[November 5th 2020 - Zoom]
A compelling and elegantly subversive novel. That this novel caused such a stir in Poland is no surprise. The main character, Janina Duszejko, is an ageing woman who lives in a remote rural Polish village. She was a successful bridge engineer, but now spends most of her time studying astrology as well as translating the poetry of William Blake. Janina is deeply troubled about the world, her place in it and the hierarchy of humans among their fellow animals.
As JH pointed out this novel is almost impossible to categorise. On the surface it appears a murder mystery, but can also be read as an eco-narrative, a dark feminist comedy, an existentialist fable, a paeon to William Blake, or a psychological commentary. It is a provocative exploration of the murky borderland between sanity and madness, justice and tradition, autonomy and fate.
Positive perspectives
The majority of BBBC members enjoyed this novel. For example, CW enjoyed it so much he reread some of it again and wanted to read more by the author. It was well expressed with loads of atmosphere and very good descriptions. He thought it was a fascinating and weird book that allowed the reader to see things from a very different angle. Janina’s approach to nature really made you think about how we all do and should see nature. WM also enjoyed the story and her writing style, specifically the innocent, childlike way in which Janina experiences the world - “The sun had only just risen and, still red from the effort, was casting long sleepy shadows.”
SC thought it was an absorbing read and certainly not what he expected. Started off as a who-done-it, but then developed layer by layer of different themes and issues as the story progressed – but which she managed to successfully connect together as the narrative developed.
SC also commented that the novel raised some interesting issues about astrology – particularly for those who believe in it. Did it mean Janina could foretell her own future and even death, and so allow her to commit these murders in the knowledge /hope that she wouldn’t be caught? Similarly, WM noted that underpinning the story was the belief that all events and behaviours are predestined by the configuration of stars and planets at the hour of birth, which also pre-sets the time and cause of death. Thus, in this system of understanding, Janine is not really culpable for her actions. Though, of course she can still be punished for them, and hence her fear of being arrested and imprisoned.
MW found the book interesting and enjoyable with some great descriptive writing – for example her description of the near-blind dentist who could only work in the summer when it was light enough to see into patients’ mouth. While easy to see Janina as a batty old lady, certainly didn’t expect her to be the murderer. Shift from her being a harmless biddy to serial killer. She got away with it – all the people she murdered seemed to deserve it.
RV thought that it was a very good book - full of very many lovely and interesting observations. It was beautifully written and translated. The book was not a Whodunit, it was a tour-de-force of writing of about both character and ideas, in a rather exceptional style. RV loved the way that the ideas came think and fast, throughout the book – “We have this body of ours, a troublesome piece of luggage…..Fancy being given a body and not knowing anything about it. There’s no instruction manual.” Or “Perhaps that’s the whole point of prayer – to think to yourself in peace, to want nothing, to ask for nothing, but simply to sort out your own mind.”
AA also enjoyed the book - felt it was refreshing, wacky and written with great imagination. A book about the place on earth of humans and animals, with its dreamy, mythical feel and much oddness. He liked its clarity and succinctness and the author’s turn of phrase, and particularly liked the offhand narrator with her thinking-aloud, matter-of-fact style and lots of humour, mainly in the delivery – for example: "And the flowers in his garden are neat and tidy, standing straight and slender, as if they’d been to the gym." AA noted the casual way she drops in revelations, big and small, including about herself – such as having the tv on all day – on the weather channel. Or the way she rails against how older women are invisible, and Janina seemed a little harsh on herself when she says how people see her as a mad old woman - until it becomes increasingly clear that she is.
MT thought it was a different sort of book, quite quirky, quite funny in parts. He liked it and kept him absorbed to the end. He liked I liked the description of the small community, and her strange life. Some of the terms were lovely, such as “testosterone autism”, or "I was a weak as a potato sprout grown in the darkness in the cellar". I laughed at the concept of the dentist with powerful glasses, with one of the lenses taped into place. I thought the church scene was good, and the huge hypocrisy of the vicar, in promoting animal sports. I liked her anger, but I was surprised that she cleverly murdered all the animal 'murderers' .
Most members commented on the quality of the translation by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. For example, SC thought it was a terrific translation, and felt it was one of the best translated books we had read. Specifically members commented on the translators skill when Janina and her companion repeatedly attempt to translate a passage of Blake: several versions of a particular verse are rendered in English, which has been translated from the Polish, which in turn has been translated from English. It is difficult to imagine a trickier task for a translator, or one undertaken with more skill.
More questioning perspectives
Not all members were as effusive in their praise. CB saw it as a curious book which he did not get into, though it was easy enough to read. Only the big reveal at the end helped me understand what was happening in the rest of the book. Maybe others saw it coming. None of the characters are appealing which perhaps fits the harsh and limited life they mainly led. It was hard to remember that the protagonist was a woman and in her sixties. CB started to reread it and came to appreciate the language and descriptions more, for example: “with age, many men come down with testosterone autism, the symptoms of which are a gradual decline in social intelligence and capacity for interpersonal communication, as well as a reduced ability to formulate thoughts”. He also like the descriptions of life on the Plateau, her reactions to her neighbours, the use of nicknames, her appreciation of the animals and forest around her, and her affectionate relationship with her Ailments.
AA noted he didn’t care strongly about any of the characters – less so as the book went on, and felt the story rather petered out until the end part – and lost interest and although he enjoyed reading it wasn’t desperate to keep picking it up. This novel didn’t engage him deeply or teach me anything. He felt it was deceptive in many ways – more complex than it appears, leaving much to the reader, and understating its themes of destructive people and forces going unchallenged.
Janina & William Blake
WM appreciated the construction of the writing, and the way it expressed the complementarity between Janina and Blake with deeply held beliefs and morality expressed in simple words and childlike concepts of right and wrong, as well as retribution. JH noted that the book is imbued with the Blakean conviction of the cleansing power of rage: the vengeance of the weak when justice is denied. “What a good thing death can be,” Janina reflects, contemplating Big Foot’s dead, once so cruel and destructive, now harmless. “How just and fair, like a disinfectant or a vacuum cleaner.”
There is lots anger in this book – some called it righteous anger or that it even reflected a divine wrath. It captures some of Blake’s ideas of retribution and the need to strike back, because if something is wrong you need to do something about it. In this case Janina felt very strongly about what happened to her dogs and to other animals, and that she was treated as either deranged old women, and as such invisible and ignored. Her sense of justice empowered her to get her own back on those who had status and power.
