Passages (British Literature Series) [Paperback]

Ann Quin (Author)

Book Description

Series: British Literature Series | Publication Date: January 2003

A poetic book of voices, landscapes and the passing of time, Ann Quin's finely wrought novel reflects the multiple meanings of the very word "passages." Two characters move through the book -- a woman in search of her brother, and her lover (a masculine reflection of herself) in search of himself. The form of the novel, reflecting the schizophrenia of the characters, is split into two sections -- a narrative, and a diary annotated with those thoughts that provoked the entries.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

A schizophrenic woman wanders beaches and hotels, delusions and detention camps, searching for her brother; her schizophrenic lover finds violent mythology as he searches his fantasies for himself. Both navigate poetic dreamscapes of obsession and orgiastic sadism as they traverse Europe by train, increasingly distant from each other as they near what they seek. The woman's fluid, impressionistic narrative contrasts schizophrenically with her lover's cryptic, annotated journal entries, but both describe the metamorphosis of mental illness and especially the passage of time. As with other antinovels emphasizing perception of mental states and passage of time over plot and linear narrative, this book uses carefully crafted imagery to stimulate the reader's subconscious. Given that this particular antinovel is also an exploration of the chaotic subconscious of two schizophrenics, its sensate sex-and-violence imagery becomes doubly significant: a stream of subconsciousness that describes waking dreams while feeling like one. It will interest fans of avant-garde fiction and students of the aesthetic side of mental illness alike. Brendan Driscoll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Ann Quin, a winner of the DH Lawrence award and a Harkness Fellowship, wrote two novels, Berg and Three, before Passages and her fourth novel, Tripticks. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press; 1 edition (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564782794
• ISBN-13: 978-1564782793
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #801,812 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars dusky meanderings of midday, May 5, 2003

By 

Alvaro Lewis "jwatson5" (Redwood City, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Passages (British Literature Series) (Paperback)

My goodness, this book frightens me. The madness of the characters in this novel blankets me with edginess and discomfort. In this novel the madness is most damaging and terrifying in a way that madness described by Gogol or Dostoevsky, more absurd and existentially recognizable, is not. I cannot say if Quin's version is more accurate or less, but I will say that her version portrays some profound debilitation.

The sex resembles what a D. H. Lawrence fond of whips might devise, however the scripting is unique to Quin. Fragmentation wins the day in the prose and narrative of this novel. One is required to span the gaps of comprehension as well as one can. I found the approach rough going. There is much to be admired here though, the trickery with dreams and journals, the search for another and the unwinding of a self, the curious setting intermittently recognizable.

I remain enthralled by this writer but I find I almost need to turn aside squeamishly as I read through the violence and despair. There is absolutely nothing about the madness or haunting of the self to be romanticized or envied, but for its communication, some obscure hoorays I exspire.

3.0 out of 5 stars Ann Quin's Third, November 26, 2005

By 

hj (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Passages (British Literature Series) (Paperback)

With this, her 1969 third novel, Ann Quin begins to go off the rails in true 60s fashion. The formal experimentation of the previous novel "Three" was still combined with acute social observation and characterization, along with an intriguing way with plot. But in "Passages" character and plot are all but lost in the extreme fragmentation of the narrative. We appear to have a couple travelling through Greek Islands - the young man is in love with the woman and the woman is preoccupied with searching for her brother. The couple are therefore on a quest: for the brother, for each other and for themselves. This plot (and the way it disintegrates) is slightly reminiscent of Antonioni's film "L'aventura".
The narratives of the two characters are given in alternating sections, some as extracts from diaries (which harks back to "Three") and there are also, in the page margins, extracts from commentaries on Greek mythology. The narrative appears to revolve around different versions of a key episode involving a sado-masochistic orgy. The whole thing gradually blurs into a kind of stream of consciousness - appropriate since the couple get more drunk and take more drugs as the quest unravels.
Obviously "Passages" will primarily appeal to those with a taste for experimental fiction. If you like Duras (or even Woolf, Djuna B & Rhys), you won't have a problem. Personally I enjoyed this novel a lot, it's very seductive, but it's perhaps regrettable that Quin was herself so seduced by the stylistic excesses of the period and as a result her writing, like the couple's quest, was beginning to lose its way.
Note: These excellent Dalkey Archive reprints of Quin's novels are good quality, well-produced editions.