Деканът

by Lars Gustafsson

"Деканът: Из записките на Спенсър С. Спенсър. Събрани и издадени посмъртно от д-р Елизабет Ней, библиотекарка в Изследователския център по хуманитарни науки към Университета на щета Тексас в Остин."

Мистериозният декан на Университета в Тексас, който има магически сили и внушава страх у всички, особено у асистентката си, изчезва в пустоша на националния парк "Биг Бенд" в южен Тексас. Купчина листове, открити в изоставения автомобил на Спенсър, съдържат историята на живота му, както и множество остри и иронични наблюдения относно академичния живот в Остин, Тексас, както и описания на трансцедентални преживявания.

Романът повдига въпроси, свързани със смисъла на човешкото съществуване и кризата в моралните ценности днес. Фаустовският договор, сключен между главните герои в него, логично води до гибелни и за двамата последици, разкривайки диалектическата сложност на конфликта на живота с човек и на човек със смъртта.

Genres: Fiction, Swedish Literature

106 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Lars Gustafsson was a Swedish poet, novelist and scholar. He completed his secondary education at the Västerås gymnasium and continued to Uppsala University; he received his Licentiate degree in 1960 and was awarded his Ph.D. in Theoretical Philosophy in 1978. He lived in Austin, Texas until 2003, and has recently returned to Sweden. From 1983 he served as a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, where he taught Philosophy and Creative Writing, until May 2006, when he retired. In 1981 Gustafsson converted to Judaism.

Reviews

[Ingemar · Rating 4 out of 5]

En underskattad pärla i Herr Gustafssons oevre. På ytan må den mest handla om en kuf som går runt och funderar men därunder är det en gnostisk allegori med referenser till filosofi, litteratur och droger. Det beskriver de flesta av hans böcker men den här har lite mer stil än de andra.

[Philippe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deze filosofische novelle van Lars Gustafsson draait om het enigmatische diensthoofd van een Liberal Arts faculteit aan een Amerikaanse universiteit. De man is getekend door zijn ervaringen als infanterist in Vietnam en houdt er een uitgesproken Machiavellistische manier van werken op na. De verteller van het verhaal, een wat kleurloze academische filosoof (die promoveerde op Condillac), wordt onverwacht aangesteld als adjunct van de dean. Geleidelijk aan komt de verteller in de ban van deze mysterieuze persoonlijkheid.

Gustafsson laat een broodkruimelspoor achter dat bij mij de idee deed postvatten dat de science fiction-schrijver Philip K. Dick tot op zekere hoogte model heeft gestaan voor de dean. Niet alleen spelen hallucinogene middelen een belangrijke rol, ook draait de novelle rond het soort van ontologische en epistemologische vragen waar Dick zijn hele leven mee worstelde. Hier staat met name het vraagstuk van de theodicee centraal, in het licht van de constitutieve rol van het kwaad in de wereld.

De novelle geeft uiteindelijk geen antwoorden. In de beste traditie van de Amerikaanse roadmovie lost het lacunaire verhaal op in het verblindende licht van de Chihuahuawoestijn.

+++

Hernieuwde lectuur in 2022. Ik was zo goed als alles vergeten. Ik wist alleen nog dat ik het boek nogal goed vond. Inderdaad met plezier en gulzig herlezen. Opmerkelijk genoeg flitste een echo van Philip K. Dick me nu ook weer door het hoofd. Ik moet mijn bespreking slechts op één punt herzien: het boek geeft uiteindelijk wel een duidelijk antwoord. We weten wat er zich heeft afgespeeld, en ook hoe het hoofdpersonage er uiteindelijk voor kiest om met het schuldvraagstuk om te gaan. Kennis van modale logica helpt wel om de roman te ontcijferen. Ik waardeer mijn evaluatie op tot 4 sterren.

[Iamthesword · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fine little read to start the year. It's the story of a professor of philosophy at the University of Texas who becomes hand to the dean of his faculty. From a remote motel at the rim of the desert, he looks back at the events during that time and the relationship with the dean.
The whole thing is presented as found footage with holes, missing pieces and pages destroyed by water. Therefor the tale is jumping back and forth in time, often presented in fragments. Why has he fled? We don't know, but it might be that the dean made him commit a terrible crime...

There is some work to do by the reader to stitch together what has happened (or maybe has happened?), but I found it rewarding, because there are a lot of funny, enjoyable and even insightful pieces in the jigsaw. The professor is most concerned about his love life, tech magnates build extravagant villas along the banks of the Colorado River (Texas) making it look like a satire of the Rhine valley, and so on. There are many gems to find in there. It's a very satirical look that is at the same time very precise and therefor revealing.

Especially, it portrays the inside of university life quite well in this exaggerated manner, with all its bureaucracy and unnecessary commitee work, universitarian cock fights and managers that just think liberal arts are a waste of money. It's funny, 'cause it's true. And the dean is a fascinating figure, a Vietnam vet sitting in a wheelchair, but always in control and seemingly omniscient. We don't get to know why, but there are multiple references that imply that he might be the devil from Goethe's Faust. Indeed the only person that would thrive in that kind of environment...

Definitively not for everyone, but for me, it was kind of kathartic. Would read again.

[Gas · Rating 3 out of 5]

strano

[Ferruccio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Narrazione volutamente confusa (manoscritto di riflessioni e annotazioni diaristiche, ritrovate nel baule della sua auto abbandonata) che sfugge di mano allo scrittore.
“Non è così facile. Raccontare. Non è il mio lavoro. Ma se solo avete pazienza… vi racconterò quel che so. Ma tutto ovviamente non si può raccontare. È chiaro.”
“Sì, so. So molte più cose su di lei di quante abbia intenzione di raccontare.”