sana 2 “The Now Yorker: May 07, 1980 A CRITIC AT LARGE AFTERLIVES: THE CASE OF MACHADO DE ASSIS MAGINE writer who in the course of a moderately long life in ‘which he never tavelled farther than seventyfive miles from the capital city where he was born, crested a huge body of work A nineteenth-centry writer, you will interrupt and you will be right: author of a profusion of novels, novellas, storie, play esas, poetry, reviews, politesl chronicle, at ‘well reporter, magazine editor, gov= cenment bureaucrat, candidate fr pub= lic office, and founding president of his countey’s Academy of Letters: a prode jgy of accomplishment, of the tan seending of social and physiel infir= ry (he seas a mulatto ia country where slavery seas not abolished unl he was almost fy he ws eileptic), who, during this vividly prolific, ex: Uberantly national career, managed 0 ‘write a Saale number of novels and Stories deserving of & permanent place in world literature, nd whose master= pieces, outside his native country, Which honors him as its greatest writer, are litle knows, ‘arly mentioned. Tagine such a writer, who did exist and his most original books, which con tinue woe discovered, more than eighty years after his death. Normally, the fer of time is jst discarding the merely succesful, rest suing the forgotten, pro toting the inderestiated eis in the afterlife of = great writer when the nyse ferious questions of value and permanence are re solved. Pechap iti Biting that this writer, whose af tedife has not brought his ‘work te recognition chat t inert, should himself have had 50 acute, 0 ironic, 0 endearing 2 sense of the postmen WHAT is tne of 2 reputation i trne— should be true—of Tie Since itis only «completed life that reveals i shape and whatever mesning Iife can have, 2 biography hitpdarchives newyorker cor/2i=1990-05-THelio= 102 that means tobe dentine mae walt tater the death of ete. Une foranstcy, autobiographies cant te composed ner thee el cra Stance, And vital all the nou fedona actblographes have epee the Untaion of real oer while Cenjuring up» nested euvsen of the Meinations of death. Fictonal Sutoblographies, even more often han cea ones, tend to be sutomnal tialertakingn a elderly (er; lat lomsenoned) narrator, ving red from life now writes Bus coe a ld age may teing the Seve satog- tapher tothe Weal vanage pol, Be rahe sll writing onthe wrong ie St the frontier heynd wich 2H, Iie ory aly taker ese 1 tnow only one example of that cashalling gene the imaginary sito ography which grant the project of sasbography i dsl—ae it tors fu, cofes--flllmen and that it the maneplece calle Memorias PS ‘nas de Bris Cue” (1880), the Beasiian writer Machado de Anis tnd known in English by the rather intertering vile “Eptaph of » Soul Winner In the Bet paragraph of (Chapter 1, “The Death of the Aue thor" Bek Cabs announce gly“ sm deceased writer notin the sete of ne who has writen and ie now de- ened bt inthe ese of one who as ied and snow writing.” Here the Doves fy rating Joke, and iti out the wes resto. ‘The reader is invited to play the game of conser ing thatthe boo in hands an unpre edened literary fer postamoas re inicences writen in the fst psn ‘OF course noc even single day, souch ler if can ever be eecounted ini entry. A life not plot. Aad auite diferentes of decorom apy tO narrative consraced in the ft person and to one in the third person "To'slow down, to speed up, t0 sip whol tetheyo comment length, {o witold comment todo thea ab san" gives them anther weght, ‘other fel, then to sy ihe about or on Bball cf someone cle. Much of what is acting or por Aonabe or inauerable in the fist person would seen the oppeite if uaered in the td pena, and vie term: an cheatin ely Confirmed ty reading aloud tay. pege fom thi book fim tot and a second tine with he for“ (Te sample. the fierce difer- nce within the cae gor- frniog the third penton, then ty subttng she™ for"he") Therese regi ters of feeling, suchas svi, that only oe enon vole can sccm olate. And aspects of Iacrative performance. st tell digrenivenc for dance, ves nator text writen inthe fe rerion but amateurish in rpececnthirdperon teice, Thus any piece of Yering that fenures an Fares oft own meats td methods should be une anssana The New Yorker: May 07, 1980 103 erstood as in the fret person, whether and-tare rhythms: a hundeed and sity for nat the main pronoun i ‘haptes, several as brief a two sen- To write about oneself, to tell the tence, few longer than two pages Te true that the private—story, used ie inthe playful directions, usualy at to be felt to be presumproous, and to the beginning or end of chapters, for need justifying. Montalgne’s “Es- making the best use ofthe tex “This says,” Rousteau's “Confessions,” chapter i to be inserted between the ‘Thoreau’s “Walden,” and most ofthe Sem «wo sentences of Chapter 129"; ‘other spiritually ambitious clasie of “Please note that thie chapter it not [toblography have a_ prologue in. intended to be profound”; "Tut Tet us Thich the author drecdy adéreses the not become involved in paychologys et reader, acknowledging the temeriy of cetera. It is in the pulse of ionic the enterprise, evoking scruples or in- attention to che book’s means and Iuibitons (modesty, anxiety) rmethods, the repented dis- that had to be overcome, Isj~ svowal of large claims onthe ing claim toan exemplary a= ‘reader's emotions T Fike lly Tess of candor, alleging chaptera” Asking the reader the usefulness to others of sl fo indulge the narrators pen this self-abvorption, Like real chant for frivolity is a8 mich sutobiographies, most Setion- fa seducer’s ploy as promis- autobiographies of any syliahness or ing the reader strong enations and fepth also start with an explanation, new knowledge. The autobiographer’s delenive or defiant, ofthe decision to. suave fussing over the accuracy of his write the book the reader has just narrative procedures parodies the in- | Ieee eats begun—er, a less, a Hourish of self- tensity of his self-absorption. tere deprecation, suggesting an attractive Digression ithe main techniqe for | MSM amen sensitivity to the charge of egotiem, conroling the emotional ow of this Sate i. This ia no mere theost-clearing, some book. The narrator whose head is ull entieny polite sentences to give the reader time of literature shows himself adept at Parca toy to be sented. Iris the opening shot ine expert descriptions—of the kind Aat~ ‘campaign of seduction, in which the tered with the name of telism—thae | =< futabiographer actly agrees that there chronicle how poignant felings per- 1 js something unseemly, brazen, In set, change, evolve, devolve. He sso FREE COFFEE! luntcering t0 write a length about shows himself undersandably beyond | | Experienes the enticing aroma, and fonesel—in exposing conesell to un- sich concerns bythe dimensions of te || Glurmet Calfee FREE! Write OF known others withowt the justification telling: the cueing inc short episodes, || eall today to recive a fresh-reast, ofa pres cater ofa great crime, or the ron didactic overviens. This | [wacuumzpached sample of ur Swithout some documentary ruse, sich oddly ferce, avowedly disenchanted |] 100% Hawaiian Kona Coffee, 4 pretending that the book merely voice (but then what else should we | Special nascent club offer included, ttanwcrbes existing private paper, ike expect the yoice ofa narrator who is | | Sts S00 for S&H cof frst Experience the enticing aroma and ‘journal or leery, indiscretions orig- ead to be!) never relate an event Gabe inally destined for the smallest, friend- without drawing some lesson from it. aren: let veaership. With a Tile sory Chapter 133 opens, “The episode |] Fairwinds Gourmet Coen offered stright ou, in the Set person, serves to illustrate and perhaps amend | | POBox 129¢N, Concord, NH C3302 | to as many readers as possible(apub- Hlelvetive’ theory that" Begging ||| T-tree 1-80-448.7359 0M-Edays)_| Tic) it seems only minimal prudence thereader's indulgence, werrying about se well as courtey for the autobiog- the reader's attentiveness (Does the Tapher to seck permission to begin. reader get i2 Ts the reader amused? ‘The splendid conceit of Machado de. Is the Teader becoming bored?), the ‘Assos book, that these are memoirs autoblographer continually breaks out writen by someone who i dead, just of his story to invoke a theory it Mu puts an addtional spin on this regula-_ tates, to formulate an opinion abou tory ‘caring. about what the reader —av if sich devices were needed t0 thinks. The astobiographer can pro- make the story mote interesting. Bris fess not to care CCbae’s soil privileged, sllinpor- Bat writing fo beyond the grave tant existence i, asuch lives often ae, thas in fact not relieved this narrator starkly uneventhl; the main events ae from showing an ostentatious amount those which did. not happen or were cof concern about the reception of his judged disppointing. The rich pro- work, His mock anxiety i embodied in dvetion of wity opinions expose the the very frm andthe distinctive veloe~ emotional poverty ofthe life, by exhil= ly of the book. Tt isin the way the iting the narrator as seeming to sde- rarrative is cut and mounted, in Stop- step conclusion he might otherwise be hitpiarchivesnewyorker cor/2i=1990-05-O7Haio= 102 anesana sea ieeodat pp isis array nfisd cha ; yeti aay “ake We ACCOMMODATE IN SAN FRANCISCO Anticipate comfort and sence ‘beyond your expectations, Hanoueny Uon Squsne Hore (900) 223-088 or 15) 703-7600 or ema oe Ce a PAUL REST + FINE ART ] hitpdarchives newyorker cor/2i=1990-05-THelio= 102 “The Now Yorker: May 07, 1980, drawing. The dgreire method alo generats much of the book's humor, Sing. wih the very dary be: tween the ile scribd (redo fn vent soy arated) and the the tis (oreo tant) vod “The Life and Opinion of Tee tea Shand fof course, the pine pal model for these savory procedures Of rexierawarensa, The thd of thy chapery, and also some of the typographical srt ain Cheer 55 (Che Venerabe Dialogue of Adam fed Ere”) and Chapter 139 (“How T Dig Not Become « Minister of See"), reall the whimsical nurate hye fd pltoraphie wine of Tre {i Shanty” ‘Thar Caan fins his soy afer his dst, a¢ Tr {ram Shandy Camo begin he ory of his consciousness efore he ts bora (atthe moment of is conception) tha to, sean homage to ere by Machado de Asin ‘Thesuthery that “*Tyitram Shandy,” published fo samen between 1759 and 1767, x= ered on a writer torn in Bel in the netenth entry shld nx wipe ts, While Sterne’ book, celebrated in'ha fete and shor aterward, vere being remmened in England a to pecllat,ocasionaly ndeten,and filly toring, thoy conned. be toormotnly aired on the Coien Inthe Englsrapeating worlds where in this cenry Sterne Bas again been thought very highly of he al Sgures fsa are-eccenti marginal gens (lite Bake), whois mow notable lor feing uncannily, and” prematarely, “Sern.” Whet Iooked'at om the peapective of world ere, how rer be may be he Englhelnguage writer who, after Shakepeace and Dicken, as had the geste In cece ee Niche oh eid tht is fnvort novel was “Teen Shandy” isc les original judgment 2 say seem. Sere bec a especialy free presence in the erate ofthe Siac langunges ats eed in the sentra of the example of Tram Sandy inthe there of Shorty 2d other Rola formals from the Aieten-twenie forwards Peshape ean so mich crmnanding roe Ineraae bas been tating for Szades from Central and Eastern Europe 8 swell frm Latin America ot ony that writers there have been sfering der menstous tyne and there fore have had inportance eluates, subject, relevant Irony bestowed on Now Printed in Now York When You Travel Abroad, What's Your Favorite Paper? Until now, you couldn’ got the Paris-based Interns: onal Herald Tribune 18 the US. Now you ean— with same-day delivery available in some U.S. Cities. For your daily brief fon the world, with ite fee tures on travel, fashion, tn ternational investing and much, much more, call ts tolltve: 1-800-882-2884 (iy NY: 212-752-3800) Herald Zk Eribune Oxegen corms sce Gary Mate Lac dee ‘INSET ib ee estas Stoenatin wellnos 1 S00PUBLICK, Publick ($8) House 7 risa 1 CASHMERES 1! ‘eigen an so16sana THE NEW YORKER, them (as many writers in Wesern Europe and the United States have Aalferviosly conladed) bt also that these ae the parts ofthe world where forver a contry the asthor of Tie team Shandy" hus been the row ad mre “Machado de Assi’ novel belongs in thae tration of narrative baflonery the talkative frs-peron voice a tempting to ingratatelf with reads crew rane from Bere threo, our own century, Natumne Sock’ ST-Am a Cat” the short fiction of Robere Walter, Sveo's “Confessions of Zena” and’ “As a Man’ Grows (Otder” Haas “Teo Loud a Sol tude," mach of Beckers We meet gan and again, in different gules, the chaty, meandering, compulsively speculative, eccentric narrator: tee live (by choice or by vocation); prone to fle obsenons and facil theories and comically designed efforts of the will often an autlidact, not pits cranks though sometimes driven By lo, and atleast one tie by love, Sable to mate nly elderly: var thiy male. (No woman Is ily 0 gt tven the conditional sympathy these faginglyselessorbed narrators claim From ty, beasts of expectations that Ihe more sympathetic, and than men a woman tvith the same degree of rental act iy and emodonalsepratneas would te regarded a singly = monster) Mae chado de Asi’s ralcudinarian Bris Cans Ib considerably Tes exuberant than Stern's radenp, effsively ga ‘lous ‘Tristram Shandy. Te i only few spt from the civ of Machado’ narrator, with his uel speriorg othe sry of his own ie forthe plot male that characterizes ‘oat cent tion in the frm of ato Biogeaphy. But strylessnes may be ineine to the genre—the novel at stctlographia onslogte—o the islaion ofthe narrating voce Tn this respect the postSterneah ther ike Bs Cake parades the protagonist of the great spiral autobiographies, tro Sr always profoundly, net jst by Sireumstane, unmarried eis almost 4 ‘eennre ofan aitoblographial nara: {ives anbidon! the narrator ma be, cr be reeast a alone, a solitary, cer= inky without & pene, eves hen there leone; the Tle mae be unpeo pled atthe cener. (Thus such recent Ichirements of spt stobograx Bly in the gue of novel a Elizabeth hitpdarchives newyorker cor/2i=1990-05-THelio= 102 “The Now Yorker: May 07, 1980 Hardwick's “Sogpless Nights”. and V.S, Naipauls “The Enigma of Ar- rival” leave ot the spouses who were scaly there.) Jus as Brés Cuba's solitarines is parody of a chosen or an emblematic solitude, his release though selicundersanding is, fr all, its self-confidence and wit parody of that srt of rump “The seductons of such a narrative are complex. The narrator professes fo be worrying about the reader— ‘whether the reader gts it, Meanwhile, the reader can be wondering skoot the harrator—whether the natrator tune dlerstands all the implication of what is being told. A display of mental agility and inventiveness which i designed 0 ‘nut the reader and which purport ily reflects the liveliness ofthe narra tor's mind mostly measures how emo- tHonally isolated and forlorn the nara tor is, Ostensibly, Machaéo’s novel is the book of a life. Yet, despite the rareator’s gift for sci and paycho~ logical porttaiture it remains a tour of ‘the inside of someone’ head. Another ‘of Machado's model was marvellous book by Xavier de Mais, « French expatriate aristocrat (he lived most of his Tong life in Rossa), who invented the literary enierojourney with ht “Journey Around My Room,” which sae writen in 1794, when he was in Prion for duclling, and which ce Counts his agonal ad zigzag vst to such diverting sites as the armchair, the desk, and the bed. A confinement, ‘mental or physical, that & not sc” Inowledged ee sch can make a very fanny sory aswell as one charged with pathos. Pat the beginning, in a flourish of avthoria sellsknowingnese that gra- Ciously includes the reader, Machado de Astis has his autobiographer name the eighteenth-centory iterary models of his narrative with the following sombre warning: nn igeruth diane work ip which ioe he pn ac eran pe ‘The trork ofa man already dead Troe ig ith the pen of Mit andthe ink of Beleuct'ent eee can rent Soren shat may Came of ach However modulated by whimsy, a vein of tre lanthropy rune through the book. If Brie Cuba is not jst another of those repressed, desiccated, pointless selfaware hachelor narra tors who exist oly to be seen through ‘nv An REGALE YOURSELF Waire House. ‘When you sty atthe Hay Aa puede Sete are Tae the confor nd ace yordespet nae pve foe Soe per ni. sige e Coble Inches ines fat veri 202-658-6600 cr your tae aber. Pole | 10s Ina Hore }OKING THE ey ele ten yy Recording By Phone or Mail No oucan eda ry 0, Tg, oF Ppt Iremotr200 page catsleg Sera $00 etn atl cn youre re) eo 5.00 cas enswej e5 wh $50 mean (edt Sacer get ot Sonal Cag +1 yee ot FRE upon coving on dean & spas Aso. CATALOG) ly ro cigatn or ure (gest spre Cat OZER vce Revert 92 0H SE HONS | THE peLuam Inthe Tradition ©“ of Excellence 6sana Homes @ Estates Our Beach is 6 Miles Long and Sometimes Filled With as Many as 10 People. DeBoidieu FOR M+ Coeur SC 942 YOHO HEAD (CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROUNA ‘AMORLEA ee nn etn ay ML Ze ES, For more information on advertising in “Homes & Estas,” plete cll (212)536-5463 hitpdarchives newyorker cor/2i=1990-05-THelio= 102 “The Now Yorker: May 07, 1980, ‘bythe fall-booded reader, i is because of his anger which bythe end ofthe book i fll out, painfl, biter, upset oo "Fe Sterne playflaes is iht- heared eis cori alt exetly servo, form of friendliness with the reader, in the nintcnth century, his Gigresveney his chattiney ht love fof the Hide theory, this proveting from one narrative mode to sneer tes on darker hes Te becomes ten tied with hypochondria with erotic Aisluionment, with the dscon- tens af the sll (Dosoyesks Fholoiclly volute Under= {ground Man), with acute mental Yay Aisres (the hysterical nazeator, deranged by injustice, of Multaali’s “Max Haves”). To ater on obs sively, repetively, used to be invari aly retource of comedy. (Think of Shakespeare's plebelan grumbler, like ‘he porter in “Macbeth think of Me, Pickwick, among other inventions of Dickens") ‘That comic use of gar- rulousess dees not_dissppest. Joyce sed garrulousess in a, Rabelsisian spirit a vehicle of comic hyperbole, and Gertrude Stein, champion of ver ese writing, urned the tes of ego= tism and semtentousness into a good natured cumicvoiee of greater ty. But most of the verbose first-person narrators inthe ambitious literature of this century have been radically mise anthropic. Garrulousness i identified with the baleful, aggrieved reptitve- ‘es of senility (Becket prose mone- Togues that call themselves novels) and with parancia and unslakable rage (the novels and plays of Thomas Bero- hard). Who docs not sense the despai behind the loquacious, sprightly muse ings of Robere Walser and the quirky erate, hantering voices in the stores of Donald Barthel Becketls narrators are ually try- Ing, not altogether siccesflly, to imagine themselves as dead. Bris CCbas has no such problem. But then Machado de Amis was tying to be, and is, funny. There is nothing morbid about the consciousness of his ponth= ‘mous narrator; on the contrary, the perspective of maximum consciousness which is what, itil, 2 porhue mous narrator can csim—is 4 comic peripective. What Bris Cults i wr Ing from isnot rue afterlife (it has geography) but only another goat the ide of suthoral detachment. The ‘eo-Sternean narrative high Jinks of MAY, 1990 thew memoirs of + diepoined san pe toe at eee ees oven from Sermeannerownee jie area cee es fort the narrator's despoency sry of masering djetion cone iy more syciained than te "rere ea ata aalaetetyf eee Signed to rele the derpondenty of mankind” "which the narator, fae tines abst venting. ite adi= inary hard sons Bor one ean wrt as one plese form ier ‘Machado de’ Aue wae ony forgone when he plished ‘hesrenienes fan ho aed ey teats the opening she bo. (hae chado was torn fa 1895, he takes Wir erentin Beds Cob, the poor toes cng, nal gueron Cider, born 1805) The novel man tere in antkputing ald ages ‘entre co hich writ of 3 lane holy temperament continue to be Saw Twas myles wher Tomo my fe nove, “The Bent ton? which ppt he eins cates of then in hi aly i ara asec sto announces tthe hing of te Book that he has rachel a hasbor of seni where al experince nih, fe can ok bck on Reif: The fw consios Titeary references in fad ware ety Frenchabove al “Canise” and Deca “Mitte tiem? I oeght wa wring eee fn opin tnd on een cherhed (Gyn) ea ofthe ane ie and of rlghonly ots lowardoe (eee eT hk tow nowy aneher nary) ‘When had he good frame wo have “The Beetctoe® sce by the fi peblser vo wham 1 nme ret eee teeta el eed erapiee gael leery tito Cec Hee, whe in 1952, a Wis previous incarnation athe head of Neonday Pres (cen sued by any new polisher, had bought ot ‘he canteen (by Wiliam Ls Gro tman) of Machades novel sha relly Inunhed the bok aren in Eng ‘Atour fine ecto, Healey edo tne noc inpasa “exe we you ive been inne by “Epp ot Soul! Winner?” Epitaph of 2 what “By, you tnow, Machado de Aas” ‘Who! He este copy, ad serera faye iter 1 declared apo rewene= ‘ily ened sansana The New Yorker: May 07, 1980 Brazilians often prefer although ert- RIEND g ics usually pick “Dom Casmurro” 0 isomer MY YOUTH Phage ob eet prollle rir of “A wonderful collection genius whom Eurocentric notions of that] attests to her emergence as one of ‘world literature have marginalized: the most eloquent and gifted writers of THe in Rie de lenient he wee, | ff Newsweekchals “the indelible “She is our Chekhov” ny, lian or Roman, of even Portus ‘power of these stories,” -Cysmua O2uex ee De, age tach sy va fl pean writer. Even more remarkable ‘that rarity, an author unafraid wo Mansion of many rooms.’ Tittle known and read in the rex of 10 magifiet stories Lin Americas itt were sil hard sitanapent ere « 3rd printing » Knopf >> to digest the fact that the greatest eae erent eee rote inthe Poroguese rather than the Spnich, language. Beal nay be ronments Degeescrenty (din 5 the nineteenth century, Rio ts largest || Learn German as quickly ut it han always been the oot sider country, regarded by the rest of as you can say Souk America Hinpenopone South Hi iN ar . ‘Ameria «goed dl of cone seam sect catenin Pip per Upre ttt Esateatel Wem eriearie ties Terto ew any ofthe Euopen iter- || aluble, You comple bs rogram aru or lersnae in Eaginh Gano || SOROMMDREST now te Itercure of Brae wharess || rea Bourse Brclan writers se acutely ere of || ep 1005-48 .90N 0317373817 Spanish-American literature. Borges, || Ams MasterCard, VISA accepted the second-greatest writer produced on | |_‘Reunifeation thee coniSen ean seer ie howe | ————— rea loeaeisTanp ee lately Machado even le well tows t0 SVN Spanish-language readers than to those oo ae who reed hima in Engiah. “Epitaph of E SLUM Na 1 Sail Winner” was trated into ae Spanish ony in tence, ae Bema perseeeiiesienss aS alia fe clr er wale (Grice) ito Engi ‘With enough tine enough afte Peticteaal ere celped HEE perhaps come bon wen 10 Bo femal cpu ladogeic ESE tap of Sal Wane oon 1 be Monel by Farrar, Seams © Girt hitpiarchivesnewyorker cor/2i=1990-05-O7Haio= 102 1916sana Levenger’s Oak | ssi SertSato pape Portraits by YOUSUF KARSH of Ottawa in New York by appointment (212) 888-4565, ‘or Ottawa =, Benin Hav Gat Gee wossen issn Puree Casa Sigs ert 2d hitpdarchives newyorker cor/2i=1990-05-THelio= 102 “The Now Yorker: May 7, 1980, leer many year of being out of print) probably one of those thrilingly criginal, radically skeptical books ‘which wil lways impress readers with the force of private discovery. Tt doesn't seem much of s compliment to say chat this nove, writen more than @ century ago, seeas—vtell, mode Tsa't every work tha peaks to we with an originality and laciiey we've capa Le’ of acknowledging inevitably one that we then want t conscript into What we understand as moderity? (Our standards of modernity are 457 tem of fatering iusions, which per situs to selectively colonize the past, 45 ate our ides of what ie provincial, ‘hich perm certain parts of the world to condescend to all the re. Being dead nay send for a pint of view that cannct be accused of being provincial Surely “Epitaph of Soll Winner” ie fone of the most entertiningly une provincial books ever written. And to Tove this book isto become site Jee provincial about Inerstare oneself Seas Soxrac BRIEFLY NOTED ‘Tue Book or Evmevce, by John Banville (Seriboers; $17.98). An ‘umomual nora, showing both verve and virtuosity, by an Irish serie Whose severt] previovs novels, though published in. this country, seem to have stracted lie stten~ fon. This one should make a dter- ence. I opens "My lor, when you {sk me to tell the court in my own words, this is what T shall sy.” ‘The speaker, we learn, is one Fredrick Memgomery, thiry-odd, overweight, well born, « sponging Stifter around the Meditersanean ee ands, who has retned home to Ireland and committed a serious crime, His story is sometimes self- Serving but more often x struggle for ‘oacttude, an attempt that both explicit and tanedlike, Me. Ba Vile’s writing is admirable, and his ‘vocabulary i serdonially?) arcete alae,” “echolalia,” lai,” relapsrian.” Freddie ends. his story "Yes, an explorer that's what Tam, glingsing + new continent from the prow af «sinking ship.” ‘Tur Kernuine Bus, by Beverly Cole (Tieknor & Fields; $18.95). 4 gracefully writen fest novel about Sar itle Cari, Methodist in- MAY 7,190 ea ately ‘one-of-a-kind guide ‘| reek pe Biz Aveo ve “mursny Ar} | WHAT'S OPEN Fae ey | MATS rey Seger WHATS New Se Ty iamy feeling that che let din they want is ahome designed for Houses ON Seasffrore corres vais