Crossings
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4.3 • 4 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE VOSS LITERARY AWARD 2020
LONGLISTED FOR THE INDIE BOOK AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION 2020
I didn't write this book. I stole it...
A Parisian bookbinder stumbles across a manuscript containing three stories, each as unlikely as the other.
The first, 'The Education of a Monster', is a letter penned by the poet Charles Baudelaire to an illiterate girl. The second, 'City of Ghosts', is a noir romance set in Paris in 1940 as the Germans are invading. The third, 'Tales of the Albatross', is the strangest of the three: the autobiography of a deathless enchantress. Together, they tell the tale of two lost souls peregrinating through time.
An unforgettable tour de force with echoes of Roberto Bolaño, David Mitchell and Umberto Eco, Crossings is a novel in three parts, designed to be read in two different directions, spanning a hundred and fifty years and seven lifetimes.
PRAISE FOR CROSSINGS
'The style is in the tradition of storytelling of old, where tales are told rather than shown, and somewhat like Scheherazade (who is referenced in the book) the reader is seduced by the telling.' Readings
'[An] elegant and unusual début' Australian Book Review
'Just as the dolls fit into one another, Crossings all makes sense at the end, neatly and satisfactorily resolving its multiple narrative threads and possibilities with grace, attention to detail and emotional acuity. No matter which narrative path a reader takes, there is no sense of confusion or dissatisfaction, just a little sadness at having to farewell such a fine book.' Sydney Morning Herald
'Romance, mystery, history, and magical invention dance across centuries in an impressive debut novel. Landragin layers historical fiction, metafiction, mystery, fantasy, myth, and romance in a way that might remind readers of such books as Cloud Atlas, Life After Life, The Time Traveler's Wife-or even Dan Brown's conspiracy-based adventures, albeit with more elegant prose Landragin carries off the whole handsomely written enterprise with panache. This novel intrigues and delights with an assured orchestration of historical research and imaginative flights.' Kirkus Reviews
'This novel is outstanding for its sheer inventiveness. The alternative ordering of chapters creates a tension that heightens the awareness of the interlocking aspects of time and space, while deft writing seduces the reader in a complex tale of pursuit, denial, and retribution moving from past to future. Highly recommended.' Library Journal
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Landragin careens through time, space, and multiple genres in his ambitious, sparkling debut. The reader is given a choice in the preface by the first of many narrators, a Paris bookbinder who claims to have discovered a manuscript: read it cover to cover, or follow mysterious instructions for zigzagging through three separate narratives. One of these is purportedly a lost story written by the poet Charles Baudelaire. Another follows doomed lovers, a mysterious woman named Madeleine and a man who may or may not be the German-Jewish writer Walter Benjamin, searching for Baudelaire's lost manuscript on the eve of the Nazi occupation of Paris. The third is told by a pre-colonial south sea island magus who travels through history via the souls of others, including Baudelaire and Madeleine, to link the three stories together. Landragin colors each section with playful references to other historical figures, from French navigator Etienne Marchand to Coco Chanel and Arthur Koestler. While tacking back and forth through the three narratives is going to require more effort than some readers will be willing to give, the author has a talent for injecting intrigue and answers into his literary puzzle at all the right moments while deepening themes of memory and migration. Landragin's seductive literary romp shines as a celebration of the act of storytelling.
Customer Reviews
Clever, I think
3.5 stars
Author
Born in France, migrated to Australia as a child, worked as a travel writer and lived at various times in Marseille, Alice Springs, Paris, New Orleans and rural Virginia. Now lives in Los Angeles. (No accounting for taste)
He’s also worked as an editor, journalist, blogger, librarian, indigenous community worker, cheesemaker, wine merchant and musician. He says his fiction explores place, migration and literature's formal possibilities. All right-y then.
Premise
Bookbinder in Paris stumbles across a manuscript containing three stories: a letter by Baudelaire to an illiterate girl, a noir romance set in 1940 as the Germans are invading Paris, and the autobiography of a zombie enchantress. Not only that, you can read the book in two different ways: the conventional way straight through, or the Baroness’s way, which jumps backwards and forwards between the stories to form a novel-like narrative. Or so Mr L reckons.
Plot
Um…Interesting?
Characters
Well drawn considering. (See above.)
Prose
First class
Bottom line
Not sure what to make of this except it’s clever, too clever for an ageing white guy. To quote the blurb, it’s, “the tale of two lost souls peregrinating through time. An unforgettable tour de force…spanning a hundred and fifty years and seven lifetimes.” So there.