Impossible Object

Like "Accident," "Impossible Object" is another example of an excellent 1960's novel which pushed literary boundaries at the time but is somewhat neglected now. Although advertised as a novel (and it IS a novel) it reads as a collection of short stories. Connected, yet so unique in style and substance they are initially recognizable as a narrative theme rather than a cohesive story, it is only in the end that the characters and storylines are shown to be the same throughout the work. This is a novel of multiple episodes, captured by multiple narrators, all attempting to come to terms with the impossibility of idealized, romantic love. The narrative follows the arc of romantic love experienced by someone who initially thinks he has lost it: a man envies the idealized love his older son seems to have for a village girl; a couple's marriage slides into battle and guilt as their romance evolves into routine; a couple's apathy towards one another paves the way for infidelity; an outsider gives a sympathetic view of an affair from start to apparent finish; an impromptu love/lust is quickly distilled to base elements of jealousy, control, and selfishness; a man contemplates suicide after losing both his wife and his "true" love; a man takes a coward's approach to the aftermath of his adultery; and an affair rekindled by an illegitimate birth ends tragically. This is not an easy read: multiple narrative voices are (intentionally?) confusing; some of the language is absurd and disjointed, matching the mindset of the principal actors; interconnected existentialist interludes deal with God's place in a world struggling to forget him, become increasingly unhinged, and finally close the novel with by explaining its initial intent; there are multiple references to Neitsche, what he thought, and why he went crazy. Despite its struggle in pieces, it is excellent in the whole. This is a very fine book which runs circles around current reflections on the same topic. Recommended.

If you read my other reviews, you'll see I'm an absolute snob. Just take my word for it. Beckett, Chekhov...Wallace Stevens, that kind of thing. I'm always skeptical when someone recommends to me a book by an author I have never heard of, especially one more or less recent. I won't summarize the book for you, just say that I hope you'll be as pleasantly surprised as I was. The form, the content...WEIRD and very difficult even to explain. I'm normally not a fan of the "interweaving" thing with literature or movies, but something about the first person narrators makes it work in a very interesting way in this book. The book also has some kind of meta-fictional effects going on, but nothing too self-conscious as one would see in a postmodern novel. I recommend this to my fellow lit. snobs.

Mosely writes in the end of Impossible Object, "But you always read books more for form than for content," giving away, I believe, an epiphany that mostly comes to those who have read many, many books. Mosely's form in Impossible Object is extremely interesting because of how intertwined the stories are--characters reappear, images recur, and narrators are constantly positing on what exactly constitutes love. When you're finished reading the book you could very well wonder if it is really a short story collection or a loosely-stitched novel. You can decide. Whatever it is, I really enjoyed the book and think that Mosley is a fine writer who deserves a larger audience. Sometimes the characters are a bit on the undercharacterized side--making them a little vague and mildly uninteresting--but Mosley's prose makes up for that easily. The first line of his short story, "Life After Death" is a good example of the unique vision Mosley captures in his text, "Walking through streets late at night I saw a crack in the sky and a red arm coming through with the fist clenched like a foetus." It's pretty hard to walk away from a line like that--not exactly your usual sunrise. Very refreshing.

I was left with a sense of confusion after reading this book. There is so much interpretation that needs to be done after reading this, that a reader needs to back and re-read many times. A handful of stories were very interesting, and the rest, well, I can't comment on them because I didn't fully understand the book. Anyone who is up for a challenge,and good at interpretation of books on many levels, would enjoy this, and those who undersand it..e-mail me and tell me what you thought it was about.