The Hanging of the Swings of Versailles by irishtaf
Recommended and reviewed by T.
When you read a brilliant literary author, you savour in language. The writer draws your attention to the words themselves, each moment, each fragment, each pause and metaphor and rhythm, ushering in the sublime. This is what makes the difference between genre fiction and literary fiction. Though it will always be a spectrum between the two, genre work has a firmer focus on the plot, the character, the world building, the pace; literary writing cares more about the experience and more importantly, language. It resists you over and over again, forcing you to dig deeper or to breathe it in.
I came across irishtaf (Thomas) and I knew I was in the presence of a spectacular literary talent. Each line in his short story collection, "The Hanging of the Swings of Versailles", is either ingenious poetry and innovative in his use of words, or it is a lead up to the next line that is. He makes you reel in the power of language and the magic words can invoke. His voice remains dream-like, distant, entrancing and mystical. Many of these lines and descriptions and deep intimate reflection will make you soar with a transcendental energy. But he doesn't spell it out for you. He coaxes you to meditate on the little details, or that moment, or the grass or swing or texture. The rhythm of his work is flawless, it rolls on the mind's tongue. It ebbs and flows, longer and shorter sentences, switching between scene and environment and thought with virtuosity.
Sometimes, I didn't really know what's going on per se, and I didn't want to. I was caught up in some sort of enchanted escapade. It will require many more reads to understand every nuance I was picking up or to interpret the possibilities it might mean. There was so much beneath the surface, in the way he had put an "and", in the way he wrote "smelt it into our brains" or "infinity resting there" - I can't quote all of the many brilliant and innovative lines and words. And clearly, I knew there was something to be understood beyond me. But that's not to say you won't take something personal home. Each time through a short story will be relatable. You will experience many moments of revelation and wisdom and inspiration, an immense sense of awe and peace, a deep fascination with connections between people, a tragic sentimentality and melancholic longing for life, surreal dream-like disorientation, enigmatic witty fragmented dialogues... The pieces seem to be a call back to nature, connection to the natural world and with a soulful essence.... it captures the mystery of the human being... and honestly, it is hard to describe that kind of experience, both intimate and beyond the self. It's something to encounter yourself.
Personally, I most enjoyed and resonated with the stories from the title piece "The Hanging of the Swings of Versailles" onward, as the first two pieces were perhaps more experimental in form which I also greatly admire in a different way, though some things remain obscure and require a little more time and reflection. These words will remain with you for a long time.
Many congratulations to Thomas for such writing accomplishments, which I remain envious of. I eagerly await further additions. I firmly and urgently recommend everyone to read his short story collection. I suggest paying attention to the art in his language; that, I feel is the greatest mark of brilliance. Our job as writers is to provide a new way of looking at things, a new perception even if it is of the same subject matter, through our language, tell it, or rather, provide an experience in a way no one has ever before. His words do just that.
I'll leave a quote from the title piece of his collection, among the many perhaps even more poetic lines; this one was unforgettable.
"Joel rose to his feet and put one foot in the stirrup and hung himself as he desired and ended it like the way shade creeps up on a day like laughter in the belly. Like yellow laughter in the belly."
- "The Hanging of the Swings of Versailles" from The Hanging of the Swings of Versailles
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