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Book reviews for "Nakell,_Martin" sorted by average review score:

The Library of Thomas Rivka (New American Fiction Series, No 40)
Published in Paperback by Sun & Moon Press (1997)
Author: Martin Nakell
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A most "bookish" book!
"The Library of Thomas Rivka," by Martin Nakell, is part of the New American Fiction Series. The back cover notes that the author is professor of English at Chapman University in California. This short book (78 pages) is a surreal fiction about the title character and his personal library.

I agree with the back cover blurb that compares this book to the work of Borges. This book is a literary hall of mirrors that explores the line between fiction and reality. Nakell's writing is very literary minded--he drops references to "Hamlet," Frantz Fanon, Gertrude Stein, Herman Melville, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, and much more. He also touches on censorship, the relationship between reading and time, etc.

Overall, a compelling work with an appealing experimental flavor. If you enjoy it, I also recommend the following short story collections by Cristina Peri Rossi: "A Forbidden Passion" and "The Museum of Useless Efforts."

excellent - thought provoking - inventive
What does one do with a library that goes AWOL? with books that do/don't create a universe with/against the reader? that creates its own order independent of the library owner? letters that sit in a heap independent of the order that the author tried to impose? Through a narrative that explores these and other questions regarding the relationship between reality-book-reader, Martin Nakell has written a novella that enthralls a reader in snare of inconsistencies in our relationship to the written word.

Nakell's interest in the disordered letters contrasts with Jabes' interest in the margins, the space between letters. Of the two Nakell is the easier read, Jabes is a greater challenge to one's values. So read both :-)

The Incorrigible Martin Nakell
Brilliant! Martin Nakell is intransigibly obtuse,unabashedly obfuscating meaning so that his novel is unable to be read from any singular perspective; rather, the reader must constantly obscure and change his own interpretation of the work, simply in order to stay with the work itself. Marty Nakell's writing is fresh, original and concise, despite obviously being strongly influenced by Joyce. But a must read for any aspiring avante-gardist.


Two Fields That Face and Mirror Each Other (Green Integer: EL-E-PHANT 52)
Published in Paperback by Green Integer Books (01 November, 2000)
Author: Martin Nakell
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