I heard about Taiye Selasi for the first time this afternoon. Although initially only Nabokov’s Lolita was indicated among the books that left a mark on her, to justify the caption “The daughter of Tina Turner and Vladimir Nabokov” in the interview in French, we may discern the extent of his “influence” in the interview in English (“the story came to me whole,” “I wrote the first ten pages of the novel, or perhaps more accurately: wrote them down”). The actual influence, though, must be checked by reading one of her novels – and that I’ll be able to do only in the long run. What does she mean by “each writer’s novel tells a voyage in time” (“chacun raconte un voyage dans le temps”, an affirmation that wasn’t well translated here)?
I thought the sighting might be of interest to Nablers…
The Story Came to Me Whole, As All Stories Do: A Conversation with Taiye Selasi, posted by Miwa Messer × March 22, 2013
excerpts: “… Spectacular is a word used sparingly around the Discover Great New Writers’ table, but it’s exactly the word multiple readers used to describe Taiye Selasi’s debut novel, Ghana Must Go, a diaspora story for our global age told through lush prose and vibrant imagery.
What’s the origin of Ghana Must Go?
The story came to me “whole,” as all stories do. I’d been waiting, thirty years I think, to write a novel—that is, to receive a story worthy of the form.[ ] waking up every day at 5 AM to do karma yoga, pulling shrieking beets and carrots from the frozen earth, sitting in meditation meditating on hypothermia—must have jolted the thing out of me. I was standing in the shower when I saw all the Sais, all six of them, just like that [ ] It was there that I wrote the first ten pages of the novel, or perhaps more accurately: wrote them down.
What do you mean by that?
I love this Philip Glass quote: “I don’t write music, I write it down.” This is certainly how prose always feels to me: something remembered, something recorded, rather than a thing created. [ ]
Where do you find inspiration? Are there any books that have stayed with you and influenced your writing?
I read the high school canon with great attention more because I was a good student than because I was a good reader—but three books reached out, grabbed me by the heart, and never let go. Lolita, The Great Gatsby and The Unbearable Lightness of Being changed the way I thought of novels, because Nabokov, Fitzgerald and Kundera seemed so utterly unafraid of breaking the rules. They were the three most beautiful novels I’d ever read, and lit some still-burning fire in me, a years-long desire to find and if possible to create the beautiful work. For me, this ‘beautiful work’ is text (novel, film, music), densely gorgeous, rich, lush, twisted, wise, created by some courageous artist who, at least in his art, is free.”
Les Grands Livres à L'OBS
Didier Jacob 13 novembre 2014: La fille de Tina Turner et de Vladimir Nabokov
[ ]” Adoubée par Salman Rushdie et Toni Morrison alors que son premier roman était à peine publié, la nouvelle coqueluche de la littérature afro-européenne, improbable mélange de Tina Turner et de Vladimir Nabokov, a fait sensation en racontant l’histoire d’une famille déchirée dans un livre d’une densité poétique et d’un lyrisme rares. Romancière anglaise, américaine, ghanéenne? C’est toute la question, pour Taiye Selasi, qui évoque son pays de sa voix singulière: «Le Ghana, son odeur paradoxale, une poterie fêlée: un mélange d’effluves de sécheresse et de moiteur, humidité de la terre, sécheresse de la poussière.»
Vous défendez l’idée d’un style international?
Goethe soutenait déjà cette idée. La «World fiction», c’est loin d’être nouveau. [ ]. Mon roman pourrait se passer en Inde, avec une héroïne indienne, ça ne changerait rien au livre. Dans un roman, les nationalités ne jouent aucun rôle.
Quels auteurs sont vos préférés?
Je dirai que quatre livres ont beaucoup compté pour moi: «L’insoutenable légèreté de l’être», «Lolita», «Le Dieu des petits riens», et «Gatsby le magnifique». Ce sont les livres qui m’ont fait être écrivain. Chacun d’eux est une expérience poétique à part, et chacun raconte un voyage dans le temps.”
http://didier-jacob.blogs.nouvelobs.com/archive/2014/08/08/taiye-selasi-538981.html