Mark Lavorato

this book was selected as the september read, by the in-person book group that is trying to find its feet in our neighbourhood. we are meeting tonight to talk about.

i found this an interesting read, and it is clear lavorato did a mountain of research in support of his novel. while neither serafim or claire are particularly sympathetic characters, you can't help but hope the best for them as they seemingly move from one disappointment or act of violence and violation to the next. lavorato's writing is lovely, his experience as a poet is evident in the prose. the novel deals with some really big themes: politics, religion, art, feminism and the women's movement, immigration, morality, class systems, language, family... there is a lot going on in this book. and i think this is where things didn't quite hold together for me. i understand the weaving of all these subjects through his characters - especially as serafim is on the leading edge of what will become photojournalism - but the sheer number of ideas fragmented the flow of the read quite a bit for me. oddly, i felt a little impatient with the story - it seemed to take a long time for claire and serafim to finally connect. (oddly, as i am not, generally, an impatient person.) i quite liked the secondary characters, and found they added a lot of interest for me while i was reading. (claire's grandmother, and seraphim's friend antonino, in particular.)

the author noted in an interview that serafim and claire is "about obsession with your art", and i definitely felt this. though when it came to claire, her obsession does seem to shift to the more nebulous concept of fame as the story progresses, which made for good contemplation.

"saudad" is mentioned in the book, as an untranslatable portuguese word which describes the longing for things that are absent but that may never have been had in the first place. this concept, in the context of fiction, is fantastic! perhaps it could have been the title?… (meer)