The Writer and The Ghostwriter by Zoran Živković

 

As Zoran Živković stated in an interview, The Writer and The Ghostwriter are his only two entirely realistic novels. The Serbian author went on to say, "In both of them I tried to penetrate as deeply as I could into one of the greatest mysteries of all - the mystery of literary creation. Curiously, I didn't need any fantastical elements for that purpose."

Anybody who has had either their own experience in creating fiction or is intrigued by the creative process will find Zoran Živković's book particularly appealing. And, it should be mentioned, the author acknowledges both The Writer and The Ghostwriter contain some autobiographical material. So, keeping all this in mind, I offer the following by way of review:

THE WRITER
On the very first page our unnamed narrator sits at his computer and attempts to complete his novel in progress. Darn! His subconscious isn't cooperating - unlike all those other times when he simply transcribed his novels beginning to end, typing tap, tap, tap with the index finger of his right hand as the tale was dictated to him by his subconscious, that cantankerous nonrational voice has turned mute just at the point when he is ready to receive the needed concluding chapter that will bring the entire work into a cohesive, unified whole.

He thinks perhaps another method might work this time and tries speaking into a dictaphone. Nope; no dice. Complete silence. Similar to all his other fiction, it appears the vehicle to record this story will have to be the index finger of his right hand tap-tap-tapping. The narrator goes on to relate how a friend unexpectedly stops by and thus he takes this as an opportunity to confide his frustrations with the act of writing. This friend, a man of letters and university professor, assumes the role of analyst and suggests he lie down on the couch and submit to a series of questions about his past.

Although the narrator is convinced his problem is literary rather than psychiatric, he submits. And at the conclusion of this bizarre, probing session, the professor friend, a man inclined to grandiose posturing, makes a profound revelation: he himself is writing a novel. Well, well well. And the man of letters has stated his revelation in such a pompous way it's as if the narrator should feel honored to be the sole recipient of such precious information.

Ah, two writers working on their novels, the ideal framework for point-counterpoint to explore the creative process of writing. And since Zoran Živković concedes similarities with the narrator, we can call him Zoran. As for the headstrong, uppity professor, let’s call him Lazar. As a way to delve into the heartbeat of The Writer; that is, probing the nature of literary creation, I’ll shift to several specific passages:

"That darkness from which is born whatever I am writing (said he in the voice of authority), is nothing but my subconscious mind." So speaks narrator Zoran. Thinkers have pondered the nature of the muse and artistic creation going back to Aristotle and Plato, who said: "For the poet is a light and winged and holy thing," Zoran Živković not only receives his stories from his muse (what we in the modern world term "subconscious") but the message is remarkable both in terms of its length and its clarity in that Zoran receives not a poem but an entire novel, a novel so complete not one single edit is needed - his first draft is is last draft! What a gift from the muse.

"He himself (Lazar) would be the most authoritative - indeed, the only - competent interpreter of his own literary output." One of the more humorous bits of this brief novel. To think you yourself, as author, the one and only person in a position to fully appreciate, understand and competently judge your own work- such pomposity! The challenge to such authorial intention was formulated in the 1950s by W. K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley. Stated concisely, these two philosophers reasoned the author’s intention is only a secondary and much less consequential consideration; rather, any meaning contained within a piece of literature must be derived from the work itself. Sorry, Lazar, you have fallen head first into the trap of author vanity.

"Both of them (Mozart and Lazar) where in possession of that unique, in fact - why not say it?- divine gift whereby the work one wants to create appears in front of one in its entirety, in a great flash, right down to the smallest detail." Zoran has some strong irony working here. Professor and man of letters as inflated boob. And to think this is Lazar's first novel. We need only scratch the surface to detect Lazar is seething and boiling over with jealousy in his interactions with an accomplished, much published novelist in possession of a special storytelling gift.

"If there was one thing he (Lazar) loathed even more than technology, it was the prospect of collaborating with publishers' copy editors, typists and proofreaders." For some novelists, working with editors is a dream come true; for others, having to submit to editorial feedback is an unending nightmare. Either way, as all novelists come to learn, dealing with the publishing world is a necessary part of having your books reach a wide audience.

Again, what I have noted here are only four quotes from this highly engaging and philosophic work. I urge you to read for yourself to explore more in depth the dynamics of what it can mean to be a writer of fiction.



THE GHOSTWRITER
Here you are, at your computer, reading the first sentence of my review of The Ghostwriter by Serbian author Zoran Živković. You probably have been reading a number of other reviews posted by other reviewers or various articles posted on the internet or maybe even going through your email. As to actual face to face contact with all the people you interact with on the internet – most probably never. You are at your computer, they are at their computers, and exchanges back and forth are made via the computer. Such is the state of our modern world.

Occasionally hilarious, always amusing, comical, lively and witty, The Ghostwriter is a tale of a writer sitting at his computer in his den doing what he always does: writing his novels, drinking his tea or coffee, tending to his calico cat Felix, a stray kitten he saved from starvation, and, above all else, reading and responding to his email. You see, our writer-narrator is addicted to email. And he knows it. The loud ‘BING!’ alerting him he has another email waiting to be opened is a moment of joyful anticipation.

But what happens when not one but five (ah, five!) people start emailing you to place demands on your writing? Here’s a sampling of what our writer must deal with all at once:

From An Admirer: "I am a great fan of your work. I have a business proposal to make in this regard." Several emails back and forth and our narrator learns he is dealing with a fan who not only wants a novel written for him exclusively but asks for all authorial rights to be turned over to him.

From Open Sea: "Have you ever thought of writing under a pseudonym?" Open Sea is himself a published novelist and holds strong views on who is really the great literary artist (himself) and who is merely a popular genre scribbler (the narrator). But he offers the narrator a claim to immortality - let him, the great writer, publish their email correspondence.

From Banana: "In my dream I find you in my study. You are sitting at my computer." Banana is a physically large woman the narrator spoke with once at a literary gathering. Banana records her vivid dreams but needs a "Pivotal Dream" to give cohesion to all her many and varied dreams so she can publish her very first novel. Guess who Banana pleads with to write her "Pivotal Dream"? After all, he's the one to do it since she saw him in her dream writing the needed "Pivotal Dream" at her very own computer.

From P-O: This man is an aspiring novelist who has, as a method to hone his own writer chops, written a pastiche of each one of the narrator's novels. What he proposes to the writer in terms of writing and publishing a pastiche of a pastiche of a pastiche is one of the more outrageous and oddest requests a novelist could ever receive.

From Pandora: This retired piano teacher lives all alone on the upper floor of the writer's apartment building. Poor Pandora - her one and only companion in life, her old German Shepard Albert, is on his final days. Pandora has but a modest request of the writer: to write a novel with a dog, a novel dedicated to Albert, so she can read the novel and feel Albert's presence when she is all alone with no more real Albert.

As anybody can see, our writer has been pulled into a series of Venus flytraps. What adds the great humor (yes, be prepared to laugh out loud on nearly every page) is the narrator, a dedicated writer of novels, is also hopelessly addicted to his email, meaning he doesn't want to stop the emails; quite the contrary, he thrives on emails.

Dealing with all these email requests and email demands, our writer comes to learn a few things. And his teacher: Felix the cat! I highly recommend The Ghostwriter not only for its humor but also for the many philosophical questions it raises about writers, writing and authorship.




The writer at his writing desk reading none other than The Writer & The Ghostwriter - Zoran Živković, born 1948