May 6th7pm
Join the New Directions crew on an odyssey, no caper, called: THE LIFE OF THE MIND (to borrow a beloved expression by Helen DeWitt). We'll read staff favorites and New Directions staples with an emphasis on writerly genius and comic relief; and for each doorstopping magnum opus there's a jewel of a book so slight we could barely get a spine on it. Do you have to have read HERSCHT 07768 to understand HERSCHT 07769? If you know you know. If you don't know, come and find out... there will be wine....
This month we'll discuss Ingeborg Bachmann's legendary novel that is “equal to the best of Virginia Woolf and Samuel Beckett”, Malina, translated by Philip Boehm.
If I was permitted to keep one book only it would be Malina. Malina has everything.— Claire-Louise Bennett
A psychological thriller of a tormented, existential sort. And it’s a love triangle, though a triangle most accurately drawn with dotted lines, given that it’s debatable how many of its members are real....This revised translation appears at a time when the book feels quite contemporary. Though even innovative mainstream fiction now being published reads like “A Is for Apple” compared to Malina, there’s no question that the book shares a spirit with any and all books about the unsought psychological challenges of being a woman in this world. Lucid and powerful.— John Williams - New York Times Book Review
In Malina, originally published in German in 1971, Ingeborg Bachmann invites the reader into a world stretched to the very limits of language. An unnamed narrator, a writer in Vienna, is torn between two men: viewed, through the tilting prism of obsession, she travels further into her own madness, anxiety, and genius. Malina explores love, "deathstyles," the roots of fascism, and passion.
Contact Genay, at bookclubs@mcnallyjackson.com with any questions.
Reserve your place with a $5 voucher, redeemable on the night of the book club meeting on any product in store.