Dante
Wild Reader
Today I've found on The New Yorker this conversation with Fleur Jaeggy.
A good example of "perfect timing", don't you agree?
A good example of "perfect timing", don't you agree?
WLF Prize 2022 - Fleur Jaeggy
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Stevie B
Current Member
She’s as economical in her speech as she is in her writing. Also quirky and enigmatic. Thanks for sharing.
Leseratte
Well-known member
She has something in common with Clarice Lispector. Clarice also hated interviews, specially those soul probing questions. She finished her one famous interview with the sentence: now I am dead!
Bartleby
Moderator
I love that one! Especially when she says "I'm only sad today because I'm tired. Usually I'm happy" hehe
Leseratte
Well-known member
For me it was a good introduction to Jaeggy's fiction.
Liam
Administrator
Same as Jayan, I finished Sweet Days of Discipline this week and while I agree that the prose itself is beautiful (and beautifully captured in the translation), the book fell a little flat for me. I could see nothing insightful or profound about it.
I should, however, add that I've had a lot of work this week, and so I read it pretty quickly in two sittings. Perhaps I ought to reread it to form a conclusive opinion.
I should, however, add that I've had a lot of work this week, and so I read it pretty quickly in two sittings. Perhaps I ought to reread it to form a conclusive opinion.
namelesshere
Reader
I read Sweet Days of Discipline over Christmas and have to concur with Liam's sentiment. It was perfectly pleasant to read the words, but I'm not really sure it all added up to very much. It reminded me of Olivia by Dorothy Strachey, but colder. Which I'm not sure is a temperature that really works when it comes to stories of teenagers at school.
I'll certainly read another though.
I'll certainly read another though.
Ben Jackson
Well-known member
One theme that connects three shortlisted writers for this year's W LF Prize is the theme of memory. But since this is Jaeggy's thread, I will only discuss her (the other two candidates will be reviewed in their respective threads).
Jaeggy's oeuvre, which are small in terms of length, is an exploration of memory written in short, austere, terse and telegraphic style with a blend of surrealistic, gothic imagery. Works have an obsessive drive to dig to the past, unknownability of the other and of the self, family secrets, bleak atmosphere, death and dying, pale and passive relations with absent, emotionally distant and unreliable parents evoking despair, distance and alienation, psychological consequences of lasting impact of child neglect recalling Robert Walser (Sweet Days of Discipline), Patrick Modiano and Ingeborg Bachmann (SS Proleterka, These Possible Lives). Also, illustrating in her work that life's a waiting room for death and sign for human connection for the present in vain. But while she doesn't have the drive to investigate into boundaries of memory like Modiano (a style which I love very much), there's not a doubt that she's one of Europe's most underrated literary weapons.
Jaeggy's oeuvre, which are small in terms of length, is an exploration of memory written in short, austere, terse and telegraphic style with a blend of surrealistic, gothic imagery. Works have an obsessive drive to dig to the past, unknownability of the other and of the self, family secrets, bleak atmosphere, death and dying, pale and passive relations with absent, emotionally distant and unreliable parents evoking despair, distance and alienation, psychological consequences of lasting impact of child neglect recalling Robert Walser (Sweet Days of Discipline), Patrick Modiano and Ingeborg Bachmann (SS Proleterka, These Possible Lives). Also, illustrating in her work that life's a waiting room for death and sign for human connection for the present in vain. But while she doesn't have the drive to investigate into boundaries of memory like Modiano (a style which I love very much), there's not a doubt that she's one of Europe's most underrated literary weapons.
Daydreamer
Well-known member
Nicely put, Ben!
I've only read I am the brother of XX and Water Statues. I'm looking forward to reading more by Jaeggy. She can be emotionally challenging, but I have really enjoyed what I've read so far.
It is so interesting how differently we all read each writer. I guess it's down to personal taste? maybe Jaeggy is cryptic enough so that we all find what we expect to find in her?
I find her work much warmer than Murnane's. I enjoyed The Plains but I felt like there was an undercurrent of mild nihilism, whereas with Jaeggy I feel this certainty that the world is rich in meaning, even when we can't access the meaning...
I've only read I am the brother of XX and Water Statues. I'm looking forward to reading more by Jaeggy. She can be emotionally challenging, but I have really enjoyed what I've read so far.
It is so interesting how differently we all read each writer. I guess it's down to personal taste? maybe Jaeggy is cryptic enough so that we all find what we expect to find in her?
I find her work much warmer than Murnane's. I enjoyed The Plains but I felt like there was an undercurrent of mild nihilism, whereas with Jaeggy I feel this certainty that the world is rich in meaning, even when we can't access the meaning...
Leseratte
Well-known member
I Particularly liked the way you captured her atmosphere.
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