Clandestino by Sergio Kokis (review)

Abstract

towarda plausibleterminus, we never truly find a complete story. Blayze Hembree University ofOklahoma SergioKokis. Clandestino. Montreal. Levesque. 2010.256 pages.Can$25. isbn 978-2-923844-33-6 Born in1944 inRiodeJaneiro, Sergio Kokisstudied psychology inFrance before moving toMontreal in 1969. He stoppedworking as a clinical psychologist in1997 tobecome a fulltime painter andwriter. Whether set inSouthAmerica (Le retour deLorenzo Sanchez, 2008)orinanunnamed no-man's-land (La gare,2005),his novels, written in French, areoften characterized by similartraits: the perplexing experience of exile;the inherently absurdquestfora vanishedidentity ; an individual lostin an incomprehensible, totalitarian societal system reminiscent ofKafka 'sworld; thesymbolism ofchessplayingand its variousstrategies; and thechallenging encounter with literature. Clandestino isanostensibly realistic narrative of victimization andrevenge, setinArgentina during theearly 1980s, thetraumatic period oftheFalklands War. Tomas Sorge,a former lowranking military officer moonlightingas a safecracker, was betrayed by a colleagueand sentencedto sixyearsofhardlaborin a remote penal colonyin Tierradel Fuego. The end of his periodof exilein this"universcarceralsurrealiste," oftencomparedto a brutalSiberianlaborcamp ,roughly coincides withtheend ofthemilitary dictatorship after Argentina's defeatin 1982.Whilehe is stillimprisoned, Sorgeis approached bya shadowy butwell-financed organization that seeks to recruit him forunspecifiedparamilitary activities after his release. SinceSorgehasnothing and no one to go back to,he accepts, eventhough itwillmeanhisofficial "death"and assumption of a new identity, underthe name of Jose Capa. After a longtripto Buenos Aires, andhisgradualreadjustment tolife outside ofprison walls, Sorge/ Capa becomesacquainted withthe manwhoarranged for hisnewlivelihood and who turnsout to be noneother thanthecolleaguewho had betrayed him.Bidinghistime, theex-convict carriesout his new duties, whichcallforusinghisold skillsas a safecracker. Thistimehe is employed bya groupofmilitary officers whoseekto maintain their powerandwealth, evenafter thefall ofthedictatorship. Sorge /Capaalso wantsto honorthedyingwishof a former friend inprison, whohad beenviciously tortured. What couldbea straightforward revenge tragedy withpolitical overtones becomes continually more complexas theformer convict and avid chessplayer - gradually transformed into anexterminating angel - engages ina gameinwhichhislifeand his prospects for anyform ofredemption areat stake.As Sorgetellshisalter ego,Capa: "Etmaintenant que tues devenu Jose, queferas-tu pourcontinuera tesortir indemne de toutce bourbier?" (Nowthat you've become Jose, whatwillyoudo tokeepyourselfcleanofthismuck ?) Clandestino provides, against the backdrop ofsordid intrigue amongcorrupt military officers and governmental officials, a fascinating portrait of a disturbingly isolated individual who, having losthispastand hisidentity, exists onlyinwhatisoften described as an "abstract" sense. Edward Ousselin Western Washington University PatrikOurednik. The Opportune Moment, 1855.Alex Zucker, tr. Champaign , Illinois. Dalkey Archive. 2011.126 pages. $12.95. isbn 978-1-56478-596-1 Patrik Ourednik (b.1957, Prague)is a Czechauthor and translator who since1984haslivedinFrance. Three ofhis novelshave beentranslated into English: Europeana: ABrief History of the Twentieth Century (translated intomorethantwenty languages), CaseClosed, andnowTheOpportune Moment, excellently translated from Czech to Englishby AlexZucker. Thelatter novelwas declared Book oftheYearinItaly bythenewspaper LaStampa in2007. Thenovelhasanintricate structure .It beginswiththe letterof an agingveterinarian, inspired by Utopian andanarchistic ideas,tohis love of fifty yearsago. This part, whichreads more like an essay, outlines a project to builda settlementhosting a freeand fraternal community inBrazilin1855, where people shareeverything and free lovewillreign. Theletter admits that theproject failed, apparently dueto poorexecution. The secondpartcontainsthe logbookof one of the colonists, beginning withthetwo-month passage from FrancetoBrazilbyship. The day-by-day accountconfronts theidealtheory from theletter with the realityof Italian anarchists, Frenchegalitariansand anarchocommunists , Germans,Austrians, Slovaks,and eventheblacksailors asthey try toorganize, share thelimitedresources , and worktogether. Thediarist takesnosides,ironically recording themounting tensions facing the colonists. This partsends whenthey stepontoBrazilian soil. The diaryresumessome six months later.This partreads like 66 1 World Literature Today ...