Kazim Ali introduces five autofiction novellas by Kristjana
Gunnars-available in the U.S. for the first time, in a single,
handsome volume Between the late eighties and late nineties,
Kristjana Gunnars published five transgeneric novels comprised of a
scintillating blend of fiction, autobiography, literary theory, and
philosophy. Elusive and poetic... rigorous yet passionate...these
books were treasured by a devoted readership and have been lauded
by critics throughout the years since. - Kazim Ali, from the
introduction From a childhood in Cold War Iceland to love affairs
and deaths, these short works document a life of perpetual motion,
told a discontinuous, subversive style to reflect the singular,
feminist, nomadic life of the narrator. It is a life of thought, an
ongoing engagement with writers from Proust to Kierkegaard to
Kristeva, seeking and often finding a companionship in the writing
of others. These five spellbinding narratives act as a bending bow,
open to what life has to offer day by day and taking the gentler
course, wherein nothing is forced and life's big questions remain
beautifully unanswered. The Prowler is a reminiscence of childhood
spent in Iceland, seen from a distance with the Cold War as a
backdrop, just before the hyper-modernization of the mid-sixties,
when the air of the past was still discernible. When an orange was
a delicacy against the darkness. This is Gunnars' most lauded
novella. Zero Hour is a contemplation and remembrance of the
narrator's father and his death. The narrative traces the course of
the father's illness and final moments, and confronts the reality
and grief of absolute endings. The Substance of Forgetting is
ultimately about happiness. Set in a lush valley in central B.C.,
the narrator begins to awaken to possibilities of love and
transcendence. The Rose Garden is set in Germany and the narrator
is on an academic exchange wherein all that happens are things that
are not supposed to happen. Night Train to Nykobing is a darker
exploration of life's (and love's) unknowns and the dangers
inherent in choices we make. The narrator is travelling between
Vancouver and Oslo in a continuous back and forth that gives rise
to a sense of the liminality of life itself. "The intimacy, grace,
and intelligence of these narratives is remarkable. The mystery and
quietude honours the beauty of the everyday as it passes, while
simultaneously gesturing to vast other worlds. Often I was taken by
its openings and distances, and a marvellous, almost translucent
quality that permeates the texts. Oddly, at times it felt as if I
were inside a whispering many-chambered shell - resonant, enclosed,
pearlescent - the pleasure afforded, enormous." - Carole Maso,
author of Ghost Dance "From 1989 to 1998, the Icelandic-Canadian
writer Kristjana Gunnars published five novellas, each detailing
specific moments in the writer's life. Gathered here for the first
time, they offer a significant new strand of thinking about the
rise of autofiction and the history of innovative women's writing
in Canada. If you loved discovering Annie Ernaux, you'll love
discovering Kristjana Gunnars." - Sina Queyras, author of Lemon
Hound
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