“There’s no point trying to tell yourself that
darkness changes nothing; maybe she believes that, maybe she doesn’t, but in
any case it’s wrong, because darkness happens, it fills a space, and it could
also be full of something like the way a drawer is full of silverware, or the
earth is full of insects that scatter in panic when you lift a rotten log, even
though darkness could also be a balloon, a balloon filled with black air.”
In “Replacement”
by Tor Ulven
Because of its brevity and yet countless fathoms-deep
complexity coupled with what is not easy text I tend to consider “Replacement”
as an example of a novel that sifts the casual reader from the committed
enthusiast. In the same vein as “Heart of Darkness” by Conrad and “Wild
Highway” by Bill Drummond & Mark Manning in terms of seriousness of theme
in a small expertly packed parcel, but providing a rather more difficult text
to engage with,“Replacement” is an significant novel on many levels.
“Replacement” carries a matching authorial mood of
darkness that is perhaps the seeds of meta-fiction; you are aware that the
style of the telling of the tale is intricately woven into the fabric of the
tale itself. The clarity and simplicity of the authorial voices in the two
books above-mentioned is not present and you, the reader, are called upon to
grapple with the text as part of the experience the book is offering up. And
it's a hell of a lot shorter than “Moby Dick”.
I would even go as far as to say that is one of my
favourite books of all time, even though I dislike being asked to list my
favourite books as I always seems to find it almost impossible to pinpoint five
or ten novels that I would recommend above all others. Ulven wrote several very
good books but with this one he comes closest to my heart. 'He had something
to say. He said it.' This short book should be read in schools and
universities , and then re-read and re-read....
I just fear that many great writers will be
overlooked and, eventually, unfairly forgotten in the mists of time. Some people
insist on the 21st century novels because they are supposedly related to the
language they use and the world in which they live. However, literature is not
only about new, new, new and modern, modern, modern, but about history, change,
freedom... No one should put chains around such complex short stories, novels
and novellas written with great skill and understanding. Ulven was ahead of the
world and time in which he lived, and wrote, and the darkness that plagued him
from within was presented and developed through a masterful narration on many
levels (historical, psychological, ethical, asthetical, etc).
A haunting book. Vividly inner settings of the
mind, claustrophobic, and full of non-existent-and-self-exculpating characters
that Ulven clearly either pitied or despised or both. Are there really
characters in this book or is just Ulven’s mind playing tricks on him? Always
seems twice or thrice its length simply because of the density of the material
and its slow pace - you just canNOT skim read this book!
A verdict on the darkness of the human heart. I
love listening to Handel's Messiah at this time of year, which groups together
the beautiful passages which speak of Light breaking into darkness, while
reading this book was an absolute killer:
'The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light,
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.'
(Isaiah 9)
