A Review of "Samedi the Deafness"

Last night I finished Samedi the Deafness, by Jesse Ball. It was not your average novel and I still feel odd. I like that. I don't always like your average literary novel about devastating relationships or the day someone learned a family secret. Those stories can be interesting but never so absorbing as good genre writing that requires an actual plot. But this isn't genre, nor is it your average literary novel. So what is it?

I'm not sure it is a novel at all. Maybe it was a series of prose poems that fit together to describe an overall theme of deceit. It is a story of deceit, of a man who is caught up in a conspiracy. The conspirators are exceptional liars, for their political cause and for their own amusement. Perhaps it is because they work in a special sanatorium specifically designed to cure chronic liars. But the main character, James Sim, is a mnemonist. This is a great made-up profession for someone who is caught in a conspiracy.

From the beginning to the end of this book, I kept wondering if each short passage or story would later be revealed to be a lie or illusion. You have to love that. The book is a fiction, after all and as readers, we are used to believing every word of the writer. We are used to true works of fiction rather than fiction that contains multiple lies. That is, unless we are reading mystery or spy novels. In those the deceit is expected.

In other reviews, the book is called Kafkaesque, a bit like David Lynch, or like a tale told by Lewis Carroll. I agree with this last description the most. This is partially due to the seemingly unconnected encounters that our hero experiences throughout the story. It is also due to the introduction of childhood memories in a series of dreamlike flashbacks. True episodes from his past are mixed with memories of his playtime. When I think about it, my own memories of childhood are just as confused. Just like his imaginary owl, my childhood recurring dreams or even the imagined settings that my friends and I invented at recess are just as real as my first day of school.

Does this review offer any insight into the book? I hope it does. Then again, it might make no sense at all because I haven't really finished. The words and images are still falling into place in my mind. You see, a good book stays with you even after the last page is read and it makes you feel slightly odd, which I like.

This book was recommended to me and I recommend it too.