Reading 1001 discussion

Review thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I've started reading Transit in an ebook, am about 1/8th through. It seems an interesting story set in a tumultuous time and place and the writing is good.

Feel free to answer as many or as few questions as you want.

1. Why is the narrator nameless, and how does this affect his experience and our understanding of him? What does it mean to be a "nobody" with only a fear for his life?

2. What motivates the narrator's connection with the Binnet boy?

3. How do the identity papers (or lack thereof) symbolize the loss and construction of self for refugees?

4. What does "waiting" for a transit visa mean for the characters' lives? Does it give life meaning or drain it?

5. How does the novel portray the disconnect between abstract bureaucratic processes (visas, permits) and the urgent human need for survival?

6. How does Seghers use temporal shifts (e.g., Roman official) to show the recurring nature of human struggles and "abysmal dizziness" in Europe?

7. How do different ideologies (communism, Zionism, nationalism) offer hope or prove inadequate for the refugees in Marseille?

8. How does the setting of Marseille function as a liminal space?

9. Does the story function more as a realistic depiction of refugee life or as a powerful allegory for universal human conditions?

10. How does Seghers' own experience as a Jewish refugee influence the novel's themes of statelessness and survival?

I'm about 2/3 of the way through Transit now.

1. The nameless protagonist has been used in many other novels such as "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells. Google's Ai Gemini says "This is a fascinating literary technique often used to create a sense of universality, to highlight a lack of identity, or to make the reader feel more intimately connected to the character’s internal world", which I think was the intent here.

2. The Binnet boy gives the protagonist an opportunity to be something of a surrogate father/uncle; he has no children of his own and his family is never described.

4. The anxiety of those continually waiting for visas reminded me of the anxiety of the characters in Samuel Beckett's play "Waiting for Godot". There is certainly a strong existential theme to the novel.

I finished a couple days ago and liked the novel very much. I watched the German movie of it (2019) last night which is semi-faithful to the novel story, and liked that also. I streamed the movie for free on the Tubi channel.

"9. Does the story function more as a realistic depiction of refugee life or as a powerful allegory for universal human conditions?"
It seemed a realistic depiction of that time and place as far as I could tell, not having been there or having prior knowledge of it. It does also seem a metaphor for having one's life totally disrupted and being uncertain how things are going to go from there.

George P. wrote: "I finished a couple days ago and liked the novel very much. I watched the German movie of it (2019) last night which is semi-faithful to the novel story, and liked that also. I streamed the movie f..."

Thanks for the movie info George.

I just started this on the 9th. I am enjoying it and it is a "thoughtful" book.

1. Why is the narrator nameless, and how does this affect his experience and our understanding of him? What does it mean to be a "nobody" with only a fear for his life? I am having the thoughts that in times of war or even in the current state of refuge, immigration, a person becomes not only homeless but nameless. This character seems to like "not working"...as he was "mortified" that someone was working the evening shift as if life was normal. So while he is living on the edge and in danger, he doesn't seem motivated to change.

2. What motivates the narrator's connection with the Binnet boy?

3. How do the identity papers (or lack thereof) symbolize the loss and construction of self for refugees?

4. What does "waiting" for a transit visa mean for the characters' lives? Does it give life meaning or drain it?

5. How does the novel portray the disconnect between abstract bureaucratic processes (visas, permits) and the urgent human need for survival?

6. How does Seghers use temporal shifts (e.g., Roman official) to show the recurring nature of human struggles and "abysmal dizziness" in Europe?

7. How do different ideologies (communism, Zionism, nationalism) offer hope or prove inadequate for the refugees in Marseille?

8. How does the setting of Marseille function as a liminal space?

9. Does the story function more as a realistic depiction of refugee life or as a powerful allegory for universal human conditions?

10. How does Seghers' own experience as a Jewish refugee influence the novel's themes of statelessness and survival?

I loved this! I thought it was an amazing book, with an ironic humour running through it. These people are absolutely desperate, in fear of their lives, and yet somehow their lives go on in the cafés and the bureaucratic queues as if they were just hanging out in Marseille waiting for a train.

1. Why is the narrator nameless, and how does this affect his experience and our understanding of him? What does it mean to be a "nobody" with only a fear for his life?
We never know his real name, only his two pseudonyms. He is afraid of people knowing his real name - Heinz knows it, so the narrator arranges Heinz's travel out to safety as soon as possible. I never was sure if Paul knows it, or knows him only as Seidler. Having two pseudonyms complicates life for him - he can't afford for Paul and his friends to meet Marie or for Marie to meet anyone who knows him as Weidel. But in another sense this is liberating. He is free of the baggage that comes with a name, a family, and all the personal history. He can invent himself over and over.

2. What motivates the narrator's connection with the Binnet boy?
His connection with the Binnet family is his only real connection with France and the French people. It roots him in Marseille just as earlier it gave him his one anchor in Paris. We never hear about his blood family, and the Binnets are the closest he has to family in Paris as well as Marseille. They accept him unreservedly - Yvonne continues to help him with letters of reference, her brother finds him a job on their uncle's farm. So he is like another brother or cousin to them, an uncle to the boy in Marseille.

4. What does "waiting" for a transit visa mean for the characters' lives? Does it give life meaning or drain it?
I think it does both. From day to day, their focus is on moving from one office to the next, trying to secure all the papers in the right order. But longer term, it drains their lives of meaning, reducing them all to anonymity in a queue, and driving some to go back into the danger zone rather than continue here.

7. How do different ideologies (communism, Zionism, nationalism) offer hope or prove inadequate for the refugees in Marseille?
I don't recall much about this in the novel. Rather, I had a sense that all of the refugees were in the same boat (literally as well as figuratively) and their past history, religion, nationality, and political beliefs were almost irrelevant.

8. How does the setting of Marseille function as a liminal space?
There's not much here that is specifically French, except maybe for the cafés. This novel could be set almost anywhere if the conditions applied. Casablanca in the classic movie springs to mind. So yes, Marseille in this novel is the archetypal liminal space.

9. Does the story function more as a realistic depiction of refugee life or as a powerful allegory for universal human conditions?
I think it works in both ways. The bureaucracy that asylum seekers have to face may not be completely Kafkaesque but it can certainly be a maze. Then on the allegory side, we are all trapped in the place and time of our own lives.

10. How does Seghers' own experience as a Jewish refugee influence the novel's themes of statelessness and survival?
Clearly her experience inspired the whole novel. On the other hand, these could be any stateless or asylum-seeking people in any country at any time. The difference is that they are trying to leave, not to stay, and the difficulty is finding a country that will take them, and how to get there in wartime. Mostly they are people with money or status who wouldn't just jump in a small boat and head out to sea - but that must have been a lot more dangerous in wartime than it is today.

1. Why is the narrator nameless, and how does this affect his experience and our understanding of him? What does it mean to be a "nobody" with only a fear for his life?

I guess when you are a nobody you represent everybody. “It really is hard to experience war as a stranger among a strange people.”

2. What motivates the narrator's connection with the Binnet boy?

He represents the goodness amongst all the bad.

“By now I felt attached to the Binnet family much like a child who has lost his own mother and hangs on to the skirts of another woman who, although she can never be his mother, still shows him some affection and kindness.”

“I’d been fond of the boy from the first day I met him.”

“In this gone-to-pot world, I found reassurance in a quiet, still-innocent look…”

3. How do the identity papers (or lack thereof) symbolize the loss and construction of self for refugees?

The bureaucracy of it all was maddening and showed a loss of control for the refugee. “As a result, everyone, especially the foreigners, guarded their passports and identification papers as if they were their very salvation.”

4. What does "waiting" for a transit visa mean for the characters' lives?

Transit visas meant life or death especially for the Jewish. “How can you still ask why? He just took the first visa and the first ship he could.”

5. How does the novel portray the disconnect between abstract bureaucratic processes (visas, permits) and the urgent human need for survival?

Exit visa to leave France, a transit visa to pass through intermediary countries, and a visa for their final destination. The denial of one passenger because he didn’t get an exit visa from his labor camp exemplifies the absurdity of the bureaucratic process.

10. How does Seghers' own experience as a Jewish refugee influence the novel's themes of statelessness and survival?

Instead of telling Seghers story I thought I would tell my mother-in-law’s. After acquiring all the necessary paperwork her father left Germany in 1937, leaving his pregnant wife. To obtain entry into the U.S. he had to have a sponsor which luckily he had family here to sponsor him. He was able to send for his wife and daughter (my mother-in-law) in 1938. She was only 6 months old when they came over by ship. It was a long trip since they were traveling all the way to California. Her father was a butcher which was something he could do not speaking any English. Those family members that made it out of Germany survived but her grandmother and youngest aunt did not survive but died in concentration camps.

Diane wrote: "1. Why is the narrator nameless, and how does this affect his experience and our understanding of him? What does it mean to be a "nobody" with only a fear for his life?

I guess when you are a nobo..."

Thanks Diane for sharing your family story.

1. Why is the narrator nameless, and how does this affect his experience and our understanding of him? What does it mean to be a "nobody" with only a fear for his life?
He becomes a universal character that could be any one of us. At the same time, he stands outside of all the hubbub of the refugees and is a kind of observer. We cannot make judgements based on past knowledge of him, we have to identify with his position alone.

2. What motivates the narrator's connection with the Binnet boy?
The boy is both an outsider and a representative of family. The Binnet family provide the security the narrator lacks, they are a connection with the person he was before the war. The boy is an innocent, he provokes pity and kindness in the narrator.

4. What does "waiting" for a transit visa mean for the characters' lives? Does it give life meaning or drain it?
It does both because the waiting becomes the whole purpose of life and everything is dedicated to that one end, but at the same time the characters lose sight of anything else that is important.

5. How does the novel portray the disconnect between abstract bureaucratic processes (visas, permits) and the urgent human need for survival?
The characters move between the two - there are the hotels that provide somewhere to stay and the pizzeria where Marie and the narrator find sustenance, then there are the consulates and the travel agency where the papers are administered. Success in either case is a matter of chance.

7. How do different ideologies (communism, Zionism, nationalism) offer hope or prove inadequate for the refugees in Marseille?
There are mentions of relief organisations which offer support and sustenance based on the different ideologies, but by and large they don’t offer any of the practical administrative support which is the only hope for the refugees. In fact some people find themselves shut out from support because of past affiliations.

8. How does the setting of Marseille function as a liminal space?
It’s a liminal space because it is a place of transition, there are few of the original inhabitants around as there are so many refugees, consulate officials, people fleeing. It’s not abandoned or deserted as many literal liminal spaces are, and it isn’t silent (quite the opposite) but in a metaphysical sense it is liminal.

9. Does the story function more as a realistic depiction of refugee life or as a powerful allegory for universal human conditions?
I feel it is realistic, even though it may also be exaggerated. Different characters take different attitudes to the problems that face them. It can also be seen as an allegory but I definitely think Seghers wanted to bring home the plight of people caught in this kind of wartime limbo.