Books No. 45-46

Book #45 was "Aurelia, followed by Sylvie" by Gerard de Nerval. Nerval is a French Romantic writer, perhaps better known for his plays and poetry than his prose. He struggled with mental illness for the last decade of his life. He fell into obscurity after his death, but the Surrealists liked him and sort of "rehabilitated" his reputation in the early 20th century. These two novellas both center on the same theme: the author's real-life infatuation with an actress named Jenny Colon and his other failed love affairs. "Sylvie" is the more traditional novella with more of a standard plot, and while it has some autobiographical elements, it is fiction. Our main character has a childhood sweetheart named Sylvie, and he is wishy-washy about her, doting on her, then focusing his attention on another girl, then coming back to Sylvie, and ultimately losing her because of his weakness and his preference for fantasy women over the reality of the woman at hand. Aurelia is more closely autobiographical and talks in detail about Nerval's periods of madness and hallucination. I've rarely read any description of mental illness as lucid and beautiful as Nerval's. It has fantastic imagery, like a giant woman's body being torn asunder, and a huge llama with wings being infused with molten metal to bring it alive (mystical steampunk llama!!!). This was especially interesting to read just after having read "Byron in Love," because I'm pretty well-versed in the English Romantics but knew very little about the Romantic movement in France or other countries. I enjoyed it, but I'd only recommend this to people who have some patience with experimental fiction or people who are interested in first-hand accounts of mental illness (probably either schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorder).

Book #46 was "Not My Father's Son" by Alan Cumming, as an audiobook read by the author. This memoir is about Cumming going back and exploring his childhood and family roots when he appears on a British show about genealogy called "Who Do You Think You Are?" He expects to find out some interesting tidbits about his mother's father, but as he prepares for filming, he gets a bombshell from his father, who tells him that he believes Alan isn't his biological son. Cumming goes back to explore the physical and emotional abuse he endured from his father growing up while simultaneously telling the story of what he discovered about his maternal grandfather during the filming of the show. Cumming doesn't pull any punches while describing his abuse, but he's so insightful and compassionate and sprinkles humor liberally throughout that it makes the tougher scenes bearable. I don't want to give any spoilers, but let's just say the book is an emotional rollercoaster. I really, really enjoyed hearing it read by the author with his lovely Scottish accent. Highly recommended

( The other books I've read so far this year: )