tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23471801.post5425618190374552915..comments2023-10-21T07:44:20.549-04:00Comments on The Existence Machine: Aharon Appelfeld and historical factRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08014014605639738887noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23471801.post-7314307331983840252007-12-19T16:56:00.000-05:002007-12-19T16:56:00.000-05:00I seem to recall Richard Nixon had a troubled rela...I seem to recall Richard Nixon had a troubled relationship between the facts and his memory of them...<BR/>There really is no doubt of Appelfeld's position, either in his memoir or in his interviews.<BR/>Appelfeld has a new memoir out in English, 'A Table for One' (trans. Aloma Halter). Apparently it partly celebrates cafe culture in Jerusalem: "Only in a Jerusalem cafe do I feel the freedom of imagination." I haven't yet read the memoir but when one considers the history of Jerusalem since the founding of Israel, the institutionalized sectarian discrimination against Israel Arabs in that city, and the continuing violent seizure of Palestinian land and property there, it suggests an extraordinary complacency on Appelfeld's part. Reviewing the book in the Times Literary Supplement (November 30) Toby Lichtig commented that Appelfeld was 'audibly silent on Palestinian life'. Silent on Palestinian death, too.Ellishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11986734200144635608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23471801.post-48579316415441548992007-12-19T12:31:00.000-05:002007-12-19T12:31:00.000-05:00Hi Brendan, thanks for commenting.As it happens, I...Hi Brendan, thanks for commenting.<BR/><BR/>As it happens, I read your review earlier this morning. I appreciate what you're saying. I was reluctant to get <I>too</I> into a discussion of the memoir, or rely too heavily on Ellis' argument for the point I was trying to make... which was more of a question, really.<BR/><BR/>"it is a meditation on the limits of our understanding, the limits of memory, and, especially, the limits of language" I like this, and to be fair, this is what I imagined the memoir essentially was (again, not having yet read it). I guess I'm getting into that old territory of what the writer's responsibility is. I'm not altogether sure myself, hence this post. I'm reluctant, of course, to set anything like rules or guidelines for writers to follow. I certainly don't expect a writer's memoir (or novel!) to "chronicle events or give voice to history". I was trying to make that clear in my post, while still asking my questions, with perhaps limited success.<BR/><BR/>I wonder what our critical response would be to a writer of similar stature and ability writing a memoir like this, say about a childhood spent in war-time Germany or Austria, which elided the Holocaust altogether, not passing over it in silence as Appelfeld does in his novels, but writing <I>as if</I> it either hadn't happened, or was inconsequential. It's difficult to make a fair analogy, but I suspect the response would be quite different to that given to Appelfeld's memoir.<BR/><BR/>But clearly I'll have to read the memoir to decide for myself.<BR/><BR/>Thanks again.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08014014605639738887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23471801.post-61515033220475566192007-12-19T12:14:00.000-05:002007-12-19T12:14:00.000-05:00Richard, I haven't read Ellis' essay yet, but I ha...Richard, I haven't read Ellis' essay yet, but I have read (and greatly admired) much of Appelfeld, including his memoir. I apologize in advance for speaking off the top of my head here, but I think Ellis either does not give enough credit to -- or at least in your quotations of him -- does not allude to one of the central themes of "Story of a Life": the extremely troubled relationship between facts, history, and memory.<BR/><BR/>You say that Appelfeld's memoir seems to be flawed. Well, yes. Appelfeld would say that, too. In fact, I expect he would say that this flaw is the whole point. His book is not meant to chronicle events or give voice to history (any more than a novel ought to be obliged to do those things). Rather, it is a meditation on the limits of our understanding, the limits of memory, and, especially, the limits of language.<BR/><BR/>I don't mean to discredit what Ellis is arguing. But the absence of certain events or explanations is a hallmark of Appelfeld. You rightly point out that the Holocaust is absent but present in many of his novels. That the reader is able to fill in that absence.<BR/><BR/>But in his memoir, the reader is not able to do all of that work. This does not mean that Appelfeld is denying certain facts. I think it just means that he is being faithful to his memory and what that memory means. Again, as you say, this is problematic. But that's the point.<BR/><BR/>My point of view, for what it's worth, can be found in greater coherence here:<BR/><BR/>http://januarymagazine.com/biography/appelfeld.htmlUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14995861579857528157noreply@blogger.com