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Double Negative
A senior photography introduces a young man to the intricacies of photography. ‘If,’ he says, ‘I try to imagine the lives going on in all these houses, the domestic dramas, the family sagas, it seems impossibly complicated. How could you ever do justice to something so rich in detail? You couldn’t do it in a novel, let alone a photograph.’ The novel follows the young man’s broken path, as he goes overseas, finds a career, and then comes back to a changed Johannesburg. In the process, the book develops an ever-widening perspective not only on change in the country, but also on questions to do with seeing and being seen. It brings into sharp focus South Africa’s recent history and the difficulty of depicting it. Double Negative was first published in November 2010 in TJ/Double Negative as the fictional companion to David Goldblatt’s book of Johannesburg photographs titled TJ
198 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2010
11 people are currently reading
656 people want to read
About the author
Ivan Vladislavić
45 books75 followersIvan Vladislavić is a novelist, essayist and editor. He lives in Johannesburg where he is a Distinguished Professor in Creative Writing at the University of the Witwatersrand. His books include The Folly, The Restless Supermarket, Portrait with Keys and Double Negative. Among his recent publications are Flashback Hotel, a compendium of early stories; The Loss Library, a reflection on writing; and 101 Detectives, a collection of new short stories. He has edited volumes on architecture and art. His work has won several prizes, including the University of Johannesburg Prize, the Sunday Times Fiction Prize and the Alan Paton Award for non-fiction. In 2015, he was awarded the Windham-Campbell Prize for fiction by Yale University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
May 25, 2023
Çift olumsuz , bir bildungsroman. Kitap, bize son derece . kısıtlı bir çerçeve ve bilgilendirme dahilinde apartheid döneminde başlayıp, günümüze olan (tahmini) 20 yıldır kendinisini arayan bir fotoğrafçı adayı olan Neville Listerin’in öyküsünü sunuyor .
Kitap üç bölümde oluşuyor ve apartheid döneminde orta üst sınıf olan Lister ile tanışıyoruz. Okulu bırakan listeri babası, kurgusal fotoğraf sanatçısı Saul Auerbach ile tanıştırmasıyla ilk bölüm başlıyor ve diğer iki bölümde yurtdışına gidip ülkeye dönen listerin iziyle bu yaşam öyküsüne ortak oluyoruz
Vladislavić’in her ne kadar şiirsel anlatımı olsa da; yapılandırdığı metaforları arka planda belli bir tempoyla okura hissettirse de; okura bazen güzel duygular deneyimlenmesine vesile olsa da; ve kitabın ismiyle yazar olarak vermek istediği boşluk ve nötr hissini başarılı şekilde vermiş olsa da, ben kitapla ya da Lister ile bağlantımı kuramadığımı belirtmeliyim. Yaratılan bu arka plandaki boşluk hissiyatı kasıtlı mıdır ondan emin değilim. (Çünkü yazarın Türkçe’ye kazandırılan ilk kitabı.) Kendimce tabii ki var olan konusu itibariyle varsayımlar halinde bu sorunun cevabına ulaşabiliyorum. Kitabın bana göre en ciddi problemi şuydu ki, bu da vermiş olduğum düşük puanın ana sebebidir; harika bir merak duygusu başlatıp diğer bölümlerde ise aşırı dağınık olarak ilerlemesine ek olarak kitabın tüm temposunun alaşağı edilerek okurun ilgisini aniden yok etmesidir. Bu da yazarın kasıtlı olarak yaptığı bir şey midir sorusunu umuyorum ki kitabı okuyacak diğer okuyucuların vereceği şahsi cevabı doğrusunda bulacaktır.
İyi okumalar!
5/2
Kitap üç bölümde oluşuyor ve apartheid döneminde orta üst sınıf olan Lister ile tanışıyoruz. Okulu bırakan listeri babası, kurgusal fotoğraf sanatçısı Saul Auerbach ile tanıştırmasıyla ilk bölüm başlıyor ve diğer iki bölümde yurtdışına gidip ülkeye dönen listerin iziyle bu yaşam öyküsüne ortak oluyoruz
Vladislavić’in her ne kadar şiirsel anlatımı olsa da; yapılandırdığı metaforları arka planda belli bir tempoyla okura hissettirse de; okura bazen güzel duygular deneyimlenmesine vesile olsa da; ve kitabın ismiyle yazar olarak vermek istediği boşluk ve nötr hissini başarılı şekilde vermiş olsa da, ben kitapla ya da Lister ile bağlantımı kuramadığımı belirtmeliyim. Yaratılan bu arka plandaki boşluk hissiyatı kasıtlı mıdır ondan emin değilim. (Çünkü yazarın Türkçe’ye kazandırılan ilk kitabı.) Kendimce tabii ki var olan konusu itibariyle varsayımlar halinde bu sorunun cevabına ulaşabiliyorum. Kitabın bana göre en ciddi problemi şuydu ki, bu da vermiş olduğum düşük puanın ana sebebidir; harika bir merak duygusu başlatıp diğer bölümlerde ise aşırı dağınık olarak ilerlemesine ek olarak kitabın tüm temposunun alaşağı edilerek okurun ilgisini aniden yok etmesidir. Bu da yazarın kasıtlı olarak yaptığı bir şey midir sorusunu umuyorum ki kitabı okuyacak diğer okuyucuların vereceği şahsi cevabı doğrusunda bulacaktır.
İyi okumalar!
5/2
March 13, 2014
I’ve just read Double Negative. I ordered it on Amazon. I’d read An Exploded View a few years ago and found it intriguing and memorable, not saying I understood it entirely. You know, there are some books that you come away from feeling really energised and thought-provoked but at the back of your mind you have a nagging feeling that you are missing something? And, for some reason, you feel the fault lies in yourself? You failed to understand all of the subtleties and literary sophistications? You alone amongst all the readers. But I can forgive Vladislavic this - I’m in love with his descriptions. Two reasons. They are so very well observed, he picks up exactly what is needed from what he looks at – what is needed to convey what he wants. Then also, he uses only the exact minimum words and most fruitful metaphors and similes, that you instantly recognise what he writes of, but in a new Vladislavic way. John Banville does the same. He says a writer shows a reality, it’s not a real reality but an artistic creation that draws us in. It is a 're-presentation' and is artful and memorable and I think he added that if such a re-presentation is good enough it can merge with one's own experience of that reality/image. Or maybe I just made that bit up? One thing for sure, I’ll never look at a photograph or a shopping centre in quite the same way again. I guess that’s the point of a novel.
May 4, 2014
I know this story, I thought. Both cityscape and the narrator's experience of South Africa in transition were so familiar.
Possibly no two people will perceive this fascinating book in exactly the same way, but many Johannesburgers will find aspects and echoes of their own experiences here.
I happened to be back visiting Jozi over the Freedom Day weekend while reading the first section (Available Light) of the three into which the novel is divided. It seemed serendipitous that I should be there, driving along or crossing over the Kensington and Bez Valley streets mentioned in this section devoted to the apartheid era over a weekend when many South Africans must have been reflecting on our past and the first twenty years of democracy.
Double Negative started life as a fictional companion to TJ, David Goldblatt's book of Johannesburg photographs. At one level the novel offers us an insight into our recent history through the city's ever-changing architecture - buildings, surrounding walls, and entrances, especially those with idiosyncratic postboxes - in fact, letters feature quirkily in this novel (remember when
mail was delivered by a postman?)
From Kensignton houses and backyards full of unexpected or eccentric stories, to soulless office parks, to Afrocentric chic northern suburbs homes, Johannesburg tells its story. We see the city then and now - it's a very visual book. It's also sensual - feel the coolness of the parquet flooring in a flashback as the boy Nev lies on his back reading a photo comic, or the heat of the outdoor slasto under his feet.
Architects and photographers especially will revel in this knowledgeable, clever book.
Possibly no two people will perceive this fascinating book in exactly the same way, but many Johannesburgers will find aspects and echoes of their own experiences here.
I happened to be back visiting Jozi over the Freedom Day weekend while reading the first section (Available Light) of the three into which the novel is divided. It seemed serendipitous that I should be there, driving along or crossing over the Kensington and Bez Valley streets mentioned in this section devoted to the apartheid era over a weekend when many South Africans must have been reflecting on our past and the first twenty years of democracy.
Double Negative started life as a fictional companion to TJ, David Goldblatt's book of Johannesburg photographs. At one level the novel offers us an insight into our recent history through the city's ever-changing architecture - buildings, surrounding walls, and entrances, especially those with idiosyncratic postboxes - in fact, letters feature quirkily in this novel (remember when
mail was delivered by a postman?)
From Kensignton houses and backyards full of unexpected or eccentric stories, to soulless office parks, to Afrocentric chic northern suburbs homes, Johannesburg tells its story. We see the city then and now - it's a very visual book. It's also sensual - feel the coolness of the parquet flooring in a flashback as the boy Nev lies on his back reading a photo comic, or the heat of the outdoor slasto under his feet.
Architects and photographers especially will revel in this knowledgeable, clever book.
December 15, 2013
I'am truly sorry to say this about a book as my friends know me I don't like to say bad things about anything but this book I did not get I mean I read the whole thing and I didn't under stand it all it was a man named Nev or Neville going about his life and putting in a memory here and there and going away then coming back when things settle down well I think that was it or this book was just to over my head to understand I most say I'am very sorry for all I just said but that's what I think and you always tell the truth especially when it comes to books people like to know all the fax to see if it is worth reading so again I'am truly sorry about writing this review.xxxxxxx
December 18, 2023
Rep: South African cast & setting, Black South African side characters
February 13, 2013
I honestly did not think I would love this book but I really did. Neville is a young white man in starting off in apartheid era South Africa trying to find himself as a young person really- no real political inclinations that you could pick up. He clearly seems to have no real direction or plan with his life, and to prod him along his father introduces him to photographer Saul Auerbach who in turn invites Nev, to spend a day with him and Brookes, a British journalist, on this day Nev's life is changed as he sees his city, his country and ultimately himself through the wiley and crafty lens of Auerbach's photography. Fast forward a couple of years, and Nev leaves South Africa for London where he establishes himself as a photographer. Eventually returns to post apartheid Johannesburg, which is nothing like what he knew. I enjoyed travelling through post apartheid South Africa through Vladislavic's descriptions. I loved the honesty, it was not simpering sweet liberal descriptions that you normally get from South African writers. It was reality through Nev's lens and not necessarily pretty. The story is well narrated and written. Language to point and the descriptions of Johannesburg absolutelty on point. I am looking forward to reading more of this author's books.
June 25, 2014
I loved this...a subtle and moving portrait of a South African man, Neville Lister, in three distinct phases of his life. Vladislavic does not flinch from the grime of reality or from exposing uncomfortable truth, and yet his prose is saturated in warmth and affection for Johannesburg and its people. Towards the end the protagonist watches the TRC hearings in an attempt to 'reanimate the deadened nerve-endings of my sympathy' and that is exactly what Vladislavic's writing does for me.
July 13, 2017
Neville Lister hat sein Studium abgebrochen und ist mit seinem derzeitigen Job als Straßenbegrenzungs-Linien-Maler ganz zufrieden. Als sein Onkel ihm einen Schnuppertag gemeinsam mit dem bekannten Fotografen Saul Auerbach vermittelt, ist Neville überzeugt davon, dass er sowieso nicht Fotograf werden will. Anders als alle anderen Bekannten hat Onkel Doug eine gerahmte Fotografie von Auerbach an der Wand, kein Gemälde. Sein Vater verspricht sich vom Blick in ein völlig anderes Leben, dass er seinen Sohn davor bewahren kann, auf die schiefe Bahn zu geraten oder im Südafrika des Apartheid-Regimes unangenehm aufzufallen. Der nächste Schritt wird sein, für Neville einen Auslandsaufenthalt in England zu organisieren, damit er während seines Wehrdienstes nicht als Kanonenfutter an der Grenze zu Angola verheizt wird, für ein politisches System, das weiße Liberale wie Vater Lister ablehnen. Das Kurz-Praktikum bei Auerbach verbringt Neville gemeinsam mit einem britischen Journalisten, der äußerst kritisch nach der Rolle der studentischen Jugend im Südafrika der 80er Jahre bohrt. Vermutlich wird Neville in dem Moment klar, dass er bisher noch keinen klaren Standpunkt bezogen hat. Auerbach fährt mit seinen beiden Gästen auf einen Aussichtspunkt, sie suchen von dort oben drei Häuser aus, die sie unten in Johannesburg suchen, um Szenen aus dem Leben ihrer Bewohner zu fotografieren. Als Patenonkel der Dokumentarfotografie ist Auerbach bekannt dafür, Momente einzufrieren, in denen die Dinge auf der Kippe stehen. (S. 174) Der Meister arbeitet vermutlich mit einer Großformat-Kamera, kriecht zum Scharfstellen unter ein Tuch, tritt dann zur Seite und löst den Verschluss per Fernauslöser aus.
Nach 10 Jahren in England, in denen Neville eher zufällig wieder in Berührung mit Fotografie gerät, kehrt er in den 90ern nach dem Ende der Apartheid nach Südafrika zurück. Mancher hätte die Zeit als Exil bezeichnet; für Neville bedeutete sie, seinen Vater vor dessen Tod nicht noch einmal treffen zu können. Ich bin da irgendwie rein geschlittert, wird er über seine Berufswahl später sagen. Eine Ausstellung von Auerbachs Fotos führt Neville wieder mit den Häusern zusammen, die er damals mit Auerbach heran gezoomt hat und die die Lebensbedingungen unter Gesetzen zur Rassentrennung wie unter dem Vergrößerungsglas abbildeten. In der Gegenwart fotografiert Neville die Menschen vor ihren Häusern, dringt nicht mehr wie damals in ihr Privatleben ein. Damit bildet er die gesellschaftlichen Veränderungen ähnlich nüchtern ab, wie Auerbach damals. Ein Treffen mit einer jungen Journalistin konfrontiert Neville mit seinem eigenen Altern und den Veränderungen, die die Fotografie in den Jahren seiner Abwesenheit durchlaufen hat. Janie ist nicht nur Journalistin, sie arbeitet auch intensiv an ihrer Selbstdarstellung als Bloggerin, indem sie ihren Usern Haushaltstipps von Oprah Winfrey bietet.
Als aus dem Exil zurückgekehrter Fotograf richtet Ivan Vladislavics Figur Neville einen sehr speziellen Blick auf seine Heimatstadt Johannesburg, als würde er Einzelfotos präsentieren, zu denen man sich als Leser erst die Geschichte erarbeiten muss. In Johannesburg. Insel aus Zufall präsentiert Vladislavic seine Stadt wie ein Stadtführer, eine ähnliche Wirkung auf mich hatte auch sein Roman über einen Fotografen auf den Spuren der jüngsten südafrikanischen Geschichte, der auf drei Zeitebenen erzählt wird.
Nach 10 Jahren in England, in denen Neville eher zufällig wieder in Berührung mit Fotografie gerät, kehrt er in den 90ern nach dem Ende der Apartheid nach Südafrika zurück. Mancher hätte die Zeit als Exil bezeichnet; für Neville bedeutete sie, seinen Vater vor dessen Tod nicht noch einmal treffen zu können. Ich bin da irgendwie rein geschlittert, wird er über seine Berufswahl später sagen. Eine Ausstellung von Auerbachs Fotos führt Neville wieder mit den Häusern zusammen, die er damals mit Auerbach heran gezoomt hat und die die Lebensbedingungen unter Gesetzen zur Rassentrennung wie unter dem Vergrößerungsglas abbildeten. In der Gegenwart fotografiert Neville die Menschen vor ihren Häusern, dringt nicht mehr wie damals in ihr Privatleben ein. Damit bildet er die gesellschaftlichen Veränderungen ähnlich nüchtern ab, wie Auerbach damals. Ein Treffen mit einer jungen Journalistin konfrontiert Neville mit seinem eigenen Altern und den Veränderungen, die die Fotografie in den Jahren seiner Abwesenheit durchlaufen hat. Janie ist nicht nur Journalistin, sie arbeitet auch intensiv an ihrer Selbstdarstellung als Bloggerin, indem sie ihren Usern Haushaltstipps von Oprah Winfrey bietet.
Als aus dem Exil zurückgekehrter Fotograf richtet Ivan Vladislavics Figur Neville einen sehr speziellen Blick auf seine Heimatstadt Johannesburg, als würde er Einzelfotos präsentieren, zu denen man sich als Leser erst die Geschichte erarbeiten muss. In Johannesburg. Insel aus Zufall präsentiert Vladislavic seine Stadt wie ein Stadtführer, eine ähnliche Wirkung auf mich hatte auch sein Roman über einen Fotografen auf den Spuren der jüngsten südafrikanischen Geschichte, der auf drei Zeitebenen erzählt wird.
December 9, 2019
Not as spectacular as "The Exploded View" but well worth reading. This is a first-person narrative from the point of view of Neville Lister, the only son of kind white parents in South Africa under apartheid. The first thing we learn about Neville is that he has dropped out of university, a decision all the more incomprehensible since he is still very wet behind the ears and a student through and through. Moving back to his childhood home quickly turns into a nightmare both for him and for his parents, so his father puts him in touch with an already well-regarded photographer, Saul Auerbach. Neville then spends a life-changing day driving around Johannesburg with Auerbach and a friend of his, British journalist Gerald Brookes. To the young man's amazement, Auerbach rises to the challenge of getting the residents of 2 houses chosen at random to open their doors to him and let him take pictures which in due course will increase his reputation exponentially. Neville then moves to London to avoid military service, and ends up making a living as a photographer, while always considering this job as provisional. After the end of apartheid, Neville comes home and drifts back to the third house Auerbach was supposed to try that day, but didn't. There he meets, and gradually befriends, an old woman called Camilla, whose great love was a doctor from Mozambique who ended up a humble postman in South Africa after the revolution in his own country. While Dr Pinheiro is now dead, Camilla still hangs on to "dead letters", i.e. badly addressed letters that the post office was unable to deliver to their intended targets. Neville's mother doesn't encourage her son's strange fascination for this gloomy older woman, but in any case Camilla dies or moves away while Neville is having a short illness, and the connection is abruptly severed. Neville, however, remains in possession of the letters. In Part III, Neville has at last married and is being interviewed by a journalist for the first time. At long last, he has turned from being a purely commercial photographer to being "a disciple of the great Saul Auerbach". This is basically a Bildungsroman with the added interest of coinciding with one of the great historical events of the second half of the twentieth century, namely the end of apartheid. Viscerally opposed to apartheid, as evidenced by an early scene when he nearly comes to blows with a racist neighbor, Neville is unable and unwilling to do more about it than attend a couple of demonstrations. The burden of being born in a grossly unfair society blights his youth, but even afterwards if he is snooty about mates who claim to have struggled much more actively than he did, his bad conscience haunts him permanently. Only in middle age does he seem able to appropriate Johannesburg again and photograph it in a way that is uniquely is. As in all the books I've read by this author, there's a lot of attention devoted to urban spaces, houses and walls, an obvious symbol of the barriers still extent between the various components of the rainbow nation. Vladislavic is a master of the suggestive description of inanimate objects, for instance when he evokes a wall decorated with animal skulls looking more like ghosts coming out of the plaster than just dead bone.
April 10, 2019
Das Buch ist in 3 Teile gegliedert, die sich auch tatsächlich voneinander unterscheiden. Nicht nur zeitlich, wir treffen unseren Protagonisten an drei verschiedenen Punkten seines Lebens, sondern auch in der Aufbereitung.
Zumindest kam es mir so vor, als ob die Abschweifungen in Erinnerungen häufiger wurden - so wie mir das mit zunehmendem Alter auch passiert.
Die Apartheid bzw. das Ende wird immer wieder aufgegriffen, weil es Teil des Lebens war (und ist), aber eben genau so und nicht als mächtiges über allem schwebendes Thema.
Nev erschien mir so wunderbar normal. Die Begegnung mit Auerbach lässt in ihm nicht sofort den glühenden Wunsch aufkommen, jetzt Fotograf zu werden, wie ich aus dem Klappentext vermutet hätte. Im Gegenteil, es scheint fast eher ein Zufall zu sein. Aber dennoch scheint ihn der Tag stärker beeinflusst zu haben, als er es wohl selbst angenommen hatte.
Mir hat das Spiel mit den metaphern eigentlich ganz gut gefallen, auch wenn es schon ein wenig übertrieben war. Ob das bewusst für dieses Buch so gewählt wurde, es würde zu Nev passen, oder auch sonst Stilmittel des Autors ist, mag ich nicht zu beurteilen, ich kenne den Autor sonst (noch) nicht. Es wäre aber schon interessant zu wissen...
Zumindest kam es mir so vor, als ob die Abschweifungen in Erinnerungen häufiger wurden - so wie mir das mit zunehmendem Alter auch passiert.
Die Apartheid bzw. das Ende wird immer wieder aufgegriffen, weil es Teil des Lebens war (und ist), aber eben genau so und nicht als mächtiges über allem schwebendes Thema.
Nev erschien mir so wunderbar normal. Die Begegnung mit Auerbach lässt in ihm nicht sofort den glühenden Wunsch aufkommen, jetzt Fotograf zu werden, wie ich aus dem Klappentext vermutet hätte. Im Gegenteil, es scheint fast eher ein Zufall zu sein. Aber dennoch scheint ihn der Tag stärker beeinflusst zu haben, als er es wohl selbst angenommen hatte.
Mir hat das Spiel mit den metaphern eigentlich ganz gut gefallen, auch wenn es schon ein wenig übertrieben war. Ob das bewusst für dieses Buch so gewählt wurde, es würde zu Nev passen, oder auch sonst Stilmittel des Autors ist, mag ich nicht zu beurteilen, ich kenne den Autor sonst (noch) nicht. Es wäre aber schon interessant zu wissen...
December 1, 2022
The first novel I’ve read on Johannesburg. Set in the decade before I was born (70s) it captures the perspective of a young white photographer at end of apartheid, avoiding compulsory military service by emigrating to London, and the complex feelings of returning to South Africa soon after the first democratic elections. Before emigrating he spends one day with a well know photographer modelled on David Goldblatt which has a deeper impact on him than he initially acknowledges. Fascinating to read about Joburg, particularly Bertrams, during this pivotal time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 15, 2020
A vivid, complex and arresting piece of work. So clever it made me laugh out at times. A beautiful read, utterly unique and crafted with the utmost care. A book to savour with its multidimensionality.
January 18, 2026
A good read. One of those novels where you have the feeling that it's cleverer than you, but not in a wankerish try-hard kind of a way. It's telling a story, and on the surface it's quite a good story, and it's very well told. Would be a good book to study I think.
May 19, 2022
Wry, observant, melancholy; written with the detailed textures only a longtime Jo'burger could grasp.
September 3, 2023
As always everything Vlad creates is gold. Not my favourite work of his but top tier regardless.
When we’ll the world wake up to his genius!!!
When we’ll the world wake up to his genius!!!
January 12, 2025
Has a slower start and never strikes me as particularly entrancing, but is definitely an enjoyable read and has nice visual descriptions.
August 30, 2025
Loved it, then lost it a bit at the end. Retrospective account and the humour so changed, now felt disjointed. But I admire the man for a story I may have told myself. The early days were beautiful and this is true
August 15, 2014
This was another great suggestion from Norwich Writer’s Centre summer reading adventure. More details of the summer reads are at http://www.writerscentrenorwich.org.u....
Double Negative is published by And Other Stories, an alternative UK publisher that brings “collaborative, imaginative and shamelessly literary” works to the fore with their annual subscription package. Join the mailing list at: andotherstories.org/join-us. Follow on twitter @andothertweets, and join on Facebook: And Other Stories. Check out their website: http://www.andotherstories.org/
Our main protagonist Neville is a young white man, a university drop out, back home living in his parents house in Johannesburg. He seems to have lost his way and is painting lines and arrows in parking lots with fellow worker Jaco. On the surface Jaco may seem okay but don’t be deceived by impressions. “Jaco was like a can that had been shaken, for all his jokey patter, he was full of dangerous energies, and if you prodded him in the wrong place, he would go off pop.” The era is pre apartheid, Neville doesn’t like to get too involved, he prefers to stand on the periphery watching events unfold, a wavering character. Though he does take exception to his father’s new neighbour’s out and out racism. “An odourless poison leaked out of him.” “His prejudice was a passion.” His father fears that he will fall in with the wrong crowd. Neville has no idea what he wants to do with his life so his father introduces him to a family friend, a famous photographer Saul Auerbach who takes Neville out for the day with a British journalist, Brookes who is looking for a pre-apartheid story. Spending a day with Auerbach changes Neville’s life. He is encouraged to play a game of chance as they stand on top of a hill. Each choose a house to visit at random not knowing who lives inside or what they may find. For me, the story really grasped my attention at this point. They only get to see two of the houses. Neville’s choice is abandoned due to poor light. Auerbach’s portraits of the first two become celebrated pieces.
Nev is awakened by the experience, now it is as if he is seeing life through a camera lense. The narrative moves swiftly on, giving us snapshots of South Africa during this period of tumultuous change. Nevillle struggles with the concept of duty but takes the easy way out and moves to London to avoid military service. His day with Auerbach made such an lasting impact on him that he becomes a photographer. But he misses his home in South Africa and longs to return.”The poetry of the moment made me long for the prose of Johannesburg. I went to see a travel agent.” An old lady had thrown chicken feed into the ballot box! He returns to post apartheid Johannesburg but much has changed. His former home seems alien to him. Now Neville is a fairly successful photographer being interviewed by Janie, a blogger. He thinks about the day spent with Auerbach often. He has not forgotten his choice of house, and he decides to visit decades later. Behind every front door there is a story to be told and each story is so different. Each photograph can be so different from the next. The possibilities are endless.
Double Negative spans decades in time. It handles these changes well. I particularly liked Nev’s quote: “I’m growing into my father’s language: it will fit me eventually like his old overcoat that was once two sizes too big.”
Double Negative is exceptionally well written. It captures an everyday life against the backdrop of South Africa’s incredible revolution in an engaging portrait of a city and its many diverse citizens. I loved the link with photography, and the whole idea of the Double Negative. The following quote is taken from a later section in the novel when a mature Nev is talking to his wife Leora.
“She was being ironic, obviously,” she said.
“Yes.”
“And so are you.”
“I guess.”
“The whole thing is ironic.”
“Including the ironies.”
“Maybe they cancel one another out then,” Leora said, “Like a double negative.”
Highly recommended.
My full review is at www.kyrosmagica.wordpress.com
Double Negative is published by And Other Stories, an alternative UK publisher that brings “collaborative, imaginative and shamelessly literary” works to the fore with their annual subscription package. Join the mailing list at: andotherstories.org/join-us. Follow on twitter @andothertweets, and join on Facebook: And Other Stories. Check out their website: http://www.andotherstories.org/
Our main protagonist Neville is a young white man, a university drop out, back home living in his parents house in Johannesburg. He seems to have lost his way and is painting lines and arrows in parking lots with fellow worker Jaco. On the surface Jaco may seem okay but don’t be deceived by impressions. “Jaco was like a can that had been shaken, for all his jokey patter, he was full of dangerous energies, and if you prodded him in the wrong place, he would go off pop.” The era is pre apartheid, Neville doesn’t like to get too involved, he prefers to stand on the periphery watching events unfold, a wavering character. Though he does take exception to his father’s new neighbour’s out and out racism. “An odourless poison leaked out of him.” “His prejudice was a passion.” His father fears that he will fall in with the wrong crowd. Neville has no idea what he wants to do with his life so his father introduces him to a family friend, a famous photographer Saul Auerbach who takes Neville out for the day with a British journalist, Brookes who is looking for a pre-apartheid story. Spending a day with Auerbach changes Neville’s life. He is encouraged to play a game of chance as they stand on top of a hill. Each choose a house to visit at random not knowing who lives inside or what they may find. For me, the story really grasped my attention at this point. They only get to see two of the houses. Neville’s choice is abandoned due to poor light. Auerbach’s portraits of the first two become celebrated pieces.
Nev is awakened by the experience, now it is as if he is seeing life through a camera lense. The narrative moves swiftly on, giving us snapshots of South Africa during this period of tumultuous change. Nevillle struggles with the concept of duty but takes the easy way out and moves to London to avoid military service. His day with Auerbach made such an lasting impact on him that he becomes a photographer. But he misses his home in South Africa and longs to return.”The poetry of the moment made me long for the prose of Johannesburg. I went to see a travel agent.” An old lady had thrown chicken feed into the ballot box! He returns to post apartheid Johannesburg but much has changed. His former home seems alien to him. Now Neville is a fairly successful photographer being interviewed by Janie, a blogger. He thinks about the day spent with Auerbach often. He has not forgotten his choice of house, and he decides to visit decades later. Behind every front door there is a story to be told and each story is so different. Each photograph can be so different from the next. The possibilities are endless.
Double Negative spans decades in time. It handles these changes well. I particularly liked Nev’s quote: “I’m growing into my father’s language: it will fit me eventually like his old overcoat that was once two sizes too big.”
Double Negative is exceptionally well written. It captures an everyday life against the backdrop of South Africa’s incredible revolution in an engaging portrait of a city and its many diverse citizens. I loved the link with photography, and the whole idea of the Double Negative. The following quote is taken from a later section in the novel when a mature Nev is talking to his wife Leora.
“She was being ironic, obviously,” she said.
“Yes.”
“And so are you.”
“I guess.”
“The whole thing is ironic.”
“Including the ironies.”
“Maybe they cancel one another out then,” Leora said, “Like a double negative.”
Highly recommended.
My full review is at www.kyrosmagica.wordpress.com
January 13, 2014
Really, I think this novel deserves 3.5 stars, but I felt it was too good to round down. Most of the writing is very well done - though it tries too hard in a few places - and there are many interesting pieces for such a small book. Unfortunately, it felt as though the author wasn't sure what to do, how to wrap it up or what the story even meant in the first place. It's touching, beautiful at times, but appears unfinished. One might say that, since it basically recounts much of a man's life, it is pointless only if the man's existence is pointless. I was willing to argue that: the main character's life could be a work of art just as his photos, without intrinsic value, little more than a categorical record, and yet still beauty for beauty's sake. The ending, however, alluded to something greater. But if the novel held some stereogram of higher meaning, I did not see it. Even so, many of the descriptions are stunningly realistic, the observations pointed and unflinching. It's a wonderful snapshot of people and place and thing. With such presence, I would love to see more from this author.
December 26, 2013
Our protagonist in Neville Lister a university drop out, who has returned to live in his parents home, working meaningless jobs (painting the signs or roads or car parks). A family friend , the famed photographer Saul Auerbach, agrees to take Neville on a tour for a day , and they team up with a journalist seeking out a story and associated images in the pre Apartheid era of South Africa. From a hill they choose three homes and agree to visit them and find out the stories within. As it transpires the light fades and they only get to two of the houses, with Neville’s being abandoned. We then move to the period of South Africa’s change (whilst Neville is dodging military service in London) and find that our story teller is now a small time photographer longing to return to his homelands.
For my full review go to http://messybooker.blogspot.com.au
For my full review go to http://messybooker.blogspot.com.au
May 31, 2015
Double Negative
Ivan Vladislavic (Author)
Ivan Vladislavic's 'Double Negative' is one of those novels that packs a lot in. The fictional photographer Saul Auerbach is critically acclaimed, a chronicler of every day life in South Africa during a period of great change. For one day, Nevillie Lister, a University dropout accompanies him, and it this one event that is the basis for the novel, but ripples spread out throughout the lifes of Saul, and more importantly Neville, who realises the importance of the time they experiencing first hand. The book goes along at quite a pace, but it is also a soulful meditation on life, love, money, and death, and there should be something here to appeal to most readers. It is a very intersting read, and continues the good work that Vladislavic has been carrying out up until this point in his career.
Ivan Vladislavic (Author)
Ivan Vladislavic's 'Double Negative' is one of those novels that packs a lot in. The fictional photographer Saul Auerbach is critically acclaimed, a chronicler of every day life in South Africa during a period of great change. For one day, Nevillie Lister, a University dropout accompanies him, and it this one event that is the basis for the novel, but ripples spread out throughout the lifes of Saul, and more importantly Neville, who realises the importance of the time they experiencing first hand. The book goes along at quite a pace, but it is also a soulful meditation on life, love, money, and death, and there should be something here to appeal to most readers. It is a very intersting read, and continues the good work that Vladislavic has been carrying out up until this point in his career.
September 12, 2012
This book deserves 3 starts and a half, rather than just three. Vladislavic is undoubtedly a gifted writer who presents many of South Africa's contemporary challenges in an engaging and smart way. Yet, what's his strength is also his weakness, since I felt that the novel ends up being in the first place a showcase for his sharp analysis of his country's endurances. it's quite hard to grasp what the plot is really about and what are the points the protagonist is trying to make. I recommend this book to all of those who want to try to better understand South Africa's social complexities. The title itself is excellent and ambiguously witty.
December 31, 2015
A fictional pseudo-memoir. It's told through vignettes (verbal photographs) of the narrator's life with a strong background in South African culture, politics and Apartheid legacy. A little too loose, and sometimes too poetic for novel-legth piece of prose. I understand that he was trying to create verbal photographs, but I wish he'd condensed the jewels of his writing in a shorter, stronger work.
April 3, 2012
Ivan Vladislavic is one of my favourite South African authors - and those blue eyes ?!!! I'm totally in love with his prose and his blue eyes. He writes like a dream, he makes Joburg live, he understands his city, and his city should be a lot more grateful to him for his writing. We don't value our writers nearly enough in South Africa.
November 25, 2013
Thank to goodreads for a free copy of this book - but the fact it was free in no way influences my review.
This was a great book, following Nev the man character in pre-apartheid South Africa, to England and then his reflections returning to the modern South Africa. It's an honest and interesting book especially if you have ever visited SA or have an interest in the region.
Recommended.
This was a great book, following Nev the man character in pre-apartheid South Africa, to England and then his reflections returning to the modern South Africa. It's an honest and interesting book especially if you have ever visited SA or have an interest in the region.
Recommended.
May 29, 2014
Another cracking read from Vladislavić, one I enjoyed even more than The Restless Supermarket. A quiet and thoughtful read that spoke to me about the relationship we have with the idea of home, and again so eloquently about change, against the background of profound change in South Africa. A wonderful voice.
August 15, 2016
Fascinating and complex novel about South Africa in three different time periods -- during apartheid, immediately after it, and in the present day. Like the photographs Vladislavic references throughout, I feel like I could think and think on this book and continue to derive new meaning. Double Negative is weighty without being pretentious.
January 18, 2014
thanks for the preview copy from goodreads
simply brilliant book which follows a tale of life in south africa & the main characters return to the country after a spell living away from sa
thought provoking, well written and with great characters
simply brilliant book which follows a tale of life in south africa & the main characters return to the country after a spell living away from sa
thought provoking, well written and with great characters
December 20, 2021
Ivan Vladislavić is a treat to read. His writing is extraordinarily vivid, expressive and often very funny. Neville Lister is influenced into photography, and we encounter him before and after the end of apartheid in a series of scenarios littered with gems.
decided-against
July 21, 2017Won in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.
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