#circusghost

Jack Spicer - Billy the kid

The master of my fate, captain of my soul as Timothée Chalamet would say idk I barely know the guy. Classic and gold, Spicer is an amazing writer and this poem is phenomenal. It's quite short and perfect if you want to know more about the wonder that was US American poetry during the 20th century. Of course I'd encourage you to read all of his works, but Billy the Kid is perfect to start somewhere.

Ryunosuke Akutagawa - Hell Screen

Classic and iconic, I've recently pushed further than Rashomon and boy oh boy am I never turning back. Hell Screen is a phenomenal short story displaying all the elegance and cruelty Akutagawa can incorporate in his works. It's mesmerizing, it aches, it's everything I love. I read this story in Jay Rubin's translation (Penguin Classics), and even though I do not speak Japanese so I cannot compare, I dare say it's a very good one.

Lucie Bryon, Thieves

I never recommended comic books before but I wanted to for a change! I am a huge comic book lover, but most of the ones I usually read are not available in english language. This one is, though. Thieves is a beautiful comic about growth, falling in love and finding acceptance in others and in yourself. It's light and heartwarming, like eating candy.

Ottessa Moshfegh, Lapvona

Now, this book exploits one of my biggest plot weaknesses ever, and that is fucked up people in medieval settings. Lapvona tells the story of Marek, a sheperd's son, who'll be caught in a series of unfortunate events, political struggles, and secrets, all inside the town of Lapvona. It's dark and unsettling, the characters are scandalous and horrible, yet sickeningly human. Now, I said to check the TW yourselves, but be very careful with this one, if you can think of a TW, then it's certainly in this book.

Osamu Dazai, Early Light

In the Storybook ND series, this book contains three short stories : Early Light, Three Hundred Views of Mount Fuji, and Villon’s Wife. I'd recommend the three of them, as it's a fantastic dive into Dazai's shorter works. I think that reading his short stories is very important to understand his work and the width of the subjects and stories he wrote about. It helps that once again, in my opinion, the translation chosen by this publishing house is so good.

Rainer Sarnet was born in Rakvere, Estonia, in 1969. He is an estonian director and writer who started his work in animation. His film, November, was released in 2017, and is based on Rehepapp ehk november (the currants of november), a novel by famous estonian writer Andrus Kivirähk.

I have a lot of passions in life, which include black and white movies, folklore, good movies, books, and beautiful sceneries. November might have been just the perfect work for me in all these regards. Released in 2017, the movie is based on a novel, Rehepapp ehk november by Andrus Kivirähk (we will get to this author in another episode of the Circus Bookclub).

A quick note on Rehepapp ehk november, which happens to be one of my favourite novel: I cannot recommend it enough, however it hasn't been translated into english yet, from what I am aware of. You can read it in many other languages though, including finnish, latvian, russian, hungarian, french, etc. It is a great novel and has inspired a lot of artistic creations in Estonia (including this movie and a beautiful graphic novel).

In November, we follow the life of a nameless, fictional estonian village in the 19th century. The action takes place during the month of November, when winter is already there and life becomes harsher. In this village, however, things are not as ordinary as one could think. The villagers seek the help of treasure-bearers (kratts) to steal from each other and accomplish tasks, make deals with the devil at crossroads to buy a soul for their kratt in exchange of their own (fooling him, each time), trick the Plague and some turn into werewolves and ask the advice of witches. It is a strange and fascinating ballet of folktale, mythological themes, somber atmosphere and strange, beautifully written interactions between the villagers and the strange creatures/habits/phenomenas they live with, without questioning them. These strange things are part of the life of the villagers, and their acceptance of them gives to this movie a beautiful and particular ethereal feeling.

I simply love when such weird, strange situations are not perceived as weird and strange by the people living them. In November, these are just part of the story, without taking too much space or being put into question. As we see a kratt stealing, it is simply that: a kratt stealing, not a mystery to be solved. This is I think part of what makes Rainer Sarnet's movie so powerful, this perfect balance between the strange and the mundane.

November is a beautiful movie, with great images and well-written dialogues. It is strange and ethereal, but this strangeness is masterfully crafted, and does not put us outside of the action. From the first shot, the movie creates an atmosphere, a space from which it is impossible to free ourselves from: we have to wait for the credits. November is described as a fantasy horror drama film, and this mix of genres creates an original, unique and inspiring work. There is no movie like this one. As Hideo Kojima said on his twitter account: November is the movie for me.

I cannot encourage you enough to watch it. Not only is it a unique masterpiece, it is perfectly crafted from every angle, be it the scenario, the acting, the photography, the dialogues, the rythm, everything. Everything feels perfectly thought about, controled, and therefore flows perfectly in this strange yet fascinating film that unfolds. The main story itself -although there are many, many stories in this film, is quite simple, and it is a good thing. It allows the universe to unfold and takes all the space it needs and the atmosphere to settle.

Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky is an Ukrainian author born in 1887 in Kyiv, who died in Moscow in 1950. He wrote his works in russian language, and was little published in his lifetime: most of his works were published posthumously.

The Letter Killer Club is a short novel (approx. 100-150pages according to the publisher/language of translation) written in 1926. Its story revolves around the life of a Club, the Letter Killer Club, run by 7 individuals. The story starts when they welcome an 8th member, a writer intrigued by the peculiar people seeing each other once a week, in a quiet room lit by the fireplace.

In the Letter Killer Club, the members think that writing their ideas on paper would denature them. In their philosophy, ideas stay pure when they only stay to this stage: ideas. Every week, the members of the club tell each other their book ideas, scenarios, without ever writting them on paper. Each week, one member speaks. This is how the seven chapters of this book are organized, by the story of one individual, followed or interrupted by the occasionnal remarks or conversations around it (reminding me of Marguerite de Navarre's Heptameron, if some of you are familiar with french late medieval literature here). In these stories, Krzhizhanovsky seems to always explore a philosophical thought, or ideas about literature and what it is to be a writer. This is, according to me, part of what makes this book so interesting to read.

These stories are strange, almost metaphysical at times, funny and tragic. I will not go in details about them so you can fully enjoy this book, should you decide to read it, but what striked me in The Letter Killer Club is how well balanced Krzhizhanovsky's writing was, between telling the stories and the characters of the Club themselves. With very few elements, Krzhizhanovsky succeeds in creating a particular atmosphere, one that engulfs you and makes you feel like you are seated there, amongst them, almost as a 9th member of this strange reunion.

Krzhizhanovsky is an incredible writer. These themes of the idea vs. writing it, putting it on paper, what it is to write, to have ideas, to be a writer, are extremely present in most of his works, but they seem to be particularly explored in this one. During his lifetime, while he wasn't much published, Krzhizhanovsky was very present in literary circles, and therefore certainly involved in many philosophical discussions of what it meant to be a writer at that time. This shows in his works, and he explores these questions in a very clever way.

Krzhizhanovsky's writing is demanding and his ideas need some thinking and time to be well reflected upon, but I believe his works are extremely interesting if you ever want to explore more of the literature of his time. Often using fantastic elements or situations to convey his ideas, his writing is a clever mix of fantastic, abstract, absurd and reflection on writing itself.

I hope this made you curious about this author's works! Krzhizhanovsky has written many short stories as well, and these are also great if you ever want to give a chance to reading his writing.