Ο άλλος Αλέξανδρος

by Margarita Liberaki, Μαργαρίτα Λυμπεράκη

Μια χειμωνιάτικη νύχτα. Μετά τον εμφύλιο. Στα περίχωρα της Αθήνας. Κάπου ανάμεσα στην Αθήνα και στο Λαύριο. Η δράση αρχίζει το σούρουπο και τελειώνει την αυγή. Δε διακόπτεται. Ξαναβρίσκουμε τα πρόσωπα ακριβώς όπως τ' αφήσαμε σε προηγούμενη σκηνή ή εικόνα. Η ίδια στάση, το ίδιο βλέμμα. Η παράσταση πρέπει να 'χει κάτι το απότομο, το ξαφνικό, από τις αλλαγές του φωτισμού μέχρι τις σχέσεις των προσώπων, κραυγές, κινήσεις, βλέμματα. Ρυθμός γοργός. Κάτι το απελπισμένο, αλλά γιορταστικό. Ο σκηνικός χώρος σε δύο επίπεδα. Λίγα σκαλοπάτια οδηγούν στο υψηλότερο επίπεδο που χωρίζεται στα δυο, αριστερά το δωμάτιο της Δωροθέας, δεξιά της Αγλαΐας. Στο πρώτο επίπεδο, το κάτω, το κοινό δωμάτιο (σπίτι) όπου συγκεντρώνεται η οικογένεια. Ένας μεγάλος καθρέφτης όπου καθρεφτίζεται η είσοδος των προσώπων. Το κάτω επίπεδο γίνεται εξωτερικό ταβέρνας με απλό συμβολικό πανό "Θέα προς τη θάλασσα".

Το πρόσωπο του Αλέξανδρου είναι τραγικό και ειρωνικό. Ωραίο βλέμμα. Είναι νευρικός και νωχελικός. Σοβαρός, αλλά με ξεσπάσματα κεφιού, έστω από ειρωνεία. Ο πατέρας είναι εξήντα περίπου ετών. Δυνατός και επιβλητικός. Δεσποτικός. Έχει δυο οικογένειες, τη νόμιμη και την "άλλη". Τέσσερα παιδιά στη μια οικογένεια, τέσσερα στην άλλη. Η μητέρα υποταγμένη απόλυτα στον πατέρα. Φοβάται τον πατέρα και τα γεγονότα που δεν μπορεί να καταλάβει και να εξηγήσει. Δεν καταλαβαίνει πια τα ίδια της τα παιδιά. Η Αγλαΐα κι ο Αλέξανδρος είναι τα πρόσωπα που έχουν το περισσότερο πάθος, θέλουν να γνωρίσουν τ' άλλα αδέρφια και τον έρωτα. Η φυσιογνωμία της Αγλαΐας πρέπει να έχει ένταση και συγκέντρωση. Το κάθε πρόσωπο είναι ξένο για τ' άλλα. Γι' αυτό κι ο διάλογος στιγμές γίνεται μονόλογος.

«Ένα έργο που σε προσελκύει, που σού δημιουργεί μεταπτώσεις συνεχείς, κι όπου συνυπάρχουν δράμα και κωμωδία, όνειρο και πραγματικότης»
(Claude Olivier, Lettres Francaises)

«Ο Άλλος Αλέξανδρος εκφράζει την κρίση ταυτότητας που ένιωθα τότε και που την έχω νιώσει έκτοτε πολλές φορές στη ζωή μου»
(Μαργαρίτα Λυμπεράκη)

Genres: Fiction, Greece, Classics

142 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Margarita Liberaki (Greek: Μαργαρίτα Λυμπεράκη) was born in Athens and raised by her grandparents, who ran the Fexis bookstore and publishing house. In addition to Three Summers, an NYRB Classics title, she wrote two further novels, The Other Alexander (1950) and The Mystery (1976); a number of plays, including Candaules’ Wife (1955) and The Danaïds (1956), part of a cycle she called Mythical Theater; several screenplays, including Jules Dassin’s Phaedra (1962) and Diaspora (1999), about Greek intellectuals in exile in Paris during the junta; and a translation of Treasure Island (2000).
Three Summers is now a standard part of Greek and Cypriot public education; it was adapted as a television miniseries in 1995.

Reviews

[Lita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm new to Greek literature; therefore, I used the opportunity to get a couple of books while visiting Greece. As one of the modern-day Greek classics, Margarita Liberaki's The Other Alexander takes the reader on a contemplative journey through complex family and societal relationships. The premise is simple: one father has two families. In each family, there are four children, named the same way. They do not live far away from each other. Some of the sons actually work together with the father in the mines. Some children seem to know about their siblings, others pretend not to. Told from the perspective of Alexander who is deeply obsessed with the other Alexander, we get to immerse ourselves in deeply troubling family relations. Although the story seems to be stuck in some sort of absurdity, you cannot stop reading it. It was a different kind of literary experience.

[Julian Worker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of a tyrant who has two sets of children in separate families and gives them all the same names. With this situation you might expect that things don't end well.

The tyrant is a controller of the local metal mines and is constantly placating the workers who want more safety features, better working conditions, and necessary repairs to be made to the tunnels underground.

To subdue the workers and their revolutionary zeal, he distracts them by telling them he's discovered gold and that there's more gold to be found, so the workers think they're going to become rich.

The only way the narrator can escape his fate is to use his namesake half-brother as an example...

[Koleide_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75
Intriguing plot but I am very confused by many things. The prose it at times a bit random but it’s written beautifully.
Favorite quote: “it is unbearable to swim in the midst of two river currents”

[Lize · Rating 4 out of 5]

“God is dead” as Nietzsche and the character Grigori say, and without a God, the basic belief system of Western Europe was in jeopardy. This belief system, or any idol, will be replaced by another, and it’s for these phases people choose to sacrifice their life for:

“We get ourselves killed for something bound to change: we believe in destruction and renewal. Not that we lack faith - we have much more than the fools of the past generation, the misers who expected payment and said ‘Yes, I’ll get myself killed, but for stable values and security.’ We, we just give our lives away. Nobody promised us reward and security, but, rather the opposite. We give our lives for change, or more exactly for one step in a greater change, knowing very well this change will give way to another.”

I think about the ubermensch reading this book, and how each sibling of the fathers two families wants to pursue their own will. We have killed not only God but community now, too.

People have conflicting selves, as the book starts by saying Alexander may be innocent deep down, but diabolical even deeper down. I’m left thinking perhaps the message is about the uselessness in pushing for a fragile and temporary morality onto our families and nations, as it will be created by man, and man is by nature (in this book) destructive and selfish.

If we aren’t ruled by a value set, and can’t be governed by ourselves, where do we go from here, Margarita?? Do we let nature and destruction flow its course?

A truly unique writing and narrative style. Impressed.

[Finlay Crotch · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5. I picked this up in a bookstore in Corfu. The quote by Camus in the dust jacket giving praise left me with high expectations. Honestly, the fact that Camus raves about this makes me feel pretty dumb. I mean, I understood the allegory. Two families with kids with the same names and the same father used to discuss civil war and “war within oneself”. But the plot was very hard to follow and paragraphs seemed misplaced in time order for no apparent reason and with no clear signposting. This is in that post-war era modern art genre and I just didn’t dig it. Also, I don’t read much Greek, so I can’t say for sure, but the translation work here into English left some pretty awkward sentences.

[Jonathan Koven · Rating 3 out of 5]

VERY interesting allegorical premise with lovely poetic language, but unfortunately the plot lost me a few times while reading. I’d like to try this one again eventually, or another one by Margarita Liberaki. The story is about a young man with a tyrannical father—who finds out his father has a second family, and all those children are given the same names as the narrator’s own family. The “originals” meet their “counterparts” (or find out they themselves are the “counterparts”) and a somewhat-absurdist drama ensues. At times, it reminded me of a more colorfully-descriptive Kafka.

[R.L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Κριτική στα Ελληνικά πιο κάτω...

Published less than a decade after the end of WW2 and immediately after the Greek civil war's end, on a politically "turmoiled" era, The Other Alexander features some elements of this recent history and of a certain lifestyle back then. But otherwise it's kind of too absurd and weird and hard to decipher.

The author (and later her daughter who was also an author) suffered from some mental health issues. I'm not sure if this explains part of the surreal, allegorical, confusing scenes and characters in an already odd plot, but the book often lost me and I'm not sure what the point of it was...

All that said, it was a quick read, I finished it in one go. Not sure what to make of it though ... I'm curious to see future readers' take on the book!

Δημοσιεύτηκε λιγότερο από μια δεκαετία μετά το τέλος του Β' Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου και αμέσως μετά το τέλος του ελληνικού εμφυλίου, σε μια πολιτικά «ταραγμένη» εποχή. Το βιβλίο περιέχει αναφορές σε ορισμένα στοιχεία αυτής της πρόσφατης Ιστορίας και ενός συγκεκριμένου τρόπου ζωής. Αλλά κατά τα άλλα το βρήκα πολύ "παράλογο" και δύσκολο να αποκρυπτογραφηθεί.

Η συγγραφέας (και αργότερα η κόρη της που ήταν επίσης συγγραφέας) υπέφερε από κάποια προβλήματα ψυχικής υγείας. Δεν είμαι σίγουρη αν αυτό εξηγεί εν μέρει τις σουρεαλιστικές, αλληγορικές, μπερδεμένες σκηνές και χαρακτήρες σε μια ήδη αλλόκοτη πλοκή... Πάντως το βιβλίο συχνά με έχανε και δεν κατάλαβα ποιο ήταν το νόημα του...

Ωστόσο, η ανάγνωσή του δεν ήταν ιδιαίτερα δύσκολη. Η κατανόηση ναι, η ανάγνωση όχι. Το τελείωσα μέσα σε ένα απόγευμα. Ίσως να φταίω εγώ που δεν πιάνω τι θέλει να πει ο ποιητής...

[Alex]

On the inner flap of the cover, there is a section of a letter that Albert Camus wrote to Liberaki. In it, he said, “[The book] is true poetry.” Camus was completely correct. So much of the book is written beautifully. A quote that really stuck out to me is “Aglaia's bed must be too narrow, since no amount of space is big enough when one is giving birth, not even the earth itself. By now the earth must be filled with her body and the last shriek of childbirth, there can be no space left for houses, for rivers, nor for trains passing into tunnels, space is too narrow, Aglaia is suffering, the earth is narrow and even if the rivers and the houses were to disappear, the earth is narrow and she is in pain."

That being said, I found that prose was often disordered and confusing at times. I was unable to tell if what was being described actually happened, or if it was a metaphor for something, or if it was a character imagining an event. The setting and/or narrative point would switch from Alexander’s POV to one that is omniscient on the flip of a dime. This made the plot hard to follow at times, but I could mostly make sense of it overall.

I didn’t leave a rating because I don’t know how to feel about the book. I didn’t dislike it, but I also didn’t like it. I think it would require actual literary analysis to rate it.

[Dimitris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Είναι ν΄απορείς που οι περισσότερες θετικές κριτικές είναι ξένων αναγνωστών, Γάλλων;

Χρόνια ήθελα να διαβάσω κάτι άλλο από τη συγγραφέα του πιο αγαπημένου μου Ελληνικού εφηβικού μυθιστορήματος, Τα ψάθινα καπέλα. Δεν έχει γράψει και πολλά.

Το συγκεκριμένο είναι της ίδιας εποχής, λίγο μετά το τέλος του Πολέμου. Δύσκολα τα πράγματα... Σίγουρα δεν είναι εφηβικό! Η γλώσσα είναι υπέροχη μα μοντερνιστική, ελλειπτική, δυσκολότατη. Η υπόθεση στριφνή και σίγουρα συμβολική. Οι χαρακτήρες μη-διακριτοί, πλαστοί, απωθητικότατοι.

Δεν το απήλαυσα καθόλου ούτε το κατανόησα. Κι απορώ αν η «μετεμφυλιακή» Ελλάδα που περιγράφει με τόσο μελανά χρώματα ήταν όντως τόσο σκληρή μιας και επέτρεψε την κυκλοφορία ενός τέτοιου βιβλίου που περιγράφει τον Εμφύλιο με το επαναλαμβανόμενο μάντρα «σκοτώσαμε το Θεό, χάσαμε το πρόσωπό μας!» και θεωρεί τα τρομερά Δεκεμβριανά ως Επανάσταση (!) Δεν.

Κατάλαβα πάντως επιτέλους την συγγραφική συγγένεια της Λυμπεράκη με την κόρη της Καραπάνου. Κληρονομικό το γονίδιο της σχιζοφρένειας...

[Maaike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gekocht in een boekhandel/koffiezaakje in Athene, deze novelle van een Griekse schrijfster uit de jaren 1950. Het gaat over de kinderen van een dominante mijneigenaar, die naast zijn officiële kinderen ook een tweede gezin heeft, waar hij dezelfde namen aan zijn ‘bastaardkinderen’ gegeven heeft. Nogal verwarrend, en heel fragmentarisch geschreven, met allerlei bizarre dialogen en vreemde, onuitgelegde en onopgeloste situaties: een zwager die met de verloofde van 1 van de broers naar bed gaat, een taveerne waar mensen dronken rare mantra’s zingen, een ouderwets hysterische zus Aglaia die verliefd is op iemand die ze nooit zag, machtsspellen tussen iedereen, etc. Al met al snapte ik er niet veel van, maar kon de poëtische taal op zijn tijd wel waarderen, zinnen als ‘And when in the Alps, you shouldn’t long for the sea’.

[V.S · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - Ενδιαφέρον, με υψηλές αισθητικές καταβολές, καθαρός εξπρεσσιονισμός με έναν καλοδουλεμένο ρυθμό και με μια σχεδόν συνειρμική αφήγηση που πλανιέται σε μαιάνδρους, όπως ακριβώς και οι χαρακτήρες τους.

Η ιστορικότητά του είναι ένα προσόν του και οι τελευταίες σελίδες απολαυστικές.

Παρόλα αυτά, αρκετές φορές γινόταν κουραστικό γεγονός που - προσωπικά - αποδίδω στην πρωτοπρόσωπη αφήγηση.

[Dasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Margarita Liberaki captured complexity, entanglement, absurdity, and ordinariness of our collective and individual existence. The past, the present, and the future, personal and political, are entangled, like the members of the narrator’s family. When all has been said and done, may we always wander with the same longing.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confused, have to reread some parts to understand the underlining texts but still a great read that smoothly runs through with some beautiful context to portray thoughts and opinions. Great poetic value.

[Andrew De Sousa · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.5/10

[◦•●◉✿ яeм ✿◉●•◦ · Rating 1 out of 5]

50s Greek Patriarchy written poetically? Kinda interesting, mostly boring, and quite annoying. Don't waste your time

[Joanne Tsang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really beautifully written allegorical novel on the Greek civil war and all the dynamics that come with it.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I would have liked this a lot more if only I were able to understand it 😅!

[Vitor Alexandre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written, will definitely take a couple re-reads to fully understand.

[álva · Rating 3 out of 5]

qué poca, también me pondría mega loco si mi papá tiene otra familia con el mismo número de hijos, la misma edad y con el mismo nombre que yo y mis hermanos

[Ștefania Ioana Chiorean · Rating 3 out of 5]

"View onto the sea"
A very complex story about a family with many members with a second family attached. The book describes Greece after the war, how people tried to rebuild the society. and the different labors done them

[Clark Hays · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thrift store WIN

Finally, I have something in common with Albert Camus.

The other day, we hiked Angel’s Rest in the Columbia Gorge and then decided to hit Bonneville hot springs for a soak. The only thing I had to read [note to self, always leave something in the car] was a copy of this book. It was a thrift store special, purchased at some point in the distant past for two dollars solely because of the blurb on the front from Albert Camus: “I am deeply moved by this book. It is true poetry.”

I was moved too, allowing me to share a fleeting moment of sublimity with an intellectual giant.

The story is truly a Greek tragedy, mirroring the divisions in society during the Greek civil war, the fault lines between family members and the chasm between who we are and who we want to be.

The setup is simple but brilliant — a local big man, the mine owner, has a family with three sons and a daughter, and an illegitimate family that is a mirror image of the original: three sons and a daughter, each with the same name and age as their counterpart. The protagonist, Alexander, spends all of his time wondering about the other Alexander, coveting the fiancée of his best friend, and watching over the various machinations and emotional warfare that rend the family apart including infidelity, loss of faith, unionizing, war, incest, murder and card games.

It was a dark, fast, poetic read with lines like this:

“…the ocean is the same in all its moments: here there is calm and there tempest; and where there is tempest here, there is calm somewhere else. Only its parts change, not the whole. The ocean is always the same with itself. And only man in his foolishness sees it differently.

I read this in one glorious sitting and found it a brilliant, lyrical way to capture the notion that we are always at war against ourselves, afraid our illegitimate selves enjoy some slight advantage, or that they will succeed where we have failed or find happiness when we only find sorrow.

[naia ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5/3,75 ?
No sé todavía estoy procesando y creo que no he pillado bien todas las metáforas. Pero Aglaia 🫶