This is going to be a joint blog on Yann Martel’s Beatrice and Virgil which is due to be released on Tuesday, April 13. I just asked Lisa if she was on board for doing something that has never been done on our blog: two staff members reviewing the same book without our knowing what each other is writing. So, here goes!

Nan:

I finished reading Beatrice and Virgil two nights ago and waked in the middle of the night thinking about it and could not go back to sleep for quite some time. This is a very, very, very complex novel. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Yann Martel might come to read from his new novel and sign for us someday, for I would have a multitude of questions for him. I regret that I could not be at the  Lemuria signing for Life of Pi in late 2007.It is a huge regret I have, not being here for that reading.

So, how to begin this discussion alludes me, but I guess I’ll just jump in. Beatrice and Virgil is an allegory. And yes, there are animals who talk, specifically the donkey, Beatrice, and the monkey, Virgil.  It is correct at this point to think of Dante, if you are, but to think of Hell in a different physical light. We all know that “living in Hell” , or having lived in Hell takes various forms.  Having  just read Robert Olen Butler’s Hell a few months ago, Beatrice was still on my mind!

Within this novel, however,  the narrator, named Henry, meets Beatrice and Virgil at a weird taxidermist’s studio. The donkey and the monkey are “stuffed” naturally, being in this studio.  The taxidermist has written a play about Beatrice and Virgil and has enticed the narrator, who is a famous author, coincidentally aligned with Yann Martel the author, himself, to help with a specific question that has occurred during the writing of the taxidermist’s play. Simultaneously, the reader is aware of the parallel story occurring in the narrator’s career, the particular occurrence of writer’s block mixed with severe questions by his publicists and reviewers who have read his new manuscript or galley of his proposed next book.  The narrator and author Henry does not realize why these readers do not “get” it! In fact, they keep asking, “What is this story about?” Juxtaposed with this idea, is Henry’s inability to determine what the taxidermist’s point is in his play about a speaking donkey and a speaking, loyal monkey whose disturbing, painful to hear howls halt all life in the forest. In fact, the taxidermist has recorded these howls from “real” howler monkeys in the forest which are as equally disturbing for Henry to hear. Have I said yet that the symbolism is abundant in this novel?

Does Henry have another life and why is he spending so much time with the taxidermist? This is the question which starts plaguing the reader who has been informed that yes, Henry, does, in fact, have another life, one which is rich and full with a wife, a baby on the way, a winsome dog and cat and a very successful career as a writer. But, Henry has been hit at the core: his publicist does not “understand” his new manuscript. The taxidermist, who becomes more and more mysterious, never giving his real name, appears distant, rude, and sinister. Yet, Henry continues to go back to his studio to be read to. Why does the taxidermist insist on reading his play out loud instead of Henry being able to read it while holding it in his own hands? Why does Henry have to sit on a stool, like a dutiful school boy, being read to? What is up with all of this? And, in the midst of all of this “action” , which is indeed very little, throw in allusions to the Holocaust sprinkled throughout.

I’m going to take a stand and tell you, faithful reader, up front that this is a novel driven by thematic implications! Remember, who Virgil and Beatrice are! Remember that evil takes many forms, alluring, disturbing, cunning! Remember that we as human beings can often overlook “evil” when it appeals to our own interests, such as two writers getting together to discuss one another’s writing. (I forgot to mention that the taxidermist had already read Henry’s first book about animals.)  Illusions persuade in most questionable and mysterious ways in this unforgettable puzzling novel. Yann Martel won the Man Booker for Life of Pi. Could he be nominated  for even win the National Book Award for this novel? Maybe!

Lisa:

I was not a huge fan of Life of Pi. Although I enjoyed reading Pi in a general way, I was disappointed that Martel did not expand on some of themes more thoroughly. I found myself pulled in more deeply to his new book Beatrice and Virgil.

The theme of the relationship between author and reader, both of whom are named Henry, appealed to me the most and this sets up the basic structure of the novel. Henry is a successful novelist and has just pitched his latest work to his publisher. They are not so excited about his idea to bind a fiction and nonfiction work into the same book. The reader really gets a feel for these relationships in the book world: writer to publisher to reader.

The other Henry is a reader of the author Henry. Henry the reader has sent the author a letter requesting his help, with what the letter does not say. He also has sent a copy of part of a play and a short story by Flaubert. The author Henry eventually ends up on the reader’s doorstep as they live in the same town. The reader Henry owns and runs a taxidermy business. As in Life of Pi, animals play significant roles in Martel’s work. I believe it is Martel and Henry the author who both believe that animals have the capacity to deal with heavy themes often better than human characters. Which leads me to another significant part of the novel: Beatrice and Virgil. Eventually, you, the reader, are introduced to them in a play, written by Henry the reader. They also happen to be animals of taxidermy in Henry’s shop.

This book is really a difficult one to write about because it is operating on so many different levels. Also, it was a shocking book to me, one that takes a while to settle, for me to figure out what I think about it. And believe me, there is a forceful coming together of questions and actions until the very last page. Martel puts a lot on the  reader. Beatrice and Virgil will make for great discussion.

Let me see if I can sum up with the different levels: the relationship between author and reader; the art and choice of the written genre; how to discuss horrific events such as the holocaust; and I also think there is the consideration of how people deal with actions of horror. Other more abstract considerations as noted on the back cover of Beatrice and Virgil: questions of life and art, truth and deception, responsibility and complicity. I read this before starting the book and didn’t take it very seriously. Martel takes these questions very seriously.

-Nan