Walter Abish: Alphabetical Africa

[nnyhav]

Walter Abish, Alphabetical Africa: Running the gamut (or is it gauntlet?) from A to Z and back again; the constraint (of which one is always aware, or one of them anyway, as others seem to be in force at times, provisionally, checking as one progresses) interacts with the story in curious ways, surprisingly richly; even so, the conceit gets in the way, however ingenious the ways around it (but then something Dictionary Johnson said about dogs comes to mind): All in, ***00+, maybe ****0

Add: I see complete-review has its say (http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/abishw/aafrica.htm) along these lines.

[Stewart]

I was reading the Complete Review's summary earlier in the week as Alphabetical Africa is one of those books I always think of buying but never do. Abish doesn't appear to be all that available in the UK, the only book I've ever seen being How German Is It? in Penguin's Modern Classics range.

Seeing that Abish couldn't meet his own restriction, does it let the book down much? Also, since the first (and last) chapters use words beginning with the letter 'a' only, how long are these chapters? It must be hard to keep such a trick going for more than a few pages at most.

[nnyhav]

I was reading the Complete Review's summary earlier in the week as Alphabetical Africa is one of those books I always think of buying but never do. Abish doesn't appear to be all that available in the UK, the only book I've ever seen being How German Is It? in Penguin's Modern Classics range.

It had been at least a couple years since I'd seen C-R's review; this is one of those books, at least by my preference, that it's best to get into without too much preconception. That said, I'll address some of the finer points below for those who shan't be spoilt.


Seeing that Abish couldn't meet his own restriction, does it let the book down much? Also, since the first (and last) chapters use words beginning with the letter 'a' only, how long are these chapters? It must be hard to keep such a trick going for more than a few pages at most.

One precept of Oulipo writing (which this follows) is that rules are made to be broken, but in such a way that follows it in spirit if not to the letter. (Another precept is not to be too explicit about the rule, to disguise its application.) The 52 chapters are contained in 152 pages, so it's not extension of individual chapters that's remarkable (nor does length depend on how many or few letters are in use).

The first error I noted was in the first 'H' chapter, "one (rather than a) hundred and fifty doors ...", the second in the next chapter, "I used to draw Alva." But whether these are intended to lead to something (one used to ...) I can't say, being too lazy to take the rest apart word by word; it might also be signalling what's in proximity. That said, knowledge of the constraint being imposed changes the mechanics of reading as well, likened to but not quite proofreading, and of sorting out what's going on with the text along with the plot. I mentioned provisional rules above; an example is that for a long stretch Abish ensures that all letters prior to the one in use are initially included, then violates this first subtly then in extremis. Anyway, figuring out how to read it is part of the point, what's being brought to the forefront by Abish.