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The Curfew
by
Jesse Ball (Goodreads Author)
William and Molly lead a life of small pleasures, riddles at the kitchen table, and games of string and orange peels. All around them a city rages with war. When the uprising began, William’s wife was taken, leaving him alone with their young daughter. They keep their heads down and try to remain unnoticed as police patrol the streets, enforcing a curfew and arresting citi...more
Paperback, 195 pages
Published
June 14th 2011
by Vintage
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Insofar as Ball's originality is more than superficial, this novel is experimental fiction. Yes, it challenges typical expectations of novelistic narrative and mixes tone in ways often jarring. I'm now reading Ball's earlier compilation of texts, 'The Village on Horseback," which so far I am finding considerably less successful in this regard. There's a thin line between ambiguity that evokes rich mystery and mere perversity of incoherence.
Oddly, it felt like reading my own autobiography in the...more
Oddly, it felt like reading my own autobiography in the...more
After reading his other two books, The Way Through Doors and Samedi the Deafness, a few years ago, I was ready to declare Jesse Ball my favorite living author and eagerly awaited his next book. The Curfew, is Ball's third novel and it does not disappoint. This story is set in a dystopian police state and follow a (forcefully) retired violinist turned epitaphorist, William, and his young mute daughter, Molly. William finds out that an old friend may have some information about the disappearance o...more
I think I've been hesitant to include Jesse Ball near the top of the list of my favorite authors only because he's so young. Part of it is definitely the fact that, so far, we have only a limited library to choose from. But with The Curfew, his third novel, I can finally cave and claim Ball as a favorite. The Way Through Doors, novel #2, is one of the best books I've ever read, and with The Curfew as a follow up, Ball has proven himself to be a mind apart, crafting beautiful, bizarre, and though...more
3 likes · like · see review
What happened? Not much and yet a lot.
Did I enjoy the book? Not much.
Did I put the book down even though I was not enjoying it? No.
Do I know what happened? Not really. That said, I hardly cared about most of the characters enough to care about what ultimately happened. The exception being the daughter but one could assume she stayed with the puppeteer and go back to not caring all that much.
With very few words, lots of white space and use of mystery, the author is able to describe a life of l...more
Did I enjoy the book? Not much.
Did I put the book down even though I was not enjoying it? No.
Do I know what happened? Not really. That said, I hardly cared about most of the characters enough to care about what ultimately happened. The exception being the daughter but one could assume she stayed with the puppeteer and go back to not caring all that much.
With very few words, lots of white space and use of mystery, the author is able to describe a life of l...more
Q: Good book?
A: Good book!
Q: Really good book?
A: Really good book! And short!
Q: Not too short?
A: No! Just the right length! Like that episode of Twin Peaks in the black lodge where you learn who killed Laura Palmer. This book reminded me of David Lynch, btw.
Q: David Lynch? Without images or music? I won't believe it.
A: No, seriously. Here's a demonstrative passage:
A: Good book!
Q: Really good book?
A: Really good book! And short!
Q: Not too short?
A: No! Just the right length! Like that episode of Twin Peaks in the black lodge where you learn who killed Laura Palmer. This book reminded me of David Lynch, btw.
Q: David Lynch? Without images or music? I won't believe it.
A: No, seriously. Here's a demonstrative passage:
...more
A young woman with a very short skirt and a thin blouse came out of a building in the distance. Because she was so beautiful, he sa
I'm being a bit tough on this book with only three stars, but I think that's a solid rating. Problem is I kept comparing this in my head to Herta Müller's masterpiece, The Land of Green Plums. Both books are minimalist, with short sections. Both books take place in police states, where paranoia is a way of life. And there's even in a similarity in the tone.
But Müller's novel is work of poetic genius, while Ball's spare approach veers a bit more towards postmodernism. I cared deeply about Müller'...more
But Müller's novel is work of poetic genius, while Ball's spare approach veers a bit more towards postmodernism. I cared deeply about Müller'...more
6 likes · like · see review
With very few words, Jesse Ball is able to convey oppression, fear, grief, love, and hope in his dystopian novel, The Curfew. Written in a spare format with a lot of white space, the book tells the story of a man and his mute daughter who try to build a simple life under the radar of the police state after their wife/mother disappears. Ball creates a world where people are under curfew (although the time of the curfew is very ambiguous), police are unidentifiable - even to each other, and music...more
When you start The Curfew, you immediately realize you are entering a different society. The concise writing style draws you in immediately. The author is able to convey much with few words- definitely a talent. This new society is a society ruled by fear- the "secret" police is out there and you can be killed or simply disappear in a blink of an eye. We meet William and his daughter, trying to live a normal life within the limits set on them. William's wife has disappeared, presumed dead. An ol...more
I needed some time to process my feelings about this book. I've concluded that I enjoyed it very much and need to discover the rest of the author's work. The story begins familiarly, meeting our characters in their dystopian setting, but it quickly turns in unexpected directions, propelled forward by an unexpected writing style. Initially, I was uncertain about the sparseness of the writing, but upon reflection found that the images I had painted in my head were striking and vivid. It seems to m...more
Minimalist, poetic, Kafkaesque, pretentious. A short novel, not really even a novella, but it its brevity it tells a large story. Jesse Ball gives you the outline, images, ideas, and tools from which you flesh out the story with your own experiences and reading, a pretty neat trick. Two elements of The Curfew made a strong impression on me: William's secondary occupation (which he took up after society became a police state and the curfew was imposed -- he had been a concert violinist before mus...more
A very good book. In my novel AMERICAN FEVER, the blogger/protagonist starts one post:
"Day 210: Police & Thieves
No one talks to old Blogula in the ‘hood. My block feels like part of the shadowy, sensitive world of 'The Curfew,' Jesse Ball’s quick, fanciful novel about a kind of political plague that has stripped society of music, mobility, freedom. (Delighted to be selling it here!)
"Every morning someone posts a death threat on my building’s front door. Even some of my supporters have caugh...more
"Day 210: Police & Thieves
No one talks to old Blogula in the ‘hood. My block feels like part of the shadowy, sensitive world of 'The Curfew,' Jesse Ball’s quick, fanciful novel about a kind of political plague that has stripped society of music, mobility, freedom. (Delighted to be selling it here!)
"Every morning someone posts a death threat on my building’s front door. Even some of my supporters have caugh...more
"The Curfew" is a rare book. It doesn't quite fall under the banner of "alt-lit" (whatever that is, really) but it also denies traditional narrative. It is a story of dystopia -- but not in the style of "1984" or even "The Hunger Games". What "The Curfew" deals in is fear. Jesse Ball is a writer with masterful control of pathos; and with what ultimately amounts to very few words manages to bring you intimately into the lives of William Drysdale and his mute daughter Molly. The use of space and...more
As I loved Ball's The Way Through Doors I decided to read everything the guy has written. While The Way Through Doors was a Lynchian mind**** this book was a straight up gut punch. I was very quickly emotionally involved with the relationship between the father and his daughter Molly. Maybe it's because I'm a parent now and I couldn't imagine trying to raise my son without my wife but this book really hit hard. It's the tale of a man trying to raise his daughter in a dystopian future, where his...more
Some books get described as “rich with detail.” “The Curfew” is not one of those — it’s the opposite. But that’s good. Jesse Ball has a gift for conveying the complexities of a scary new world in remarkably few words.
The story takes place on a single day in an unnamed city in a not-very-pleasant-sounding future, a police state of unwritten rules, violent deaths and abrupt disappearances. The curfew referred to in the title is vague, but menacingly real: “The government’s official word on the mat...more
The story takes place on a single day in an unnamed city in a not-very-pleasant-sounding future, a police state of unwritten rules, violent deaths and abrupt disappearances. The curfew referred to in the title is vague, but menacingly real: “The government’s official word on the mat...more
The Curfew is about the individual's, the family's and the larger community's, struggle to maintain control in a world that is ultimately out of our control. The Curfew is a novel written by a poet with spare, lyrical, insightful writing. There is no shortage of lines to savor and repeat in one's head or aloud.
There is a wonderful recent interview with the author: http://www.themillions.com/2011/06/th... I especially found illuminating:
"Jesse Ball: We’re all put in to difficult circumstances in...more
There is a wonderful recent interview with the author: http://www.themillions.com/2011/06/th... I especially found illuminating:
"Jesse Ball: We’re all put in to difficult circumstances in...more
A beautiful little book. It's a cross between an extended short story and a dream. Great use of typography to convey mood and feeling. They style is very spare and concise -- but so, so expressive.
William and his daughter Molly live a quite life, keeping their heads low in a fairly young repressive regime. Public music performance is no longer allowed by the state, and William, once a talented musician, has taken a job as an epitaphorist -- writing inscriptions for gravestones. William risks att...more
William and his daughter Molly live a quite life, keeping their heads low in a fairly young repressive regime. Public music performance is no longer allowed by the state, and William, once a talented musician, has taken a job as an epitaphorist -- writing inscriptions for gravestones. William risks att...more
I liked the way this was written and the way that the English language was used. It was very thought provoking. However, I did not like the way this ended at all. I was close to giving it only 1 star but because of the fine use of language I gave it two. I was really hoping for more. I will say that anyone who loves the arts (whether it be music, fine arts, or literature) and dystopian novels will enjoy this book at least a little. I enjoyed it up until about 40 pages out and then I had no clue...more
What a weird book. I need to process my thoughts on this one. I enjoyed his simple, poetic prose...and the first 2/3 of the book were great. But in the final 1/3, the normal narrative breaks off and the rest of the story is told through a puppet show. It was beautifully written and marvelously creative, but just a bit...artsy for me. Then again, the front-cover did warn me that it would "disarm...[my] narrative expectations." ;)
But seriously...after four straight months of reading dense volumes...more
But seriously...after four straight months of reading dense volumes...more
Aug 10, 2011
Elizabeth
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of Dr. Seuss and the secret police
Shelves:
2011
This book is like you were walking along on a grey day, picked up a rock and living underneath that rock was a whimsical alternative universe. Seussian ideas within the confines of human characters. Even with all the whimsey though, it is still essentially a universe living underneath a rock and all that entails. Epitath-ists, riddles and puppets nestled up against the Stasi, so to speak.
It took a few pages to get into the alternative format of the book and I really enjoyed that some pages had...more
It took a few pages to get into the alternative format of the book and I really enjoyed that some pages had...more
For now, I am giving this novel a 4 star review. However, I think it is entirely possible I will change this to 5 stars over time. I think this might just be a masterpiece. The style is unique, the messages are powerful and the ending is both extremely powerful and thought provoking.
The story of a father and daughter in a near future dystopian society where music and free speech are supressed, this story is a simple vignetee of an event in their lives that has vast repercussions.
This book is li...more
The story of a father and daughter in a near future dystopian society where music and free speech are supressed, this story is a simple vignetee of an event in their lives that has vast repercussions.
This book is li...more
The world depicted in The Curfew feels surprisingly detailed given the sparse nature of Ball's prose. He fleshes out a frighteningly believable dystopia simply by focusing on two characters and their activities in the course of a day: William works, writing epitaphs for gravestones, and his daughter Molly creates an elaborate puppet show. Though I found it, at times, frustrating not to know more about this world--the circumstances that created it, the laws governing it, etc--on the whole it is a...more
An odd little book. I read a description of this one in the newspaper and was intrigued. Reminded me of books they want you to read in college to alter the way you think.
It's a book of frightening images set in a near future where "the system" has taken over--everyone is watched, people are controlled and killed when they rebel. A father is trying to care for his small daughter after his wife "disappears." Much of the book is told as a puppet show that the little girl writes. I thought the endin...more
It's a book of frightening images set in a near future where "the system" has taken over--everyone is watched, people are controlled and killed when they rebel. A father is trying to care for his small daughter after his wife "disappears." Much of the book is told as a puppet show that the little girl writes. I thought the endin...more
This was exactly the type of book I needed to break up my queue of non-fiction books & perpetually-ongoing, near-obligatory series (e.g. Game of Thrones, Hunger Games, Girl with the...). Picked it up off the shelf based on the binding.
Appreciated his unique writing style. The mood was good. There were a handful of moments where I stopped to savor a turn of phrase here or an epiphany about mankind there. Ultimately not enough substance to make this a favorite, but definitely a tingling little...more
Appreciated his unique writing style. The mood was good. There were a handful of moments where I stopped to savor a turn of phrase here or an epiphany about mankind there. Ultimately not enough substance to make this a favorite, but definitely a tingling little...more
Ball has a beautiful poetic aesthetic. Unfortunately it never seems capable of sustaining itself as a “traditional” narrative. Aside from slipping into sentimentality (which I think is his biggest crime) it becomes contrived. He begins to use these poetic hyperboles as a substitute for drama. He presents naïvety as a form of emotional purity that deflates any possibility of real conflict because the naïve sentiment/aesthetic or point of view is never challenged. Therefore, the narrative remains...more
An edited version of this article was first published as Book Review: The Curfew by Jesse Ball on Blogcritics.org.
A father and daughter in an Orwellian society: what will you do if it is normal for people just to disappear, never to be seen again?
William Drysdale is a single father, taking care of Molly, his mute daughter. As the story progresses, it is slowly revealed that he is a former virtuoso violinist, and that he had a wife named Louisa. Life is good, until Louisa disappears, never to be...more
A father and daughter in an Orwellian society: what will you do if it is normal for people just to disappear, never to be seen again?
William Drysdale is a single father, taking care of Molly, his mute daughter. As the story progresses, it is slowly revealed that he is a former virtuoso violinist, and that he had a wife named Louisa. Life is good, until Louisa disappears, never to be...more
William and his mute daughter Molly live a life designed to survive in a dystopian future. "Much of his life in the the past years was a matter of making it so that things could not get worse."
In an fictional city, William has given up his violin due to government regulations and now writes epitaphs for gravestones. Business is brisk due to the government's way of dealing with "offenders."
When an old friend contacts William, he must decide if he wants to risk everything.
A fascinating, innovativ...more
In an fictional city, William has given up his violin due to government regulations and now writes epitaphs for gravestones. Business is brisk due to the government's way of dealing with "offenders."
When an old friend contacts William, he must decide if he wants to risk everything.
A fascinating, innovativ...more
To begin: When the publisher claims at the end of their synopsis that Jesse Ball’s “The Curfew is a mesmerizing feat of literary imagination,” you may think it an excitable exaggeration. It isn’t. Nor is Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s observation that “There seems to be no other novelist writing today who is capable of so thoroughly disarming one’s narrative expectations.” Writers and Readers alike: prepare to be equally intimidated and inspired.
Those who have read Jesse Ball–and adore him, I would...more
Those who have read Jesse Ball–and adore him, I would...more
1 like · like · see review
I am currently reading Murakami's 1Q84. The book is so dense and heavy, as in subject, and weight (I kind of despise lugging the hardback around with me on the subway), that I felt I needed a break reading it to clean the slate of my brain. Therefore, I picked up the book The Curfew by Jesse Ball. This was probably the perfect choice, where Murakami is extremely detailed and every word seems to hold extreme importance, Ball has a post-modern like minimalism style to his writing. It was a breeze...more
The Curfew is a quick read, I finished it in a single sitting.
Jesse Ball is a poet. His work of prose is filled with empty spaces and Ball manages to evoke a great deal of feeling with sparse lines. The puppet show is beautifully realized and satisfyingly resolved. Maybe it's the brevity of the work, the concentration of so much in such a thin volume, but I find that I can't help but keep thinking about the story. It would make a great book club read as it invites so much in the interpretation....more
Jesse Ball is a poet. His work of prose is filled with empty spaces and Ball manages to evoke a great deal of feeling with sparse lines. The puppet show is beautifully realized and satisfyingly resolved. Maybe it's the brevity of the work, the concentration of so much in such a thin volume, but I find that I can't help but keep thinking about the story. It would make a great book club read as it invites so much in the interpretation....more
This was a novella really - pages sparse and book very short.
Which is why I finished it.
I kept thinking - this has got to change.
It's one of those books that is written in such as way as to make the reader think there is more than meets the eye - but it is smoke and mirrors. Granted, there are a few well spaced philosophical truths thrown throughout - and it is symbolic. But just not good enough or consistent enough to create any sort of train of thought or overall development.
Which is why I finished it.
I kept thinking - this has got to change.
It's one of those books that is written in such as way as to make the reader think there is more than meets the eye - but it is smoke and mirrors. Granted, there are a few well spaced philosophical truths thrown throughout - and it is symbolic. But just not good enough or consistent enough to create any sort of train of thought or overall development.
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Jesse Ball (b. 1978) is the author of The Way Through Doors, Samedi the Deafness, Parables and Lies and March Book, and co-author of Vera & Linus. His drawings were published in 2006 in Iceland in Og svo kom nóttin (And Then Came the Night), a volume of poetry by his wife, Þórdís Björnsdóttir, with whom he wrote Vera & Linus. He won the Plimpton Prize in 2008 for his novella, The Early Dea...more
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“…There are times when something is asked of us, and we find we must do it. There is no calculation involved, no measure of the necessity of the thing itself, the action that must be performed. There is simply an acknowledgment that we will do the thing in question, and then the thing is done, often at considerable personal cost. "
"What goes into these decisions? What tiny factors, invisible, in the jutting edges of personality and circumstance, contribute to this inevitability?”
—
7 people liked it
"What goes into these decisions? What tiny factors, invisible, in the jutting edges of personality and circumstance, contribute to this inevitability?”
“If he acts, if he doesn't, it's meaningless. The whole thing goes forward. No one is important. No one at all.”
—
6 people liked it
More quotes…
Insofar as.. more than superficial
wow.
Apr 03, 2013 09:03am