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Brighter Graphite: Two Novellas
Two startling, quirky and wry novellas that present allegorical worlds around life, death and art. Graphite presents an otherworldly tale of a man in search of the source for the world's most perfect graphite lead cores, turning up a revelation profoundly altering his life. In Brighter, Jano Gambon, a decadent art dealer reveals events that led him to his honor and horror during his final days.
- GenresFiction
179 pages, Paperback
First published April 25, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 11, 2010
these are things i know nothing about: art, geography, physics.
whatever parts of the brain are required to understand and retain any information about said subjects is woefully undeveloped in me. (you would think geography would be cut-and-dried, but i have this idea of where things are and what they are shaped like and whether or not they are islands that is immutable and no matter what map i look at, my inner vision of them reverts to "my way".)
these novellas are about art. so i am sure there are resonances that i am missing here (like when i read black snow- oh there's another one - theater!! particularly russian theater!) but i can enjoy something without understanding every nook and cranny of it, i am just saying that i'm sure more artworldly people would get more out of this book than i can...
but what i can say, with approval, is that i love the world this author creates. in fact, it is kind of a shame to write two novellas that take place in the same nightmarish landscape and then just call it a book. i would read a whole collection of short stories exploring more but that's just me being a greedy black hole again - more more more...
the image, in the first novella, of the graphite dust covering everything, blowing in the wind, clumping wetly around his feet after emerging from the lake; it made my lungs itch, but the descriptions were excellent. the second novella i liked more, but i also know i would have gotten more out of if i had any notion of capital a art. formalists and romantics and conflagrations and the motives of art dealers. i'm just guessing there is a layer that is wholly lost on me. but the creepy bits i understood, because i do so love the creepy.
so - if anyone wants to teach me a thing or two about art - i will listen but i can't promise to retain anything.
come to my blog!
whatever parts of the brain are required to understand and retain any information about said subjects is woefully undeveloped in me. (you would think geography would be cut-and-dried, but i have this idea of where things are and what they are shaped like and whether or not they are islands that is immutable and no matter what map i look at, my inner vision of them reverts to "my way".)
these novellas are about art. so i am sure there are resonances that i am missing here (like when i read black snow- oh there's another one - theater!! particularly russian theater!) but i can enjoy something without understanding every nook and cranny of it, i am just saying that i'm sure more artworldly people would get more out of this book than i can...
but what i can say, with approval, is that i love the world this author creates. in fact, it is kind of a shame to write two novellas that take place in the same nightmarish landscape and then just call it a book. i would read a whole collection of short stories exploring more but that's just me being a greedy black hole again - more more more...
the image, in the first novella, of the graphite dust covering everything, blowing in the wind, clumping wetly around his feet after emerging from the lake; it made my lungs itch, but the descriptions were excellent. the second novella i liked more, but i also know i would have gotten more out of if i had any notion of capital a art. formalists and romantics and conflagrations and the motives of art dealers. i'm just guessing there is a layer that is wholly lost on me. but the creepy bits i understood, because i do so love the creepy.
so - if anyone wants to teach me a thing or two about art - i will listen but i can't promise to retain anything.
come to my blog! 
August 9, 2010
Two stories.
First story, Go!
I don't want to use the K word, but this story is Kafka-esque, but not in the boring way that it is usually used. There is no crazy totalitarian system or people turning into vermin; it's rather like the really good short stories of Kafka. The awesome stories. The story has a similar feeling to K's stories like The Judgement and In the Penal Colony. But the first parts of those stories, the set-up. Where Kafka writes so wonderfully the prig, the asshole, the first person who is unlikable and in a superior element among the expressionistic landscape he traverses. I think though even more than Kafka there is a strong feeling of another early 20th Century Eastern European heavyweight writer, but his name has been on the tip of my tongue for days without being able to come up with it.
What the story lacks though is the punch-line of a Kafka story. He does the set up well but when he gets to the part where the big pay off should be he doesn't deliver as expected. This failure isn't an awful thing. I'm comparing this dude, who is publishing his first book, to one of the masters of the form. I'm comparing him to fucking Kafka and not just in the yawn pedestrian Kafka but to the parts that make Kafka so memorable. I needed something even bigger than the dying father throwing off his blankets to condemn his son to death in this (well these actually) stor(y)∨(ies).
As opposed to Karen, I thought this first story, Graphite was the stronger of the two. His sense of place was stronger, and the world he created here was richer and grittier than the one he created in the second story. This story was also a 'purer' narrative, pure might not be the right word; what I mean is that this story is less tied with up some kind of overt meaning. There are different meanings that could be read into this story, but they aren't slapping you in the face as the authors thoughts on art are in the second story in this collection.
Now the second story, Brighter, starts off strong with some bad ass fucking birds, but those evil beasties of the air are left behind for a story about art and purity and infighting between groups and stuff like that. Like Karen, I'm sure there are some things that I missed about the subtleties between the art groups, but anytime I thought I was getting sidetracked I just substituted punk sub-sub-cultures that didn't get along with one another for the artistic groups and realized that anyone outside of those sub-sub-groups would probably think the two groups that hated each other were actually the same and realize that was part of the joke (or maybe it wasn't; I kept thinking of the two groups as the difference between metal and fast-hardcore based straightedge in the middle to late 90's, both don't do drugs, are mostly vegan and all of that but generally each group hated the other group for reasons most people would not give a flying fuck about).
The lead-up in Brighter felt weaker than in the first story. Part of it may have been the formal elements in the story. I think the author gave away too that was going to happen in the story through the structure he choose to tell the story in. I don't feel like I need a surprise or big ending, but for this kind of story there needs to be a punch. The story needs to kick a little at the end in someway, and here the ending felt as satisfying as watching the hole cards getting turned over in televised poker when you (as the viewer) has known all along what each person held.
My criticisms aside, the collection is very good. Probably worth a high three stars, and ah, I had given it three stars but I'm going to push this up to four stars. It's not a strong four stars, but this book needs the help, it certainly isn't a book that deserves an average below 3 stars.
First story, Go!
I don't want to use the K word, but this story is Kafka-esque, but not in the boring way that it is usually used. There is no crazy totalitarian system or people turning into vermin; it's rather like the really good short stories of Kafka. The awesome stories. The story has a similar feeling to K's stories like The Judgement and In the Penal Colony. But the first parts of those stories, the set-up. Where Kafka writes so wonderfully the prig, the asshole, the first person who is unlikable and in a superior element among the expressionistic landscape he traverses. I think though even more than Kafka there is a strong feeling of another early 20th Century Eastern European heavyweight writer, but his name has been on the tip of my tongue for days without being able to come up with it.
What the story lacks though is the punch-line of a Kafka story. He does the set up well but when he gets to the part where the big pay off should be he doesn't deliver as expected. This failure isn't an awful thing. I'm comparing this dude, who is publishing his first book, to one of the masters of the form. I'm comparing him to fucking Kafka and not just in the yawn pedestrian Kafka but to the parts that make Kafka so memorable. I needed something even bigger than the dying father throwing off his blankets to condemn his son to death in this (well these actually) stor(y)∨(ies).
As opposed to Karen, I thought this first story, Graphite was the stronger of the two. His sense of place was stronger, and the world he created here was richer and grittier than the one he created in the second story. This story was also a 'purer' narrative, pure might not be the right word; what I mean is that this story is less tied with up some kind of overt meaning. There are different meanings that could be read into this story, but they aren't slapping you in the face as the authors thoughts on art are in the second story in this collection.
Now the second story, Brighter, starts off strong with some bad ass fucking birds, but those evil beasties of the air are left behind for a story about art and purity and infighting between groups and stuff like that. Like Karen, I'm sure there are some things that I missed about the subtleties between the art groups, but anytime I thought I was getting sidetracked I just substituted punk sub-sub-cultures that didn't get along with one another for the artistic groups and realized that anyone outside of those sub-sub-groups would probably think the two groups that hated each other were actually the same and realize that was part of the joke (or maybe it wasn't; I kept thinking of the two groups as the difference between metal and fast-hardcore based straightedge in the middle to late 90's, both don't do drugs, are mostly vegan and all of that but generally each group hated the other group for reasons most people would not give a flying fuck about).
The lead-up in Brighter felt weaker than in the first story. Part of it may have been the formal elements in the story. I think the author gave away too that was going to happen in the story through the structure he choose to tell the story in. I don't feel like I need a surprise or big ending, but for this kind of story there needs to be a punch. The story needs to kick a little at the end in someway, and here the ending felt as satisfying as watching the hole cards getting turned over in televised poker when you (as the viewer) has known all along what each person held.
My criticisms aside, the collection is very good. Probably worth a high three stars, and ah, I had given it three stars but I'm going to push this up to four stars. It's not a strong four stars, but this book needs the help, it certainly isn't a book that deserves an average below 3 stars.
July 3, 2010
Brighter Graphite, I’ve been wanting to read this book since the day I first saw the shiny graphite-gray cover in 2009—I can’t recall exactly how I found out about it, but I feel lucky that I found a copy through Powell’s several weeks ago and tossed it on top of my ever growing pile of TO BE READ. When I picked it up to read it on the heels of finishing The Grapes of Wrath, I was very pleased with what I found in Graphite. Why? Simple. I love graphite. As an artist, I always go back to drawing with pencils to hit the creative reset button, I also become irritated when a brand-new pencil is broken on the inside and the nicely sharpened lead slips out in the sharpener. Drat! Someone must’a dropped that box of pencils—or is there something missing—with that said, I sympathized with the main character of Graphite and his desire for the perfect pencil. When it comes to drawing, there’s nothing finer for mark making.
The fragile fusion of unique materials was being undermined by “progress.” (page. 57)
I don’t want to give away what THAT means—but I know being undermined by progress is never nice…
The artists and art dealers of Brighter—wow, fascinating—I found myself revisiting the nightmare of art school—back when I used to devour the articles about the who’s who in Art News or Art in America and sitting in the studio classroom with my little paint box and a head full of dreams when I was told at the time that painting was dead. I was pissed—“Wait. I’m paying $10,000 a year to go to art school to have Mr. Fancy-pants NYC artist-man tell me that painting is dead?” Fuck. This is a crowd I do not run with—their ideas about what is art are fine for them, but I have my own. I do happen to work in an art collection for my bread and butter, and I am an artist (no one blessed me with the magic artist wand to declare that I am an artist, it’s just what I am—it’s what I do.) I’ve experienced some personalities (not all of ‘em, just some of ‘em) that I have found to be nigh delusional or so over the top full of themselves they will never see until it’s too late how absurd they truly are—there’s being an artist and then there’s being an artist, if you know what I mean. It’s a group I’ll never fit in with and don’t really care to get too entangled with the likes of them. I’m perfectly fine with being 300 miles away from that world, I love my acre of the world on an Upstate hilltop. After all these years, I enjoy doing my own thing, and I have no desire to burn too bright…
I found the two novellas fun to the point of hilarious, surreal, and then mildly disturbing at another end of its gray spectrum. Quirky is the perfect word for them. Don’t take it too literal or you’ll miss it completely.
The fragile fusion of unique materials was being undermined by “progress.” (page. 57)
I don’t want to give away what THAT means—but I know being undermined by progress is never nice…
The artists and art dealers of Brighter—wow, fascinating—I found myself revisiting the nightmare of art school—back when I used to devour the articles about the who’s who in Art News or Art in America and sitting in the studio classroom with my little paint box and a head full of dreams when I was told at the time that painting was dead. I was pissed—“Wait. I’m paying $10,000 a year to go to art school to have Mr. Fancy-pants NYC artist-man tell me that painting is dead?” Fuck. This is a crowd I do not run with—their ideas about what is art are fine for them, but I have my own. I do happen to work in an art collection for my bread and butter, and I am an artist (no one blessed me with the magic artist wand to declare that I am an artist, it’s just what I am—it’s what I do.) I’ve experienced some personalities (not all of ‘em, just some of ‘em) that I have found to be nigh delusional or so over the top full of themselves they will never see until it’s too late how absurd they truly are—there’s being an artist and then there’s being an artist, if you know what I mean. It’s a group I’ll never fit in with and don’t really care to get too entangled with the likes of them. I’m perfectly fine with being 300 miles away from that world, I love my acre of the world on an Upstate hilltop. After all these years, I enjoy doing my own thing, and I have no desire to burn too bright…
I found the two novellas fun to the point of hilarious, surreal, and then mildly disturbing at another end of its gray spectrum. Quirky is the perfect word for them. Don’t take it too literal or you’ll miss it completely.
December 28, 2009
Review Copy
In "Graphite", by far the superior of the two, we follow an obsessed man on his journey to discover why his favorite graphite pencils are snapping and breaking. Hopping off the train in the city of "Graphite", he steps into a world covered in metallic gray dust. Every footfall producing a tiny cloud of gray, every person on the street wearing a thin veil of gray, even the sun is dulled by the invisible gray particles floating in the air.
Taking a tour of the pencil factory, our protagonist can determine no reason for the sudden change in quality of the pencils. Upset, and confused, he decides to take a dip in the Graphite Lake, where he happens upon one of the town's old timers - who shares an important piece of information that will change the course of our main characters life, and restore the strength of his beloved graphite pencils.
A peculiar twist in this 64 page novella turns this curious story into a tale of mystery and horror.
In the opening pages of "Brighter", we discover our narrator bound to a tall stake, unable to defend himself from the birds that are attacking him. As the story unravels, we come to find that he was once both an artist, and art dealer... who would do anything he could to aquire the best paintings the art world had to offer. In the midst of his conquests we realise there is a war brewing between the Romantics and the Formalists, two very different classes of artists. Drawing attention to himself, he is made to particpate in The Proof - an ancient and deadly test - which is at once an honor and a death sentence.
Does our man burn the brightest when put to the test?
Michael Horvath's writing reminds me of Nabokov, strangely lucid and dreamlike. Painfully personal, his narrators are well aware of their weaknesses and while never apologetic, the reader can't help but feel sorry for them and their situations.
Both novellas are written in a hectic, methodical way, forcing you to read quickly in an effort to catch up and learn what is taking place, what is happening to these unfortunate, tormented men.
Most interesting to me is the way the stories linger with me after
the cover has been closed, and the book has been shelved, haunting me.
In "Graphite", by far the superior of the two, we follow an obsessed man on his journey to discover why his favorite graphite pencils are snapping and breaking. Hopping off the train in the city of "Graphite", he steps into a world covered in metallic gray dust. Every footfall producing a tiny cloud of gray, every person on the street wearing a thin veil of gray, even the sun is dulled by the invisible gray particles floating in the air.
Taking a tour of the pencil factory, our protagonist can determine no reason for the sudden change in quality of the pencils. Upset, and confused, he decides to take a dip in the Graphite Lake, where he happens upon one of the town's old timers - who shares an important piece of information that will change the course of our main characters life, and restore the strength of his beloved graphite pencils.
A peculiar twist in this 64 page novella turns this curious story into a tale of mystery and horror.
In the opening pages of "Brighter", we discover our narrator bound to a tall stake, unable to defend himself from the birds that are attacking him. As the story unravels, we come to find that he was once both an artist, and art dealer... who would do anything he could to aquire the best paintings the art world had to offer. In the midst of his conquests we realise there is a war brewing between the Romantics and the Formalists, two very different classes of artists. Drawing attention to himself, he is made to particpate in The Proof - an ancient and deadly test - which is at once an honor and a death sentence.
Does our man burn the brightest when put to the test?
Michael Horvath's writing reminds me of Nabokov, strangely lucid and dreamlike. Painfully personal, his narrators are well aware of their weaknesses and while never apologetic, the reader can't help but feel sorry for them and their situations.
Both novellas are written in a hectic, methodical way, forcing you to read quickly in an effort to catch up and learn what is taking place, what is happening to these unfortunate, tormented men.
Most interesting to me is the way the stories linger with me after
the cover has been closed, and the book has been shelved, haunting me.
January 27, 2010
This book far surpassed my expectations. The writer's use of language is darkly brilliant...the first tale, "Graphite" was my favorite...the language weaves a descriptive setting reminiscent of early Bradbury.
January 27, 2010
Of the two novellas, Graphite proved to be a more enjoyable read than Brighter. Graphite follows the travels of a man obsessed with the graphite found in his favorite brand of pencil. While I found this character annoying at times, I got the point about what obsession can do to a person. The twist at the end of this story made me think a little deeper about the whole adventure. Brighter, on the other hand, was much more difficult for me to follow. While the narrator reveals his past and the reasons behind the plight he is in, it is done in a somewhat stream of consciousness style. At times you are left hanging mid-story only to have that story picked up again a few pages later. I think this novella would have been better served if I had been able to read it completely in one sitting. Then I might not have gotten as lost as I did at times. These novellas bring up interesting points for thought and if you're looking for something a little more abstract and thought provoking these might be right up your alley.
February 23, 2010
I really enjoyed Michael Horvath’s two stories in his novella, Brighter Graphite. The first story centers on the main character's obsession with his broken pencils which motivates him to vacation in the city of Graphite. On his journey, we see the protagonist's particular observations, that amusing as they might be, struck me as person suffering from a social disorder. Ultimately our hero arrives in Graphite where he finds joy in the town and finds the sinister cause of his faulty pencils. The second novella, Brighter, didn’t capture me the way that Graphite did. I was much more interested in the competition and fighting between the two rival artists groups rather than the ceremonial “proofs”.
Overall, I recommend the novella primarily due to the writer’s vivid environments and intruguing stories. They were not necessarily full blown steampunk fantasies, but the darkly-written narrative did conjure up a different time and another world.
Overall, I recommend the novella primarily due to the writer’s vivid environments and intruguing stories. They were not necessarily full blown steampunk fantasies, but the darkly-written narrative did conjure up a different time and another world.
May 30, 2010
This was an interesting set of novellas - for some reason, the writing style made me think of Hawthorne, and I did enjoy the read.
Neither of the main characters were likeable sorts; as a matter of fact, they were plain grumpy and set-in-their ways (Graphite) or unbelievably egocentric (Brighter).
Graphite focuses on a gentleman who has found the quality of his beloved graphite pencils declining. He decides to take a trip to the dreary, graphite-covered town where the pencils are made to get to the bottom of it. He finds a surprising solution to the problem in the end.
Brighter focuses on a character who is taken in by a supposed guru type, along with many of his fellow citizens. He has done some evil deeds on his own, and believes that he is justified in doing so. As the people descend into a sort of cult, he finds himself drawn into the center of the destructive faction, and ends up in a deserving predicament.
Neither of the main characters were likeable sorts; as a matter of fact, they were plain grumpy and set-in-their ways (Graphite) or unbelievably egocentric (Brighter).
Graphite focuses on a gentleman who has found the quality of his beloved graphite pencils declining. He decides to take a trip to the dreary, graphite-covered town where the pencils are made to get to the bottom of it. He finds a surprising solution to the problem in the end.
Brighter focuses on a character who is taken in by a supposed guru type, along with many of his fellow citizens. He has done some evil deeds on his own, and believes that he is justified in doing so. As the people descend into a sort of cult, he finds himself drawn into the center of the destructive faction, and ends up in a deserving predicament.
April 9, 2010
I really was not a fan of Graphite. The entire time I read it, I thought, "What is the point of this?" A man buys pencils, the graphite breaks in all of the pencils. He's upset. He decided to visit the town in which these great pencils are manufactured. Then a ridiculous amount of pages is devoted to describing his unpleasant journey by train to the town. Finally, he arrives in the town, which is like Heaven to him, as he has an obsession with pencils and graphite. And finally in the last five pages, everything ties together and the story somewhat has a purpose, but not really.
I did enjoy Brighter better. Although I was confused and didn't understand what was going on until I was almost half-way through, I found it more enjoyable. It reminded me a little of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
I did enjoy Brighter better. Although I was confused and didn't understand what was going on until I was almost half-way through, I found it more enjoyable. It reminded me a little of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 13, 2010
I have two complaints. One, this was too short. I would love to read further stories set in this author's world. Two, why is this book rated so low? I loved it. The writing had a dreamy feel and a perfect flow. The pompous tone in Graphite was spot on, bringing a character with a humorous and startingly dark obsession to life. The descriptions of the city of Graphite, the ridiculous fued between the Formalist and Romantic artists in Brighter, everything all together worked so well. 4 1/2 stars.
February 6, 2010
This book does take an interesting take on things. The first story is about a man who is on a quest to find out why the pencil points in his expensive brand of pencils break. The reason that they break is a suprise. In the second story the author introduces us to a different world where differences are decided by burning humans and the correct side is the representative of the side that burns brighter.
March 16, 2010
I have finished the novella Graphite. It's about a man's obsession with a graphite pencil. When I started to read it I groaned but Mr. Horvath's took a mundane object and turned it interesting. The twist at the end was unexpected.
Brighter was interesting but confsuing to me. A dark story with a predictable ending. I think if I could have read it in one sitting it would have been easier to follow.
Brighter was interesting but confsuing to me. A dark story with a predictable ending. I think if I could have read it in one sitting it would have been easier to follow.
February 14, 2010
I got this book from the Goodreads Firstreads giveaway.
Although I recognize where and how Horvath is being sort of clever and funny, for some reason I was most of the time not terribly amused. I sort of like the extensive wordiness in a way, but it can also be a little bit tedious. Luckily, it was a pretty quick read and was a little bit fun in retrospect.
Although I recognize where and how Horvath is being sort of clever and funny, for some reason I was most of the time not terribly amused. I sort of like the extensive wordiness in a way, but it can also be a little bit tedious. Luckily, it was a pretty quick read and was a little bit fun in retrospect.
November 1, 2013
The first story, Graphite was a little contrived, but I liked the second story Brighter as it relates to the art world. Quite sardonic and a bit scathing, but not unjustifiably so. I gave the rating of four to these stories only because I know Mike can do better.
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