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Louise's Reviews > Zone
Zone
by
by
A spy (or political operative) who had been working the “Zone� (an area that seems to incorporate counties on the Mediterranean in Europe and Africa) for 30 or so years is traveling south through Italy on a train. He is carrying a suitcase with names and sensitive information for buyers at the Vatican. He will be well paid for this. After delivery he plans to change his identity and retire. On this train trip he reminisces about his long and eventful career.
Most of the book is one long sentence. There are a few eye-friendly chapters that tell the story of a book he is reading, the high drama of which parallels the high drama of his own life.
The stream of consciousness narrative is loaded with atrocities. Almost every page has a reference to cruelty, death, starvation, assassination, and/or the miserable condition of refugees, captives and other survivors. Even his art and literary references are grim: Caravaggio’s decapitation painting, Burroughs killing his wife and Lowry choking his. There are some tame (among the bloody) references to ancient history and classical literature, some quite subtle (“grey-fingered dawn�).
The story spans decades; it sometimes goes back centuries. I got the most out of this book when he was recounting his experience of history I understood. Not knowing much about Croatia and the Balkan wars, I was in the dark a lot.
The narrator, Francis, soon to be Yvan, gives short capsules of his personal life. The portrait of his mother is the best drawn character. Girlfriend, Stephanie, is described as he sees her (she would have to be more complex than the portrait he paints). There are other women, and, because he is sharing everything seedy, there are whore houses. He has a noted proclivity towards alcoholism. The attitude is “seen it all�.
The book has received a lot of recognition, and a few awards. I found it difficult and at times tedious. I recognize the knowledge a writer must have to create such a work (two stars for scope) but I found little enjoyment in it. If I hadn’t received this book as a gift, I’d never have finished it.
Most of the book is one long sentence. There are a few eye-friendly chapters that tell the story of a book he is reading, the high drama of which parallels the high drama of his own life.
The stream of consciousness narrative is loaded with atrocities. Almost every page has a reference to cruelty, death, starvation, assassination, and/or the miserable condition of refugees, captives and other survivors. Even his art and literary references are grim: Caravaggio’s decapitation painting, Burroughs killing his wife and Lowry choking his. There are some tame (among the bloody) references to ancient history and classical literature, some quite subtle (“grey-fingered dawn�).
The story spans decades; it sometimes goes back centuries. I got the most out of this book when he was recounting his experience of history I understood. Not knowing much about Croatia and the Balkan wars, I was in the dark a lot.
The narrator, Francis, soon to be Yvan, gives short capsules of his personal life. The portrait of his mother is the best drawn character. Girlfriend, Stephanie, is described as he sees her (she would have to be more complex than the portrait he paints). There are other women, and, because he is sharing everything seedy, there are whore houses. He has a noted proclivity towards alcoholism. The attitude is “seen it all�.
The book has received a lot of recognition, and a few awards. I found it difficult and at times tedious. I recognize the knowledge a writer must have to create such a work (two stars for scope) but I found little enjoyment in it. If I hadn’t received this book as a gift, I’d never have finished it.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
February 16, 2017
–
Finished Reading
February 18, 2017
– Shelved
February 18, 2017
– Shelved as:
fiction
