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PAR.T ISAN REVI EW
its own hour and that th ose whom it so ught o ut were perhaps no t en–
tirely lacking o f some ce rtain darkn ess in th emselves." Eve n a trave lin g
ac tress opin es , "The road has its own reasons and no two travel ers will
have th e same understanding o f th ose reasons. If indeed they com e to an
understanding o f them at all ... Th e shape o f th e road is th e road .
T here is no t some oth er road that wea rs that shape but o nl y o ne. And
every voyage begun upon it will be completed ."
In many books, thi s kind o f prose wo uld be held up fo r ridi cule , o r
worse . If McCa rthy's is no t, it is o nly because his is so dazzling and eeri e
a narrati ve gift. Hi s ve ry pretension - in sho rt, hi s hi gh ambiti o n - is
what makes him rise above th e wo rld; he's wo nderfull y unabashed about
laying his philosophy cold and bare befo re us, and shooting fo r th e stars.
And when one looks at th e field o f Ameri can letters th ese days, it isn ' t
easy to find redempti o n . Pynchon can wo rk wo nders, wh en he looks in
fro m hi s o th er w o rld , and D e Lill o impresses with hi s un ca nn y
cons istency. Updike and R o th ke ep turnin g o ut books with inex–
haustible el oqu en ce, and younge r w riters like J ane Smile y brin g hoa ry
myth s into th e Ameri can grain . But th ere aren ' t many no veli sts dri ve n
fo rwa rd by a style and vi sio n all th eir own , willin g to lay claim to
desperate hei ghts. In th at context, it is something o f a miracl e to come
up o n someo ne o f M cCa rth y's audac ity and ran ge . Fo r all o f m y
rese rva ti o ns, I cam e away from
The Cross ill,\?
thinking that thi s rea ll y
mi ght be the first novel since
Vine/alld
(or, befo re that,
Be/oved)
that did ,
in how ever self-conscio us a way, be lo ng som ewhere in th e ca no n .
M cCa rth y is so anx io us to stand up o n hi s tipto es th at som etimes, I
think , he rea ll y does to uch the heave ns.
PICO IYER
Language and Reality
THE JUKEBOX AND OTHER ESSAYS ON STORYTELLING.
By
Peter Handke.
Farrar Straus
&
G irou x. S2 1.00.
C laude Lanzman , explaining hi s app roac h to filmmaking, quo ted
from an un credited source: "Wh en I have the answers, I w rite an essay,
Wh en I have th e questi o ns, I w rite a novel. " This in a nutshell sums up
th e probl em wi th th e English titl e give n to three exqui site prose pieces
