Early in Sergio Chejfec's The Dark, the nameless narrator describes
his disorientation when looking over a landscape as 'the vertigo of
simple things.' This phrase describes the experience of reading
Chejfec's novel. . . . These moments, when Chejfec combines exquisite
prose with the human yearning for truth and beauty, keep us reading,
weighing the novel's contradictions, sifting through the narrator's
abstract reflections in search of his life's meaning.--Rain Taxi
Opening with the presently shut-in narrator reminiscing about a past
relationship with Delia, a young factory worker, The Dark employs
Chejfec's signature style with an emphasis on the geography and motion
of the mind, to recount the time the narrator spent with this
multifaceted, yet somewhat absent, woman. On their daily walks he
becomes privy to the ways in which the working class functions; he
studies and analyzes its structure and mindset, finding it incredibly
organized, self-explanatory, and even beautiful. He repeatedly attempts
to apply his 'book' knowledge to explain what he sees and wants to
understand of Delia's existence, and though the difference between their
social classes is initially a source of great intrigue--if not
obsession--he must eventually learn that there comes a point where the
boundary between observer and participant can dissolve with disarming
speed.
In a voice that favors erudite distance, yet simultaneously demands
intimate attention, The Dark is the most captivating example of Sergio
Chejfec's unique narrative approach, and a resonant novel that calls
into question the necessity, risks, and fallout behind the desire and
attempt to know another person.
Sergio Chejfec, originally from Argentina, has published numerous
works of fiction, poetry, and essays. Among his grants and prizes, he
has received fellowships from the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in 2007
and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation in 2000. He teaches at NYU.
Heather Cleary is a translator of fiction, criticism, and poetry. In
2005, she was awarded a Translation Fund grant from the PEN American
Center for her work on Oliverio Girondo.
