Nick Major
Discreet Harm of the Bourgeoisie
What Was Before
By Martin Mosebach (Translated by Kári Driscoll)
Seagull Books 251pp £19.50
‘You’re a little too fond of coincidences sometimes,’ says the part-time antagonist of Martin Mosebach’s What Was Before. She is talking to her lover, who is also her (and our) narrator. On her gentle orders, he is telling the story of his life before they met. His past is an exotic and mostly untruthful affair among the haute bourgeoisie of modern-day Frankfurt. It is told in a series of vignettes, which after a time and out of necessity start to cohere. What Was Before is, in part, about the coincidences in life and the contrivances of fiction.
It is through chance that our narrator is invited to one of Bernward and Rosemarie Hopsten’s pool parties, where on Sunday afternoons the rich display their wealth and beauty, like tropical birds at a zoo. We meet Salam, a promiscuous businessman; Silva, an alcoholic; her melancholy husband, Hans-Jörg; and his
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Paul Gauguin kept house with a teenage ‘wife’ in French Polynesia, islands whose culture he is often accused of ransacking for his art.
@StephenSmithWDS asks if Gauguin is still worth looking at.
Stephen Smith - Art of Rebellion
Stephen Smith: Art of Rebellion - Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux
literaryreview.co.uk
‘I have fond memories of discussing Lorca and the state of Andalusian theatre with Antonio Banderas as Lauren Bacall sat on the dressing-room couch.’
@henryhitchings on Simon Russell Beale.
Henry Hitchings - The Play’s the Thing
Henry Hitchings: The Play’s the Thing - A Piece of Work: Playing Shakespeare & Other Stories by Simon Russell Beale
literaryreview.co.uk
We are saddened to hear of the death of Fredric Jameson.
Here, from 1983, is Terry Eagleton’s review of The Political Unconscious.
Terry Eagleton - Supermarket of the Mind
Terry Eagleton: Supermarket of the Mind - The Political Unconscious: Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act by Fredric Jameson
literaryreview.co.uk