The Dark bookcover

The Dark

Sergio Chejfec 

(Author)

Heather Cleary 

(Translator)
4.9/5.0
21,000+ Reviews
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Description

"Early in Sergio Chejfec's The Dark, the nameless narrator describes his disorientation when looking over a landscape as 'the vertigo of simple things.' This phrase describes the experience of reading Chejfec's novel. . . . These moments, when Chejfec combines exquisite prose with the human yearning for truth and beauty, keep us reading, weighing the novel's contradictions, sifting through the narrator's abstract reflections in search of his life's meaning."--Rain Taxi

Opening with the presently shut-in narrator reminiscing about a past relationship with Delia, a young factory worker, The Dark employs Chejfec's signature style with an emphasis on the geography and motion of the mind, to recount the time the narrator spent with this multifaceted, yet somewhat absent, woman. On their daily walks he becomes privy to the ways in which the working class functions; he studies and analyzes its structure and mindset, finding it incredibly organized, self-explanatory, and even beautiful. He repeatedly attempts to apply his 'book' knowledge to explain what he sees and wants to understand of Delia's existence, and though the difference between their social classes is initially a source of great intrigue--if not obsession--he must eventually learn that there comes a point where the boundary between observer and participant can dissolve with disarming speed.

In a voice that favors erudite distance, yet simultaneously demands intimate attention, The Dark is the most captivating example of Sergio Chejfec's unique narrative approach, and a resonant novel that calls into question the necessity, risks, and fallout behind the desire and attempt to know another person.

Sergio Chejfec, originally from Argentina, has published numerous works of fiction, poetry, and essays. Among his grants and prizes, he has received fellowships from the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in 2007 and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation in 2000. He teaches at NYU.

Heather Cleary is a translator of fiction, criticism, and poetry. In 2005, she was awarded a Translation Fund grant from the PEN American Center for her work on Oliverio Girondo.

Product Details

PublisherOpen Letter
Publish DateDecember 11, 2013
Pages143
LanguageEnglish
TypeBook iconPaperback / softback
EAN/UPC9781934824436
Dimensions8.5 X 5.6 X 0.4 inches | 0.5 pounds
BISAC Categories: Literary Fiction,

About the Author

Sergio Chejfec, originally from Argentina, has published numerous works of fiction, poetry, and essays. Among his grants and prizes, he has received fellowships from the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in 2007 and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation in 2000. He teaches at NYU.

Heather Cleary is a translator of fiction, criticism, and poetry. In 2005, she was awarded a Translation Fund grant from the PEN American Center for her work on Oliverio Girondo.

Reviews

"There is a constant dance between author and narrator, the physical and the intangible, the arbitrary and the logical. The environment [Chejfec] builds in his novels is based on assumptions, misunderstandings, suspicions, and opinions."--Justin Alverez, Music & Literature

"What's different about The Dark, compared with Chejfec's previously translated work, is the constant dance between author and narrator, which plays out as a dialogue between commentary on the world of novels and the story itself."--Words Without Borders

"A wistful, winding contemplation of that long dark night of the soul."--Kirkus Reviews

"The Dark adds a new dimension to the dual themes of geography and streaming consciousness that Chejfec loves. Here is a narrator who is also, at long last, a character. One whose moral compass points somewhere; who has stopped moving; who has instead restricted himself to a narrow physical and mental space; who no longer goes outside. Here is narrator left alone. Consigned, as it were, to the dark."--Necessary Fiction

"Although traditional plot is absent, this allows the author plenty of space to digress brilliantly about walking, factory workers and the notion of geography. Quiet, disturbing and utterly original, The Dark is a revelation. Perfect for fans of W.G. Sebald and Thomas Bernhard."--Brazos Bookstore

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