Publisher: Perfect Edge Books
The review is based partially on an ebook copy received through the courtesy of the author, Andrez Bergen, and partially on a bought paperback copy of the book
“First
up, a disclaimer. I suspect I am a dead man. I have meagre proof, no framed‐ up
certification, nothing to toss in a court of law as evidence of a rapid
departure from the mortal coil. I recall a gun was involved, pressed up against
my skull, and a loud explosion followed.”
Thus
begins our narrator in a purgatorial tour through twentieth-century Japanese
history, with a ghostly geisha who has seen it all as a guide and a corrupt
millionaire as her reluctant companion.
Thrown
into the milieu are saké, B-29s, Lewis Carroll, Sir Thomas Malory, Melbourne,
The Wizard of Oz, and a dirigible - along with the allusion that Red Riding
Hood might just be involved.
Some of the most rewarding books I read over the years
proved to be the ones that didn’t come with too many recommendations or from
the authors I picked in the whim of my reading caprices. One such novel was “Tobacco-Stained Mountain
“First
up, a disclaimer. I suspect I am a dead man.”
What the main character only suspects in the beginning becomes obvious
immediately after that. Wolram E. Deaps is dead and he finds himself in a
limbo. A transitional situation for which he has no explanation or from which
he has no escape yet. But the state Wolram E. Deaps is in it’s not completely
cut off from the state of living Wolram is familiar with. Along the story of
“One Hundred Years of Vicissitude” Wolram learns on his own that the state of
transition in which he is found comes with childhood dreams reflected on this
limbo, with significant physical needs, for instance cold and hunger. But nb also is a place with new possibilities, such
as meeting new people. And Wolram E. Deaps meets Kohana. Together they begin a
journey through the memories of the former geisha, a pilgrimage to the
significant moments of her life, the events that shape Kohana’s character and
her former existence. Is the recounting of a life, with the good, the bad and
in between, a flash of an existence before death exerts its final toll.
With the only two main characters on the scene “One
Hundred Years of Vicissitude” is similar in many aspects with a play. Much of
the story’s magic consists in the relationship between these two characters,
but without neglecting the story in the least. Each act of the story takes
place in a different setting, the props are changed from one moment in Kohana’s
life to another, with the necessary revisiting of the most important ones. The
entire odyssey is made in the accompaniment of witty dialogues, delightful
characters and captivating story. Or little stories, since the entire picture
of “One Hundred Years of Vicissitude” is made by smaller parts that could easily
make a tale on their own. But the characters do not make solely a voyage
through Kohana’s life memories, it is also an expedition through a certain era
of Japan
There are only two characters in “One Hundred Years of
Vicissitude”, but one of them makes a connection between Andrez Bergen’s two
published novels. Wolram E. Deaps is a character from the authors’ debut novel,
“Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat”. As a matter of fact, he is the antagonist of
that book, ambitious and greedy. However, not in a single moment I could see
Wolram E. Deaps as the character with an unsated appetite for power and money.
He even becomes an agreeable character in “One Hundred Years of Vicissitude”. I
would not register this aspect as complaint however, because until I experience
a state of limbo or any other post-mortem situation first-hand I cannot
rightfully affirm how such an instance affects the character of a human being.
Wolram E. Deaps
not only makes a connection with “Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat”, but he also
gives both Andrez Bergen’s novels metafictional qualities. It is early on in
“One Hundred Years of Vicissitude” when Wolram spots a book among others with
certain characteristics: “On a small
round table next to the sofa was a pile of books, at the top of which sat a
hardback titled Dead Yellow Women.
Peeking out beneath that was a cartoonish goat with a cigarette, on a dirty
brown cover.”
I said that after reading an author for the first time
it is almost impossible for me to start the writer’s other works without some
expectations. Such was the case with Andrez Bergen too, but nothing I expected
based on “Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat” could have prepared me for what I
found in “One Hundred Years of Vicissitude”. Yes, both novels have witty,
intelligent and delightful dialogues, both show a mastering of language and an
assured writing technique from Andrez Bergen, both with various odes brought to
the things I can only guess that the author loves at personal level. But “One
Hundred Years of Vicissitude” reveals new qualities of Andrez Bergen, in
particular a warm and wonderful sensibility. The description of Asakusa 1945
firebombing and the reminder of the cruelties of Nanking massacre are touching and
emotional. These would have been enough to show Andrez Bergen ability to create
emotion, but there many more sensible moments. Distinctly, two scenes from the
end of “One Hundred Years of Vicissitude” bring the reader close to tears.
Globalization is very far from the milk and honey
heaven we are led to believe it brings, but I am thankful for the possibility
it gives me to discover writers such as Andrez
Bergen, an Australian, living in Japan and enchanting the readers across
the globe, such as myself, with the stylish noir post-apocalyptic “Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat” or this
little gem that is “One Hundred Years of
Vicissitude”.
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