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Circulation
Reading Tim Horvath's novella Circulation, one imagines what it might be like to go spelunking with Jorge Luis Borges or to shelve books with Scheherazade. In this swirling ode to maps, dreams, and the redemptive power of fiction, the stories proliferate vertiginously. At their emotional core is the quest of the main character, a humble librarian, to understand both his father and himself.
- GenresFiction
68 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 26, 2015
4.5/5
Upon starting this novella, a strange feeling of deja vu descended upon me; things seemed familiar, as if the universe was trying to let me in on some divine secret about the interconnectedness of things. Finally, a few pages in, lightning struck and I realized (drum roll)...oh, I've read this before, and not more than a month or two ago. This is one of the stories in Horvath's collection of stories Understories. Duped, cheated? Is that how I felt after realizing I spent money on a story I already owned? More like pleased and rewarded. Not only is this story worth a separate read, but it's certainly worth it's own read (if that makes sense).
If asked, I'd say this book is about the--and/or man's obsession with searching for the--divine secret about the interconnectedness of things. After all, it does immediately introduce a father who is writing/plans to write The Atlas of the Voyage of Things, which would, through a likely all-but-endless series of maps show "how things came to be where they currently were" (12). This premise alone both whimsical and titillating. Also, it introduces that major theme of man searching for answers, seeking to explain the universe, hoping that, by tracing the infinite and illusory paths that have led things to be where they are, we can somehow make greater sense of our world. "Do all families have such unifying themes? And if not, what replaces them? How, otherwise, do they make sense of it all, bring together the noblest and the basest in their histories within a single binding?" (18).
Even as the story shifts from the father’s obsession with his Atlas to a poignant tale about a son both comforting his father and discovering his own gift for storytelling, that central idea ripples--sometimes in the periphery, others in the spotlight—throughout. Early on, the son recalls his own naïve and charmingly fanciful ideas about the nature of paper. Having only colored on the backsides of manuscripts discarded by a print shop, he assumes that all paper thus contains one blank side and one with random text. This leads him to the idea that "All things that could be said or drawn were thus built upon the backs of words already written: dancing constellations of music on metaphysics, the mineral composition of scarabs, the origins of the treble clef" (10). As the son finds his own voice and begins to craft his own stories—a way of making a final and meaningful connection with his father—he must invent new scenarios in which to place another book, the book really being the protagonist of these stories. To mirror and balance his father’s fascination with tracing the connections that led things to be where they are, the son grapples with the frustration of discovering where things are going next. He notes, "I'd grown restless in the evening hours thinking about where the book would go next" (59). Note that “the book” in question here is about caves; thus, it is only logical that a passage within it should describe explorers’ own obsessions with being firsts. For example, there is the specific example of being the first to prove that "two caves were ultimately connected in some remote channel inaccessible to all but those who were willing to die for an idea, the idea that all things must be connected" (61).
This really is a brilliant novella/short story whose length belies its layers. It definitely can be read as an entertaining, affective family portrait; however, I certainly feel that it also embodies one of my favorite Kurt Vonnegut quotations: "Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, 'Why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand."
3/25/15 Reading:
Now that I AM teaching a creative writing class, I did indeed decide to assign this text. That means that I just re-read it. It really is great, so I'm bumping my rating up to a solid 5. I look forward to discussing it with my class tomorrow.
Upon starting this novella, a strange feeling of deja vu descended upon me; things seemed familiar, as if the universe was trying to let me in on some divine secret about the interconnectedness of things. Finally, a few pages in, lightning struck and I realized (drum roll)...oh, I've read this before, and not more than a month or two ago. This is one of the stories in Horvath's collection of stories Understories. Duped, cheated? Is that how I felt after realizing I spent money on a story I already owned? More like pleased and rewarded. Not only is this story worth a separate read, but it's certainly worth it's own read (if that makes sense).
If asked, I'd say this book is about the--and/or man's obsession with searching for the--divine secret about the interconnectedness of things. After all, it does immediately introduce a father who is writing/plans to write The Atlas of the Voyage of Things, which would, through a likely all-but-endless series of maps show "how things came to be where they currently were" (12). This premise alone both whimsical and titillating. Also, it introduces that major theme of man searching for answers, seeking to explain the universe, hoping that, by tracing the infinite and illusory paths that have led things to be where they are, we can somehow make greater sense of our world. "Do all families have such unifying themes? And if not, what replaces them? How, otherwise, do they make sense of it all, bring together the noblest and the basest in their histories within a single binding?" (18).
Even as the story shifts from the father’s obsession with his Atlas to a poignant tale about a son both comforting his father and discovering his own gift for storytelling, that central idea ripples--sometimes in the periphery, others in the spotlight—throughout. Early on, the son recalls his own naïve and charmingly fanciful ideas about the nature of paper. Having only colored on the backsides of manuscripts discarded by a print shop, he assumes that all paper thus contains one blank side and one with random text. This leads him to the idea that "All things that could be said or drawn were thus built upon the backs of words already written: dancing constellations of music on metaphysics, the mineral composition of scarabs, the origins of the treble clef" (10). As the son finds his own voice and begins to craft his own stories—a way of making a final and meaningful connection with his father—he must invent new scenarios in which to place another book, the book really being the protagonist of these stories. To mirror and balance his father’s fascination with tracing the connections that led things to be where they are, the son grapples with the frustration of discovering where things are going next. He notes, "I'd grown restless in the evening hours thinking about where the book would go next" (59). Note that “the book” in question here is about caves; thus, it is only logical that a passage within it should describe explorers’ own obsessions with being firsts. For example, there is the specific example of being the first to prove that "two caves were ultimately connected in some remote channel inaccessible to all but those who were willing to die for an idea, the idea that all things must be connected" (61).
This really is a brilliant novella/short story whose length belies its layers. It definitely can be read as an entertaining, affective family portrait; however, I certainly feel that it also embodies one of my favorite Kurt Vonnegut quotations: "Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, 'Why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand."
3/25/15 Reading:
Now that I AM teaching a creative writing class, I did indeed decide to assign this text. That means that I just re-read it. It really is great, so I'm bumping my rating up to a solid 5. I look forward to discussing it with my class tomorrow.
October 11, 2013
From the opening sentence there was a voice quiet, confidential. I knew I could rely on it and that I was in good hands. Novella sized, 68 pages, Circulation did not touch on but explored novel-sized ideas, (Philosophy death, the configurations and origins of story telling, the sources and flowering of imagination). Never did it announce that it was doing so. The writing flowed with effortless fluidity. Therefore its profound impact did not reach me till later.
Humor-edged and taut with the imagination of an active and concerned mind, Horvath completed a worthy literary experience.
Humor-edged and taut with the imagination of an active and concerned mind, Horvath completed a worthy literary experience.
April 21, 2009
Last year my father passed away at the age of 51, but I had lost him nearly twenty years earlier. Through a child's eye, I thought he was a superstar, radio personality, music engineer, musician, and song writer, it all seemed logical and real. I would go on remote broadcasts, sit quietly in the studio as he qued up vinyl and spoke to what I thought was the world. Our apartment was filled with vinyl and demo tapes. When he left, I'm sure he thought he was pursing his dreams, but he didn't realize all that he had accomplished in my mind. At his funeral, placed on a plastic pedestal was a black binder that was his songbook. I eagerly grabbed the book in spite of my anger and confusion, and began to flip though the notebook pages. Their was probably 100 pages in the book, but only seven were filled. Seven, fifty years boiled down to seven songs of questionable quality.
I had carried that image with me for nearly seven months, but it all became clear when I read Circulation by Tim Horvath. This novella is written from a sons point of view, as he recalls his fathers life long quest to write and publish a book called The Atlas of the Voyages of Things. It is a story about coming to understand who your father is and in the process discovering how you truly feel about yourself. It is a book filled with symbolic gestures and storytelling, but at its core it is filled with heart.
I had carried that image with me for nearly seven months, but it all became clear when I read Circulation by Tim Horvath. This novella is written from a sons point of view, as he recalls his fathers life long quest to write and publish a book called The Atlas of the Voyages of Things. It is a story about coming to understand who your father is and in the process discovering how you truly feel about yourself. It is a book filled with symbolic gestures and storytelling, but at its core it is filled with heart.
July 1, 2013
Circulation is a great read, centering around relationships and all their complex quirks. I revisit Circulations on my blog at:
http://tieryas.wordpress.com/2013/06/...
http://tieryas.wordpress.com/2013/06/...
October 4, 2011
I rarely if ever employ foodie analogies when reviewing a book, but in this case I feel compelled (perhaps not justified as such). Horvath's svelte offering was very much like eating a gourmet appetizer. Drizzled with a poignant literary sauce, a few impeccable dashes of the right spices to give Circulation its right pacing for my discerning palate, this is indeed a narrative of the "search" variety, an attempt to trace the cartography of the narrator's life using a map of landmark clues. Not that this is a "whodunnit" in some hardboiled detective kind of way, but a patient, almost whimsical and thoughtful, journey to read the map legend of the narrator's life in the otherwise ostensibly orderly and quilted reflections presents us. But it proves not so orderly, and abruptness marks a mis-shelved item, and sends the hapless traveler on another route. Perhaps becoming lost, but realizing that the detour was the right path after all (if there can be said to be any truly "right"paths).
I polished off this "atlas" in one sitting, yes, but I enjoyed each morsel. Kudos must extend not only to that chef-cartographer Horvath, but its "presentation" (so important to the added enjoyment of any gustatory delight) by Sunnyoutside press for a beautifully designed book that is more than worth circulating.
If one were to populate a virtual atlas of scrumptious bon mots, Horvath's Circulation would be very much like that out of the way bistro on the outskirts of Paris, a place only the gourment-elect know of, a place without pompous signage.
I polished off this "atlas" in one sitting, yes, but I enjoyed each morsel. Kudos must extend not only to that chef-cartographer Horvath, but its "presentation" (so important to the added enjoyment of any gustatory delight) by Sunnyoutside press for a beautifully designed book that is more than worth circulating.
If one were to populate a virtual atlas of scrumptious bon mots, Horvath's Circulation would be very much like that out of the way bistro on the outskirts of Paris, a place only the gourment-elect know of, a place without pompous signage.
January 18, 2012
I really loved this little book! So often I find that I don't read small books like this because they read as half-hearted. This story begins like a little adventure, where the father is a bold figure to his son because he is always in the process of writing a book about caves, but once the father is hospitalized and falling apart, his son begins telling the father stories about what has happened to the book. The story builds to the point where I'm reading too fast to see what happens next! Excellent!
April 26, 2013
Beautifully written, precise, intelligent prose. This award-winning story makes the perfect novella, along with Sunnyoutside's complementary design.
July 28, 2011
A great story for bibliophiles, bookworms and other such individuals (myself included) and a great nod to the power of storytelling. In addition, what I think is at least my own personal take on it, a great meditation on the power of a dream or aspiration. "The Atlas" becomes a defining part of the father's life, arguably destructive in some ways yet still central to the father as a character and in the eyes of his son. Though "The Atlas" is never completed and though "Spelos" never reaches true recognition they are what drive the characters, despite not reaching their high expectations. There's a lot more that can be said to argue this view though I think there's enough room backed even in this smaller work to accommodate a number of profound themes it explores. I found myself reflecting especially on the title.
For transparency I'll close by admitting that I studied under Tim in my college's advanced fiction workshop course so perhaps there might be a little bias via association. You can take my review with a degree of skepticism if you must. Yet all the same, in reading it as objectively as possible, I can still say with certainty that it is by far a good, meaningful, quick read.
For transparency I'll close by admitting that I studied under Tim in my college's advanced fiction workshop course so perhaps there might be a little bias via association. You can take my review with a degree of skepticism if you must. Yet all the same, in reading it as objectively as possible, I can still say with certainty that it is by far a good, meaningful, quick read.
August 24, 2009
Reading this this morning, interrupted at the end of section 1 by breakfast. I am very much a daily routine person.
Paging through the new P & W while eating breakfast, though, I come across an article about BookCrossing and Better World Books, complete with picture of BWB's "680K of shelving" holding "3 million books," and details of BookCrossing's "catch and release" book-tracking program.
Not coincidence, convergence. Emerson: "There is in nature a parallel unity which corresponds to the unity in the mind and makes it available. This methodizing mind meets no resistance in its attempts. The scattered blocks, with which it strives to form a symmetrical structure, fit. This design following after finds with joy that like design went before. Not only man puts things in a row, but things belong in a row."
Paging through the new P & W while eating breakfast, though, I come across an article about BookCrossing and Better World Books, complete with picture of BWB's "680K of shelving" holding "3 million books," and details of BookCrossing's "catch and release" book-tracking program.
Not coincidence, convergence. Emerson: "There is in nature a parallel unity which corresponds to the unity in the mind and makes it available. This methodizing mind meets no resistance in its attempts. The scattered blocks, with which it strives to form a symmetrical structure, fit. This design following after finds with joy that like design went before. Not only man puts things in a row, but things belong in a row."
April 26, 2015
You know when a story begins with the magical words, “When we were awash with youth,” that it’s going to be a stunning read. Circulation did not disappoint.
This novella is a beautiful piece of literary fiction; alongside elegantly written musings about the mysterious creation of stories, Horvath sows precious, realistic moments of family life, from in-jokes about tracking the voyage of a fart on a road trip to the growing apart of siblings, from parental pressure to settle down with a good girl to his mother’s awakening to her husband’s indifference. It's a really beautiful story about family, the power of fiction, and how things come to be where they currently are.
More book reviews at Books Speak Volumes.
This novella is a beautiful piece of literary fiction; alongside elegantly written musings about the mysterious creation of stories, Horvath sows precious, realistic moments of family life, from in-jokes about tracking the voyage of a fart on a road trip to the growing apart of siblings, from parental pressure to settle down with a good girl to his mother’s awakening to her husband’s indifference. It's a really beautiful story about family, the power of fiction, and how things come to be where they currently are.
More book reviews at Books Speak Volumes.
February 25, 2009
excellent story. brave telling. infused with subtle layers. unexpected and liberating end. will make you feel like writing and going on an adventure at the same time. (parachuting with a notebook...anyone?)
January 10, 2010
This little tome made me just go, "Wow" after I finished reading it. Beautifully written, this is a touching story about a man and his father, a certain sliver of their family history, life, death. I just really loved it.
Nicely designed, too by Rich Kegler of P22 Type Foundry (cover) and publisher David McNamara (the insides). I urge you to buy and read this now.
Nicely designed, too by Rich Kegler of P22 Type Foundry (cover) and publisher David McNamara (the insides). I urge you to buy and read this now.
November 7, 2011
A beautiful novella that fills in the holes in the heart with glee, and shelves imaginary books in there too, which grow more words when you aren't looking.
This book becomes more and more compelling as it goes further and further into explorations of the role of being heard, being read, being understood, even if really, we can't be understood at all.
This book becomes more and more compelling as it goes further and further into explorations of the role of being heard, being read, being understood, even if really, we can't be understood at all.
March 11, 2013
I can't exactly explain why I was so taken away by this book, it may have been the poetic prose that seamlessly carries you through the narrative, or just an incredibly empathetic protagonist. Either way, for a 68 page novella I was sucked in and only disappointed by how short the story was. Definitely worth a read, can get through in less than two hours.
December 24, 2010
Smart design and an even smarter book; a moving yarn about fathers and sons and the ambitious attempt at cataloging a life to better understand it.
November 21, 2017
A short, punchy story with a narrator that seems to be equal parts Edward Bloom (Big Fish) and Scheherazade (One Thousand and One Nights). This is a great read for procrastinators, bibliophiles or anyone who appreciates a good yarn.
April 12, 2012
A really marvelous story, reminiscent of Steven Millhauser, which circuitously links the narrator's memories of childhood and his father's obsessions to his current profession of library circulation director. It's about where stories come from—the literal place of origin—and where they go to after they're told, and there are some "eminently mullworthy" ideas about reading, writing, publishing, maps, and families.
It's elegantly written, and elegantly printed to boot.
It's elegantly written, and elegantly printed to boot.
November 2, 2009
Such an interesting book - well written, thought-provoking, unusual. Very much enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews