Be Specific About About Books Night Letters
| Title | : | Night Letters |
| Author | : | Robert Dessaix |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Picador Australia |
| Pages | : | Pages: 276 pages |
| Published | : | August 1st 1997 by Pan Macmillan Australia (first published January 1st 1996) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Travel. Cultural. Australia. Classics. Italy |
Robert Dessaix
Paperback | Pages: 276 pages Rating: 3.81 | 322 Users | 28 Reviews
Chronicle Supposing Books Night Letters
This is a beautiful and lyrical book that uses both a literal and metaphorical journey to explore how life's meaning changes when the narrator encounters his mortality sooner than he might have hoped.I love the way this book is almost a practical guide to the consolations offered by art, literature, and philosophy. Themes including representations of The Annunciation (cleverly juxtaposed with getting the news of his disease diagnosis) or Dante's delineations of Hell or stories (such as a narrative about the persecution and imprisonment of Casanova) infuse the life of the narrator, influencing his point of view and changing his course of action. Even the last words of the book are an image, as the narrator sends a postcard of Giacometti's sculpture, "Walking Woman" to symbolize the start of his return home.
There are many references to travel literature and the narrator mulls over what the experience of travel is meant to "do" for the person making the journey. For example, is our journey (including our journey through life) meant to be a programmatic series of accomplishments? If so, it is a tragedy to not have time to finish our list of accomplishments and sights to see. Or is our journey more meaningfully measured by the quality of experiences along the way? This view is less subject to the constraints of time (and mortality) and, while still a tragedy, it is at least a tragedy of different proportions. This, at least, is what I make from a first reading, but Night Letters is definitely a book worth reading more than once. I'm going to explore some of the books Dessaix references before returning to it. (Each of the three sections of the book is followed with humorously acerbic yet informative notes, presumably from the pen of the fictitious editor of these letters, Igor Miasmov.)
Present Books As Night Letters
| Original Title: | Night Letters: A Novel |
| ISBN: | 0330359916 (ISBN13: 9780330359917) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | Italy Venice(Italy) |
| Literary Awards: | Australian Booksellers Association Book of the Year (1996), Australian Literature Society Gold Medal (1997), ALS Gold Medal (1997) |
Rating About Books Night Letters
Ratings: 3.81 From 322 Users | 28 ReviewsWrite Up About Books Night Letters
This was rather... interesting. I still have some questions, but I guess I will never know. It did open my mind on certain subjects, such as life and death, and it mentioned a few historical figures and described many places around Italy. I would give this book a 3.7.I would not have chosen it, but as a gift I read it and ended up enjoying it. It's had great reviews. There are short stories told withing the larger book and these held the greatest appeal for me.
A pleasant read, held my engagement, but I was left wondering....did I miss the point? (This could be more a reflection on me than the book, but nevertheless ...)
This is a beautiful and lyrical book that uses both a literal and metaphorical journey to explore how life's meaning changes when the narrator encounters his mortality sooner than he might have hoped. I love the way this book is almost a practical guide to the consolations offered by art, literature, and philosophy. Themes including representations of The Annunciation (cleverly juxtaposed with getting the news of his disease diagnosis) or Dante's delineations of Hell or stories (such as a
There is a dearth of Australian fiction about HIV/AIDS apart from Holding The Man and Take Me To Paris, Johnny, there's not much in which HIV is a central theme. Dessaix wrote Night Letters in the mid-1990s when he was coming to terms with his own HIV diagnosis, but the book never mentions the incurable disease its narrator is dying from. This is a semi-autobiographical roman à clef in which HIV plays a supporting role. It's a beautifully crafted meditation on mortality, literature and the
At first glance I thought this novel was just a collection of travel writings but it is so much more. It is a meditation on life and death and travel as metaphor for escaping. Two stories told to the letterwriter are actually about escape and of course that's what our narrator wants to do when he hears his diagnosis. To my mind though I like the cross current of location and story. I just found the third story rather weak compared to the other two and didn't get a sense of Padua as opposed to
A pleasant read, held my engagement, but I was left wondering....did I miss the point? (This could be more a reflection on me than the book, but nevertheless ...)
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