Powells.com on Delia Falconer
A truly beautiful review of Delia Falconer's The Lost Thoughts of Soldiers, from Powells.com
As I read The Lost Thoughts of Soldiers, I was struck by the notion of how much work must have gone into each sentence. There isn't a wasted moment anywhere, and I imagine there are legions of writers who would give their right arm to be able to express in a page what Falconer manages to do in a single phrase or turn of expression. Early in the book, she writes: "His mind also wanders. His life a set of dark rooms which he moves through. Some things he remembers, others he seems to have imagined." The economy of Falconer's prose is breathtaking, introducing us succinctly to the subjective memory of our protagonist. Stripped of superfluous flourish, yet vigorously evocative, Falconer delivers motifs and messages with tactical precision. Near the end of the book, Falconer writes:He wanted to write the lost thoughts of soldiers.
Not the grand heavy story, he has never known his life that way, but the seams and spaces in between. This is history too, he thinks, the weight of gathered thoughts, the cumulus of idle moments.
In the real world, Custer went out in what was perceived as a blaze of glory, while Benteen faded away, slowly destroying his career and his health through chronic alcoholism. In The Lost Thoughts of Soldiers, he manages to rescue not only his humanity, but the memories of his fallen comrades from the dustbin of history, something best accomplished in fiction.
Should this, or anythign motivate you to click through to the Soft Skull buy page, click on the buy from Powell's button, to show them some love