Scenes from Havian Life

Hav

by Jan Morris

An elegant and fantastic evocation of an imaginary city.
Scenes from Havian Life is taken from Jan Morris's novel Last Letters from Hav, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

Genres: Fiction, Travel

58 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Jan Morris was a British historian, author and travel writer. Morris was educated at Lancing College, West Sussex, and Christ Church, Oxford, but is Welsh by heritage and adoption. Before 1970 Morris published under her assigned birth name, "James ", and is known particularly for the Pax Britannica trilogy, a history of the British Empire, and for portraits of cities, notably Oxford, Venice, Trieste, Hong Kong, and New York City, and also wrote about Wales, Spanish history, and culture.

In 1949 Jan Morris married Elizabeth Tuckniss, the daughter of a tea planter. Morris and Tuckniss had five children together, including the poet and musician Twm Morys. One of their children died in infancy. As Morris documented in her memoir Conundrum, she began taking oestrogens to feminise her body in 1964. In 1972, she had sex reassignment surgery in Morocco. Sex reassignment surgeon Georges Burou did the surgery, since doctors in Britain refused to allow the procedure unless Morris and Tuckniss divorced, something Morris was not prepared to do at the time. They divorced later, but remained together and later got a civil union. On May, 14th, 2008, Morris and Tuckniss remarried each other. Morris lived mostly in Wales, where her parents were from.

Reviews

[Tommy Verhaegen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover reminds us of North-African and Arab markets, except there are a lot less people depicted than expected. Hav, the city that is central in this book, and completely fictional, will prove to be very familiar. The author, Jan Morris, brings this tale from the first person-perspective. He will describe a visit during which he will discover many aspects of the city life (see the title Scenes from Havian life).
He refers to aspects of common knowledge (at least it should be common knowledge) historical facts and that means that Hav will become, though unique, a mixture of many civilizations and historical roots. Nonetheless the writer is welcomed and can safely investigate and reconnoitre and of course tell us about his findings.
Mostly a posititve story in which some ideas are woven through the "facts" giving it a base of fantasy, linked with historical facts and having the writer's thinking process added. Somehow this makes it inviting and gives the reader a sense of homesickness to this imaginary city. Although it also has a nostalgic aspect that communicates the feeling of something that is lost and connot be reached.

[Daren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure if i didn't 'get' this book because this is just an excerpt, or because I just didn't see the point. A fictional city (or country?) constructed from a mixed up history with a bit of everything, written as travel commentary. Just didn't work for me, and I suspect I will give 'Last Letters from Hav' a miss too.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always great to read Jan Morris. Her fiction here reminds me of Borges.

[Norah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange read