Chitón: historia de una infancia

by Raymond Federman, María Teresa de los Ríos de Francisco (Translator)

Fiction. Jewish Studies. "Shhh, murmured my mother. And the first thirteen years of my life vanished into the darkness of that third floor closet." On a July morning in 1942, Raymond Federman's childhood ended, as his parents and two sisters were arrested by collaborationist French police and sent to their deaths at Auschwitz, with Raymond alone evading capture. In SHHH, his final novel, Federman reconstructs this childhood out of fragments, speculations, and doubtful recollections--the stories of a lost life, enmeshed with a history that can never be forgotten. "Federman is inarguably one of the most significant vanguard writers of the second half of the twentieth century and first years of the twenty-first"--Lance Olsen.

Genres: Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published March 7, 2008

About the author

Raymond Federman was a French–American novelist and academic, known also for poetry, essays, translations, and criticism. He held positions at the University at Buffalo from 1973 to 1999, when he was appointed Distinguished Emeritus Professor. Federman was a writer in the experimental style, one that sought to deconstruct traditional prose. This type of writing is quite prevalent in his book Double or Nothing, in which the linear narrative of the story has been broken down and restructured so as to be nearly incoherent. Words are also often arranged on pages to resemble images or to suggest repetitious themes.

Reviews

[Nathan "N.R." Gaddis]

Federman ...

Yes? What?

Nothing ...

Somewhere somewhen I’m on record saying it might make no sense to be concerned to read Ray’s books in chronological order. I take that back. Somewhat. His last book, this mostly-completed posthumous story of a childhood, SHHH: The Story of a Childhood, should perhaps be saved for last, or at least for late. The story itself is a culmination of Ray’s life-time spent trying to tell this story, always with some delay. You will treasure it that much the more should you have already become acquainted with Ray. It’s the final chapter of the single novel Ray has spent his lifetime writing since his mother pushed him into a closet and said, CHUT.


The primary chapters of that novel can be found, in their English incarnations, roughly so ::
Double or Nothing (aka, the beloved Noodle Novel)
Take It Or Leave It
The Twofold Vibration
Smiles on Washington Square
To Whom It May Concern
Aunt Rachel’s Fur
Return to Manure
SHHH: The Story of a Childhood
My Body in Nine Parts should be included somewhere.
Regarding The Voice in the Closet, it comes third in a technical chronology and is probably a masterpiece, but I’ve not read it yet ; and I’m a little intrigued here by my suggestion of saving SHHH: The Story of a Childhood, which is the beginning of Ray’s novel, for reading last ;; why wouldn’t one perhaps also like to save The Voice in the Closet for last, the story about the thing itself. It should be led up to. At any rate, you’ll want to learn Ray’s story.



comments prior to reading ::

Federman's life/story began on July 6, 1942, when his mother stuck him in a closet as the Nazis were climbing the stairs; she said, "Chut," her last word to him, and not until he was 41 could he understand that Chut, the first word of his story which he would re/write the remainder of his life.

______________
An excerpt [thnks to freeque]:

“List of Scenes of My Childhood to be Written”

http://www.vice.com/read/list-of-scen...


Also, Federman's once blog:
http://raymondfederman.blogspot.com/

[Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lord, this is heartbreaking. I can't stress enough how essential this is to ALL of Federman's work. A posthumous blessing.

Thank you, Moinous/Namredef/Federman

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the author's voice in this book. His way of approaching memories as layers. The good and bad together. What it felt like to be a child. His existential questions now, as an adult. The way he openly questions his choices and motivations as a narrator. The book helped me feel how real and complex each person was who was lost during the Holocaust. The lost histories and small stories of each person.

[Melanie Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished this entire book today. Now I'm sad. I think the book really takes hold over you because it's like a conversation, access, if you will, into the depths of a grandparent whom you've never spoken to in a meaningful way. When everything comes out and you are surprised that, in fact, grandma/pa is a human being and felt feelings. That he/she lived.

[G.A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

C’è solo una nota positiva : si legge facile. Tutto il resto mi è piaciuto davvero poco. Posso capire che una persona che ha vissuto durante un periodo di guerra sia arrabbiato, ma prendersela con un palazzo o con Benigni non mi sembra consono. Inoltre a tratti scurrile e poco educativo (non c’è motivo per dedicare più di un capitolo alla masturbazione) . Inoltre la scrittura creativa di cui parla non giustifica i continui salti che fanno comprendere ben poco della storia che sta raccontando. Anche i continui rimandi ad altri suoi libri sono davvero fastidiosi per il lettore.

[Dhalia Juarez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hombre, no eres tú, soy yo.