Landscape: Memory
by Matthew Stadler
Originally published: New York : Scribner, c1990Amid the rubble of San Francisco's 1906 earthquake, Max Kosegarten, the
narrator of this lyrical first novel, becomes the inseparable boyhood
friend of Duncan Taqdir, son of a Persian sculptor and an English
archeologist. Set mainly in 1914-1916 and told in diary-like entries
interspersed with 36 brooding illustrations by the author, the story
follows the boys as they become lovers, ultimately separated by college
and a tragic accident. Together they explore California's woods, beaches
and mountains, and search for evidence of the earthquake that brought
them together. Their excavations as well as Max's reading of Ruskin and
Cicero, point to this sensitive novel's motif: how memory accretes into
character and shapes perception. Another theme is a teen's acceptance of
his homosexuality. Max's perky, self-absorbed mother, who is having an
affair with Duncan's father, is sharply drawn. Letters from Max's uncle,
serving on a hellish front in WW I, add period flavor.
narrator of this lyrical first novel, becomes the inseparable boyhood
friend of Duncan Taqdir, son of a Persian sculptor and an English
archeologist. Set mainly in 1914-1916 and told in diary-like entries
interspersed with 36 brooding illustrations by the author, the story
follows the boys as they become lovers, ultimately separated by college
and a tragic accident. Together they explore California's woods, beaches
and mountains, and search for evidence of the earthquake that brought
them together. Their excavations as well as Max's reading of Ruskin and
Cicero, point to this sensitive novel's motif: how memory accretes into
character and shapes perception. Another theme is a teen's acceptance of
his homosexuality. Max's perky, self-absorbed mother, who is having an
affair with Duncan's father, is sharply drawn. Letters from Max's uncle,
serving on a hellish front in WW I, add period flavor.