Misty November Days
As the mists roll in with the colder weather, I am reminded of the first winter we spent in this small town. I was not used to the damp or the way it can creep into your bones just enough for you to wonder if you are in fact actually young anymore. I was also not used to just how beautiful the obscurity of grey skies could be, and how many variations of shade and solidity could exist from dawn to dusk.
It always tempts me to go out and take photos — especially book spooky book photos — but then I am reminded of the impracticality of any kind of moisture anywhere near any old pages. Not to mention taking cats outside in the damp. Some of them don’t mind, but some of them would rather keep their paws pristine and unmuddied, thank you very much. And so I will just enjoy this weather from the cosiness of my sitting room.
Lost In Time, Space, and Meaning
Renata Adler’s novel Pitch Dark is interesting to read and even more interesting to review. Firmly modernist, and re-published after being out of print for decades, it’s a book that is deceptively intricate for its short length. Don’t pick this up and think that you can finish it in an afternoon. You can’t — or, at the very least, you shouldn’t.
The plot seems simple enough on the surface. A young woman has an affair with a married man, and, as the illicit relationship reaches a crossroads, she also collides with a crossroads within herself as she realizes that she doesn’t know who he really is or who she really is either. While the protagonist attempts to run from her problems and her internal states, they instead follow her through settings, atmospheres, and points on the globe. Mundane events take on new meanings and gravitas as the main problem becomes ever more lost in layer upon layer of obfuscation.
It’s a fantastic book, but it is one that you have to have time for. You have to let it breathe.
A Note on Style
If you are unfamiliar with modernism, I am not sure that this is the best place to start. It’s a style that isn’t for those that are attached to plot progression, strict structures, and adherence to linear timeline. Modernism is about keeping an open mind and allowing the words to both wash over you and to guide you, sentence by sentence, towards an overall feeling, impression, exploration, or point.
In Pitch Dark, Adler uses modernism to masterfully explores what it means to be lost. She does this using literal events like getting lost in rural Ireland, juxtaposed with the vagary of the protagonist’s thoughts and feelings. Kate Ennis is a woman that has finally realized how estranged she is from other people and how little she knows about what she wants in life or where she is actually going or where she even wants to go. A raccoon in the house or a minor car accident become events that symbolize her lack of ability to cope with acts and procedures that seem simple and her lack of ability to interpret the actions and motives of others.
Time moves in circles in Pitch Dark, just like Ennis is moving in circles in her own mind. And there are no clear conclusions and no ending. This book is a journey. Enjoy it, but be aware that it will not go in well-worn channels and will defy any kind of meeting of your expectations.
Different Kinds of Darkness
Adler blends literal event with metaphorical ones in a remarkable way. When you read Pitch Dark, you naturally are wondering what kind of darkness the title refers to and where this idea will come into play. However, Adler has gone beyond that. In fact, she’s made darkness the unmistakable, profound core of the book. Ennis is living in a very dark world. She is adrift in the darkness of her head, and the one outside her car windows. The thoughts of others are dark to her. She is both searching for a light and also afraid of it at the same time.
That Adler manages to accomplish such a detailed and multifaceted exploration of darkness and the ideas of darkness in only 150 pages is nothing short of a spectacular feat of nuanced writing.
Snow is Hopefully Coming!
The thing about November is that, at any point in this lovely thirty day stretch of time, the green belt could turn into the snow belt. In other years we’ve been buried before Halloween. This year, the warm temperatures mean that we just have a lot of rain to deal with, but I am holding out hope for some frost and snow and all of those things that I love about winter.
However, I have learned that, as a Canadian, one should mention the snow and any hope for snow with a certain degree of care and grace. Depending on who you’re talking to, talking about snow can almost take a political tone. Yeah, it’s one of the weird aspects of this country that makes me laugh every time.
