Stephanie Jane recenzis Hypnosis de Maria Inês Rebelo
Experimental fiction
3 steloj
Hypnosis: A Return To The Past is one of the strangest books I have read in a long time and one which, on the face of it, I wouldn't have expected to have enjoyed at all. Throughout most of the story we are told instead of shown what is going on; none of the characters are particularly well developed; the prose is extremely repetitive; and people act as a result of jumping to the weirdest conclusions. The translation is sometimes lacking words and I hope that moments such as, for example, where a sexual assault is referred to as a 'blind date' are the result of poor word choice, not the author's intended meaning. Yet, somehow, when it's all put together this novel actually works and I found myself oddly compelled to keep on reading - almost hypnotically compelled I might say!
Rebelo's prose style employs a similar device to …
Hypnosis: A Return To The Past is one of the strangest books I have read in a long time and one which, on the face of it, I wouldn't have expected to have enjoyed at all. Throughout most of the story we are told instead of shown what is going on; none of the characters are particularly well developed; the prose is extremely repetitive; and people act as a result of jumping to the weirdest conclusions. The translation is sometimes lacking words and I hope that moments such as, for example, where a sexual assault is referred to as a 'blind date' are the result of poor word choice, not the author's intended meaning. Yet, somehow, when it's all put together this novel actually works and I found myself oddly compelled to keep on reading - almost hypnotically compelled I might say!
Rebelo's prose style employs a similar device to Saramago's novel Blindness in that she frequently uses descriptions in lieu of the characters' names. So, for example, our disruptive heroine is Anne Pauline, but is more often referred to as 'the young green-eyed woman' or by a similar epithet. Rebelo also recaps information about characters or events with what should be infuriating regularity, but as I said, the device works within the context of Hypnosis and gives the novel an almost poetic vibe. We cannot meet librarian Georgine without being told of her intolerance to aromas, or that perfumer Jasmine is an oracle who can see into the future. Some of the practicalities of the Hypnosis world are over explained, whereas others are swiftly glossed over. I am still not exactly sure what was was going on with the Forgotten Island of seagulls or how Anne Pauline managed to carry a feather in her jacket pocket through so many months without ruining it!
I am sure I will spend the next few days (or weeks!) suddenly remembering (as the characters often do) moments from Hypnosis and realising where plot aspects needed greater explanations in order to be plausible. So much needs to just be taken at face value that I am hesitant to recommend Hypnosis: A Return To The Past because I believe more readers will be bewildered than will be entranced. However if you enjoy experimental fiction, then this story might be worth a try.