Signs and Symptoms
Róbert Gál
Illustrated by Lucia Nimcová
Twisted Spoon Press, Prague
82 pp. $12.50
Signs and
Symptoms, Róbert Gál’s collection of philosophical aphorisms and
fragmentary essays, can't help but call to mind the work of the late great La
Rochefoucauld and more pointedly the Romanian aphorist/essayist E.M. Cioran.
Gál’s work falls somewhere between the two in character—more existential
than La Rochefoucauld’s but not quite as pessimistic as Cioran’s. Though not
quite the literary equal of either, the author nevertheless makes apt and
interesting use of the aphorism, occasionally lighting on that genuine nuance of
meaning and language that is the ideal of the form. Some of our favorites
included: “Anxiety is what remains repressed when inhaling and exhaling”;
“Dialectic is the intellectual form of the unbalanced mind”; and “Whoever
claims we can reach the truth assumes that the truth stands still.” “The
matter of a nation is a matter of taste” also seems particularly resonant
given the current geo-political climate.
Gál’s fragmentary essays are
generally sound though they occasionally sink into a kind of repetitive or
cyclical logic within themselves. He also tends to expose the philosophical
substrate of his work a bit too obviously now and then by lapsing into the
philosopher’s habit of excessive quotation, also setting too many of his own
words in quotations marks, italics, etc. The advanced reader (i.e. the
only reader who will give a damn) already understands the semantic difficulties
inherent in words like “truth” and “reality” and “God.” In fairness,
he does refer to S&S in the end notes as “a philosophical text”
though it is a bit too fragmented to constitute a sustained argument of any
significance. Apart from the obvious paeans to Cioran, some of the essays have a
nice lilt, carrying a vague hint of Baudrillard, Derrida, and Bataille—though
by and large Gal comes across a hair lighter than these individuals, operating
more from a standpoint of the slightly dismayed or discursive observer rather
than one classically disabused or consistently disaffected. There really is no
central argument here except perhaps argument itself, and themes crisscross the
map but include questions of faith, truth, reality,
faces and masks, the possible, authorial intent and culpability.
While a few of Gál’s
arguments are underdeveloped, slightly babbling, or repetitious, and some
of the aphorisms read like established maxims with a thin coat of paint slapped
on, Signs and Symptoms does carry enough intellectual weight and
sustaining interest to be a worthwhile read. The translation
by Madelaine Hron is generally fine, showing only a few thorns here and there,
and the nude B&W photo illustrations by Lucia Nimcová
are uniformly expressive, providing a body of stark fleshly contrast to Gál’s
skewed yet hyper-rational mind. Signs and Symptoms is definitely worth
the time, especially for the pseudo-depressed and philosophical among us.
Recommended, especially as a bathroom read. (It is our assertion that one should
always read philosophy in the bathroom.)
–CAW–
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