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Torpor

Chris Kraus

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Feb 07, 2015 El rated it really liked it

Shelves: 21st-centurylit, cultural-studies-and-other, anarchism-revolutions, hear-me-roar-and-gender, wanderlust, eastern-central-european-lit, library-borrow

I read this article on Slate.com the other day. The article explains the plot and all that fairly well, so if that's what you're looking for, please clicky-click the link and check that out.

What I want to say is that this little book is one of those books that can destroy you. It can frustrate you and make you want to shake the characters, and it can make you feel better about yourself because you would never put up with [fill-in-the-blank] in any of your relationships. But you would be lying. Y I read this article on Slate.com the other day. The article explains the plot and all that fairly well, so if that's what you're looking for, please clicky-click the link and check that out.

What I want to say is that this little book is one of those books that can destroy you. It can frustrate you and make you want to shake the characters, and it can make you feel better about yourself because you would never put up with [fill-in-the-blank] in any of your relationships. But you would be lying. You probably have put up with [fill-in-the-blank] in one of your relationships, maybe even the one you're in currently. You probably think "Well, that's not the same...", but it is. Everyone puts up with something. And to outsiders, it always looks really sad. And those people may be frustrated with you and want to shake you. Trust me; it's true.

I could relate simultaneously to Sylvie and Jerome at different times in the story, and I think most readers could (if they're honest with themselves). People tend to do all sorts of crazy things to try to keep their marriages together, or to make their partner happy (sometimes even sacrificing a piece of themselves in the process, or hating themselves just the teensiest bit along the way) - maybe not as crazy as going to Romania in the early 90s to try to adopt a baby, but you get my drift.

On their travels we see a lot about their relationship, from both perspectives, and they are both heartbreaking in their bleakness. The article says "bleak", reviews say "bleak"; I hate to be unoriginal, but "bleak" is exactly how it feels. This isn't a bad read, though. It's just hard at times.

Also hard for me was that Sylvie and Jerome take their 13-year-old lap dog with them on this journey of theirs, a sick animal who has recently had a tumor removed. Destroyed me, you guys. Don't talk to me about sick, sad animal-sorts, especially dogs, because I know ALL TEH FEELINGS. This morning on my bus commute I read a scene towards the end where Jerome kissed one side of the dog's muzzle, and Sylvie kissed the other side, and their hands met around the dog's face...

Okay, so I wasn't sobbing in any way that anyone could tell (because I'm a Viking), but inside I was a wreck. How many furry faces have my boyfriend and I kissed exactly like that? How many sick furry friends have we lost?

Moving on.

I loved the glimpse into the early 90s in Eastern Europe since I was in the sixth grade when the Berlin Wall came down and have a different understanding of all the complex issues that still affect everyone. This book was published in 2006 but that doesn't matter - it still feels like 1991 during most of the reading.

This won't be great for everyone. I enjoyed it, it appealed to so many layers of my inner chaos. It's one of those books that just hits a personal chord. I'm glad I came across it - had I seen this at the library on my own, I likely wouldn't have picked it up because the cover feels funny in my hands (yes, it's true), but look what I would have missed. Thank you, Slate.com. And thank you, Chris Kraus. ...more

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