Publisher Spotlight Dalkey Archive Press: Review of The Faster I Walk, The Smaller I Am, by Kjersti A. Skomsvold

The Faster I Walk, The Smaller I Am by Kjersti A. Skomsvold. Published 2011 by Dalkey Archive Press. Literary Fiction. Translated from Norwegian by Kerri A. Pierce.

The Faster I Walk, The Smaller I Am is a unique, quirky little book narrated by an elderly widow who is trying to find her place in the world as she enters her golden years alone and poor. She and her husband were very close and had created a tight little nest over the years, just the two of them. Mathea Martinsen is an introvert to put it mildly but she wants desperately to reach out to those around her- she just doesn't know how to go about it. She wears a watch because she hopes someone will ask her the time, but they never do. She bakes pastry to bring to a tenants' association meeting but can't resist eating them. She reminisces about her married life. She watches what's left of her life pass by.

It sounds pretty bleak, and this book does take on some dark, serious themes about aging, loneliness and how society fails to provide resources for people in her situation. The narrative is made up of her observations and private thoughts; she's blunt and naive at the same time, with little idea of how she comes across to her audience. Of course in her mind there is no audience, just herself and her keepsakes. Some of Mathea's observations will make you laugh; some will make you sad, but none will leave you unaffected.

The right reader for The Faster I Walk is someone who will like an intensely character-driven, nearly plot-free narrative, an eccentric point of view and a bittersweet ending. Books like this one are the reason I love small presses. You just don't find this kind of voice from more mainstream sources. It's a really lovely little book, one of the most unusual and delightful novels I've come across in a while.

Rating: BUY

See other posts in this Publishers Spotlight series:

• Interview with Director John O'Brien,
• Review of The Truth About Marie, by Jean-Philippe Toussaint

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for review from Dalkey Archive Press.

Publisher Spotlight Dalkey Archive Press: Review of The Truth About Marie, by Jean-Philippe Toussaint

The Truth About Marie, by Jean-Philippe Toussaint. Published 2010 by Dalkey Archive Press. Translated from the French by Matthew B. Smith.

The Truth About Marie is a short, dense little novel narrated by the former lover of the eponymous Marie, a beautiful woman whose lover dies in her apartment. The narrative follows Marie over several locations and times; the second part takes place before the first, and details the narrator's observations of Marie's relationship with her lover.

Later on, thinking back on the last few hours of that sweltering night, I realized we had made love at the same time Marie and I, but not with each other. At a certain moment in the night-during a sudden heat wave in Paris, for three straight days in the temperature reached thirty-eight centigrade and fell no lower than thirty- Marie and I were making love in Paris in two apartments a mere half mile apart, as the crow files. We couldn't have imagined at the night's start, or later, or at any time for that matter, it was simply inconceivable, that we'd see each other that night....

There is almost no plot; the story, as it is, is entirely about the narrator's fascination with and observations of Marie. There is virtually no dialogue; the book is like an extended interior monologue, with all of the repetitions and personal motifs you'd find in someone's inner thoughts. In the first part, the narrator fascinates over the fact that he and Marie were with their lovers at the same time, in the same building; he lingers over the details of her apartment, her actions but can't get the dead man's name right. The next part takes us to an art exhibition in Japan where Marie met her dead lover.

The last part is the most intense and moving, recounting a fire on the island of Elba, replete with detailed imagery and rhythmic, poetical language. Horses figure prominently in the story; Marie's lover is a racing aficionado and the fire at Elba consumes a stable. Light, real and metaphorical, dominates the story; Toussaint's repetition of certain phrases gives the narrative a musical quality. The Truth About Marie is an unusual but wonderful little gem of a book, highly recommended for readers of literary fiction. Love stories, stories of obsession and erotic fascination may not be unusual but this little book isn't like anything you've read before.

See my interview with Dalkey's John O'Brien here and come back tomorrow for part 3 in this Publisher Spotlight series.

Rating: BUY

The Truth about Marie (French Literature)
by Jean Philippe Toussaint

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FTC Disclosure: I did not receive this book for review.