Sunday, November 19, 2017

Russell Hoban: Kleinzeit

Russell Hoban
Kleinzeit
a novel


When I first began reading Kleinzeit I immediately thought of Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky."   Wrong!  It soon became clear that there was a significant difference.  In "Jabberwocky," Carroll creates words that almost make sense, so that one gets only a general sense of what is happening.   Hoban doesn't make up words; he uses real words  but he uses them in a strange way.  Fortunately they only occur in limited situations, usually when medical personnel are discussing Kleinzeit's symptoms.

For example . . .

Sister nodded with closed eyes, thought of Kleinzeit's blood in the phial she had held, warm in her hand.  The tests had shown a decibel count of 72, a film speed of 18,000 and a negative polarity of 12 percent.  She didn't like the polarity, it might go either way, and the decibels were on the dodgy side.  But his film speed!  She'd never had an 18,000 before.


And later. . .

'That's why I'm asking,' said Dr. Pink.  'I'm not worried about your diapason.  That sort of dissonance is quite a common thing, and with any luck we'll clear it up fairly soon.  The hypotenuse of course is definitely skewed, but not enough to account for a 12 percent polarity.'  Fleshky and Potluck nodded, Krishna shook his head.  'On the other hand,'  Dr. Pink continued,  'the X-Rays  indicate that your asymptotes may be going hyperbolic.'  He felt Kleinzeit here and there  warily, as if sizing up a combatant hidden in him.  ' Not too happy with your pitch.'


Aside from the occasional linguistic muddle, the reader soon discovers that  everything talks: the hospital, the corridors in the underground subway, a mirror, the hospital bed . . .


It is night and Kleinzeit has left the hospital and is standing by the square in front of the hospital.

The day knocked three times at his eyeballs.
Morning for Mr. Kleinzeit, said the day.
I'm Mr. Kleinzeit, said Kleinzeit.
Sign here, please.
Kleinzeit signed.
Thank you very much, sir, said the day, and handed him the morning.
Right, said Kleinzeit.  The square was wide-awake with people, had a hum of cars around it.  Backdrop of buildings, rooftops, sky, traffic noises, world.



Later, the hospital speaks:

Six o'clock in the morning, and Hospital had had enough of sleep.  Drink tea, it said.  Patients sighed, cursed, groaned, opened or closed their eyes, came out  from behind oxygen masks, drank tea.


Or, Kleinzeit's encounter with his mirror one morning: 

He put his face in front of the bathroom mirror. 
I exist, said the mirror.
What about me? said Kleinzeit.
Not my problem, said the mirror.


This does not sound like a very congenial way to begin the day--perhaps an omen, an ominous one of things to come?  


These are not rare occurrences in the novel; they can be found on almost every page.  I find them to be the major attraction in Kleinzeit, as I turn the pages, wondering what next.  By the way, there is a plot here--it's noticeable if you take an overview and ignore most of what's happening in the individual chapters.  And for the romantically inclined, there's even a love subplot  (or perhaps the major plot, depending on what you're looking for in a novel).


This is my second reading. There will be more, for who knows what I've missed this time around.


14 comments:

  1. Interesting. It reminds me my confused lexicon within my dreams. And then there were the times long ago when I imbibed much too much. Hmmm. How does that notion match up with Hoban?

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    1. R.T., a dream state is probably the closest in this novel. Strange things happen, but the dreamer just accepts them, just as Kleinzeit has these bizarre experiences but sees nothing unusual in them.

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    2. And a translation of klein and zeit: insignifant time. Hmmm.

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    3. R.T., yes, that's mentioned in the novel, although Kleinzeit says it means "Hero." Of course, he told this to an attractive nurse, so that may have something to do with his translation.

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  2. this sounds like a terrific book... the excerpt seems like an exercise in pov; and pointing out satirically the one-sidedness of the human ego... looking at reality from different angles would indicate the feelings and observations of other existing things, day, hospital, grass, sky, mudpuddles, etc. i like it; it's very zen... have to, no must, get this book... tx a bunch, Fred...

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    1. Mudpuddle, you're welcome. I consider Russell Hoban to be one of the most inventive and creative writers I've read.

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  3. I tend to like experimental fiction. This book seems to be more experimental them most. I love the way that the medical talk is interchanged with other types of technical jargon.

    I had never heard of Hoban before. I may give him a try.

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    1. Brian, Hoban has a wide variety of published works, from children's books to fantasy to SF. At least one of his novels became a film, Turtle Diary.

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  4. Hi Fred: we just watched "Bokeh" and had sort of blah reactions... ms. m: "that was stupid"... me: " i wanted to see if the old fisherman only had one eye, because that would mean it was a takeoff on Norse mythology"; the trouble was, we agreed, the producers tried to jam too much into one movie: Christian mysticism, Norse/Icelandic history, various sci fi plots, a bit of zen philosophy, be here now isms... i remember a great book: "The Purple Cloud" by M.P. Shiel concerning a polar explorer who is stranded in the Arctic and when he finally gets back he finds everyone has been poisoned by a deadly cloud that missed him... the history of his behavior was pretty well done, i thought... anyway, the scenery was nice-in the film...

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    1. I think I mentioned that I wasn't that impressed after viewing it, but it has stayed with me for some reason. I'm going to watch it again to see what I missed.-

      Perhaps if the producers had focused on one theme and then brought that out, it might have been a stronger film. It was an interesting idea.

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    2. Ms. M added that the film brought to mind Empson's 7 Types of Ambiguity; she has a masters in English and knows stuff like that... i think referring to the multi faceted philosophical indications... but she also said that the film was anti everything because the male person was the only one who saw that the only response possible was keeping on keeping on... there weren't any subtitles, so i didn't know much what was going on except what she said... tx for the recommend; it's been a source of interesting discussion, here, anyway...

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    3. Mudpuddle, what did you think of the ending? How did you interpret that?

      I don't remember any references to the future or to children. Did you find that strange?

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    4. well, there were two endings; both about the same... the guy walks or drives away looking glum, presumably to face the future alone, working on stuff like his wind driven water pump which i thought was slick... i don't think he would act like the protagonist in "The Purple Cloud", though; he was too much of a mechanic...

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    5. He was obviously driving very fast and he had a strained look on his face. I was wondering if he was going to commit suicide.

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