Heather Cleary is a translator of fiction, criticism, and poetry. In 2005, she was awarded a Translation Fund grant from the PEN American Center for her work on Oliverio Girondo.

Reviews

In this slim novel, presented as a not-quite-remorseful inner monologue, the unnamed narrator remembers Delia, a young factory worker with whom he was, and likely still is, in love. Delia is not only-predictably-beautiful, but also very poor, and much is said about her "proletarian nature" compared to the narrator's well-educated, middle-class background. He seems compelled to write out of his guilt over having disappeared from Delia's life, after hearing that she was pregnant and knowing he's the father. The book's structure reflects the recurrent torment of heartbreak, reliving past moments over and over again, but with a distance that, in this case, keeps both characters vague. The prose has the feel of a diary, with frequent interjections referencing the writing process itself: "One doesn't write to uncover what it is hidden, but rather to obscure it further." Unfortunately, as anyone who's ever listened to another person recount a breakup might know, fixation gets old fast. While Chejfec, a Jewish Argentinian writer, creates a philosophical tone that does capture something essential about suffering, along with an intellectually interesting lack of action, the overall result feels redundant and dull.

Edition details

• Publisher: Open Letter Books
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1934824437
• ISBN 13: 9781934824436
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 143