re:mote voices

Title: The Bat Tattoo
Author: Russell Hoban
Publisher: Bloomsbury

with the bat tattoo, at the point of writing russel hoban's most recent work (a new novel due out in the next week or two), fresh in paper back, i am made particularly conscious of the darkness in his work. there has been a dark edge in the other two books i read (amaryliss day and night and kleinzeit), but in descriptions of those i've perhaps dwelled more on the humour/absurdity of his work.

there is certainly an undercurrent of humour in the bat tattoo, and the absurdist tone is still present. but as the two characters recount how they've come to be in their forties and widow and widower there is a definite melancholy, a level of sadness, which is evident. which also makes me reflect on the core of amaryliss - what was it at the end of the bus route in her dream that made her so reluctant to reach her destination? or kleinzeit and his descent - losing his job and then quickly ending up in hospital, with a medical condition that grew worse day by day.

however, even facing the darkness in hoban's work, and on the whole finding the bat tattoo to be the least amusing of the material i have read to date. it has the same seductive sense, the same ability to capture the reader's attention, even if the subject matter can seem a little mundane at times.

the bat tattoo is the story of roswell clark and sarah varley. they meet in passing when roswell is researching a bat from chinese pottery - he has decided at the age of 47 to get himself a tattoo, selecting a chinese bat, which is a symbol for happiness. sarah already has the bat tattoo, but it is one of those days and she feels that only seeing the original will cheer her up.

from that meeting the chapters alternate between the two characters, and we learn about who they are and experience the recurring accidental meetings. roswell has had some strange success in the past with a crash test toy, which has put him an position where he is experimenting with being an artist. sarah is into antiques, buying and selling bits and pieces here and there. the growing links between them start to feel like fate, especially when sarah is compelled to buy a piece though she doesn't know why. until her next meeting with roswell, where she is compelled to give him the piece - which sets him off, as it is in direct relation to something he has been giving something deliberate, though reluctant contemplation.

roswell's actions then take on a certain ominous inevitability. despite his resistance he can't help himself. despite his resistance she can't help herself. so that it has to all come together. i am something like 40 pages from the end of the book, but there is a drive to read, like that i felt with the other works by hoban that i tackled. i suspect that i will finish it this lunch time and enjoy doing so.



one thing that struck me as curious, was that i again become particularly conscious of something with the bat tattoo. the levels of cultural reference that he puts into his work. artists, musicians and the like are referred to in all of his work as far as i am aware. with this piece sarah makes reference to films that she walks repeatedly, and attends a performance of a play. in turn roswell also makes references to films that he has watched. between the two there are some serious discussions on certain pieces, which in the case of junk mail and red squirrel are interesting - a norwegian and spanish film respectively, contemporary pieces from world cinema from the last decade which i have seen. so not a big deal when the endings of both are discussed. by contrast i suspect that if i ever see nabucco or the match factory girl i will be in possession of information that affects how i see them because of this book, again giving the endings away of each of these. a curious position to be in.