Fado by Andrzej Stasiuk
translated by Bill Johnston
Dalkey Archive Press, 176 pages $13.95
ISBN: 1564785599
Reviewed by Agnieszka Macoch
Fado is a Portuguese folk song that speaks of nostalgia and sadness, but also of hope. Andrzej Stasiuk in his book evocatively titled Fado takes the reader on a thought provoking adventure through both space and time in order to reveal the very personal way in which he has experienced Eastern Europe.
The author, a master of the written word, weaves meaning, texture and sensation retained by memory into a fabric that serves as a canvas for his animated impressions. Stasiuk paints with words. The book is a collage of scenic still frames, recollections of vivid experiences and an insightful analysis of the past and present Eastern Europe.
In Fado, Stasiuk's method is characterized by a very intimate and personal approach, often evoking in the reader a feeling of immersing one's self in a diary. Language serves the author as a tool the use of which he has perfected to express one’s imagination. In describing a highway, for example, Stasiuk uses an unusually long sentence that flows like a stream of consciousness. It is obvious that it mimics the author’s thoughts, but at the same time the style also mocks the road with items like thoughts appearing on the horizon, growing larger to then disappear into the past; monotonously forgotten. Additionally, Stasiuk commonly breathes life into inanimate objects in order to uncover a new perspective. “The road was cutting through the town (…)” Here the road is not passive, but actively involved in making its own way through the town, as in “(…) through a foreign territory that kindly allows transit.” Once again the territory becomes an animate object able to allow passage. This is illustrative of how the author experiences the world. He allows it to capture the artist within him.
The larger context and meaning of Fado is intimately connected in the author’s method. Stasiuk presents the reader with a poetic, artistic way of viewing Eastern Europe. It is clear that this author sees travel as a multi-dimensional experience that moves one across both space and time. Reality cannot be static, and in its evanescence it leaves one with nothing but some of its remembered bits. The commonly grandiose in travel does not capture this author’s imagination. It is the ordinary that interests him. Transylvania brings to the author’s mind the animals marching from the pastures into the village, an archaic, daily ritual played out between people and their beasts. He finds it fascinating that in his childhood in Poland people created almost no waste. Everything was reused. In discussing the past and the present of Eastern Europe Stasiuk evokes the images of currency. He dissects their relation to those who use the various bills, their meaning and connotations. Eastern Europe becomes a collage of memories, impressions of the present and hopes for its future.
Fado is a book that defies classification and this quality becomes a source of the greatest struggle for the reader. The prose plunges one into an ocean of minute experiences without any warning or explanation. Expecting a novel or a story the reader scrambles to uncover a plot, to connect the dots, but it is difficult to fit Fado into a mold of any kind. The topics change constantly never pondering anything for too long. Also, Stasiuk's presentation is poetic, but complicated at times leaving one to dissect every phrase in order to decipher meaning. Nevertheless, generally at some point the reader realizes that the topics are broadly confined to the geographic area of Eastern Europe as discussed from the perspective of time passing through one's life. Additionally, the prose is deeply analytical, uncovering previously unimagined angles. Most of all, however, Stasiuk's language has an exquisitely beautiful quality in its ability to transform the ordinary into a superb piece of art.
Fado is evocative of how Stasiuk feels towards Easter Europe: nostalgic for the past, but hopeful for the future. Also, a question arises: perhaps, just like the book, this region defies classification? Stasiuk’s perspective stands to be a very thought provoking angle that all readers interested in both literature as well as Eastern Europe will appreciate. Fado is a must read for all. CR
Agnieszka Macoch is a graduate of University of Illinois, earning a Master's degree in modern European History. She loves to travel and ride horses. Her main areas of interest include international relations, history and animal welfare.
