David's Book World – Adventures in reading
Of Books and Bicycles
Sexing the Christie
Description: or, writing about books
books (17128) fiction (3665) reading (3065) literature (1757) nonfiction (498) literary criticism (36)
Ema, the Captive , was César Aira’s second novel and the fourth one read by me. I find Aira somewhat difficult, and I’m not sure how much I enjoyed reading Ema . But since I find him difficult, I tried to do an attentive job of it, and one thing seemed worth watching out for: the nature of Ema’s captivity.
At the time, that struck me as, I don’t want to say stupid , but I didn’t think it was a unique insight. I may have been wrong about that, in a way that reinforces the central absurdity of Ema . Sad!
The novel(la) opens on a wagon train traversing the pampa, dull with sameness of routine and landscape. The monotony is broken after a few pages by a bloody massacre (of viscachas): “It was a lively and even colorful operation, given the relentless monotony of the background against which it unfolded.” You can stop reading here, on page six, because that’s it, that’s the whole thing.
David's Book World – Adventures in reading
Of Books and Bicycles
Sexing the Christie