Crossing the Sierra de Gredos

April 2, 2007
In the atmospheric latest from Handke (The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick
, etc.), a nameless female banker in a nameless northern European city decides for obscure reasons to repeat a journey to Spain she took years before, and to commission a nameless author from La Mancha to write her biography. The journey provides a hopscotch structure for the drifting narrative, marked by fantastic events that may or may not be taking place and by speculative conversations with the dreamlike figures the woman meets. As she travels, the woman is stalked, possibly, by a half-brother whose name may or may not be Vladimir. When the woman arrives in La Mancha, she dictates the details of her life to the writer, with no particular regard for order or veracity. An intrusive narrative voice interjects with rhetorical questions, exclamations and rambling philosophical asides. Much time is spent either denying the truth of what's just been said or in defining events, people or objects through a series of overturning negations. Though beautiful in spots and sometimes witty, the novel is inconsistent and repetitive. For die-hard Handke fans, the appeal of this metafictional fable is in its playful surrender to chance.

April 15, 2007
Like Handke's earlier novels, this most recently translated work from the Austrian-born playwright, poet, essayist, and novelist ("A Sorrow Beyond Dreams") hardly manages to escape experimentation. A wealthy financial savant living in an unnamed river-port city commissions a successful literary author to write her biographyor to create it for her. However, before it can be written, she must travel by plane, automobile, and foot to meet the mysterious writer somewhere in La Mancha. Thus begins her odyssey and perhaps her most important accomplishment yet, causing us to question throughout whether this novel itself is her biography. Unfortunately, the story simultaneously engages and confuses. There is definite originality and the occasional humorous passage, but overall the narration is too disjunctive, and the lengthy sentences and countless colons and semicolons make for a bumpy read. This whimsical style is good for minute detail, at which Handke excels, but clarity is fleeting. As with Handke's other work, this novel isn't for everyone, but it is still important for major literature collections and a refreshing break from recent cookie-cutter literary fiction. Recommended for larger public and academic libraries.Stephen Morrow, Columbus, OH

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