Childish Literature
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- CHF 6.00
Beschreibung des Verlags
How do we write about the singular experience of parenthood? Written in a 'state of attachment', or 'under the influence' of fatherhood, Childish Literature is an eclectic guide for novice parents, showing how the birth and growth of a child changes not only the present and the future, but also reshapes our perceptions of the past. Shifting from moving dispatches from his son's first year of existence, to a treatise on 'football sadness', to a psychedelic narrative where a man tries, mid-magic mushroom trip, to re-learn the subtle art of crawling, this latest work from Alejandro Zambra shows how children shield adults from despondency, self-absorption and the tyrannies of chronological time. At once a chronicle of fatherhood, a letter to a child and a work of fiction, Childish Literature is the latest, virtuosic addition to the oeuvre of one of the most exciting Latin American writers in recent decades.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Zambra (Chilean Poet) considers new fatherhood in this eclectic mix of poetry and prose. The title essay, composed of vignettes addressed to his newborn son, Silvestre, is particularly lovely: "Your arrival forever changes... the meanings of all the words." Several pieces depict the challenges of parenting young children during the Covid-19 lockdowns, as in "Screen Time," a short, humorous story about the lengths to which some adults go to limit their child's television exposure while preserving their own. "Childhood's Childhood" is more reflective, as the author contemplates the origins of childhood memories and whether today's fraught times are worth recording and recalling: "What will my son remember of this horrible year?" he asks himself a year into the Covid-19 pandemic. The nature of memory is a recurring theme, both in Zambra's role as a father chronicling his son's childhood and as a son interrogating his own youthful memories of a misunderstood incident with his father. The repetitions can be taxing, but the author deploys his characteristic charm. Zambra's joy is contagious in this nuanced exploration of "the mysteries of happiness."
