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A review by sloatsj
A Sorrow Beyond Dreams by Peter Handke
4.0
NYRB not only has an amazing selection of books, but their cover design is invariably gorgeous, and in a few cases even seems reason enough to buy some of their titles. I loved the cover of [b:Stoner|166997|Stoner|John Edward Williams|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320600716s/166997.jpg|1559207] and [b:The Pilgrim Hawk: A Love Story|458275|The Pilgrim Hawk|Glenway Wescott|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320461255s/458275.jpg|446771] and [b:Novels in Three Lines|570963|Novels in Three Lines|Félix Fénéon|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320461511s/570963.jpg|558001], but the stark beauty of "A Sorrow Beyond Dreams" so far tops them all.
The book is a memoir of another sad little round of life, and the cover, a photograph by James Casebere called "A Barrel Vaulted Room," is a good match for it. I’m afraid you can’t appreciate the photo fully in an online “reproduction” but the tone is a chalky greenish grey, cool and institutionally atmospheric. It’s bare, monochromatic and somehow sumptuous in its austerity. Even the cot may be made of stone. It looks more like a painting than a photograph, not least because of its simplicity. And weirdly enough, the photograph looks even better with the black NYRB title square plunk in the middle, pulling the shadows in the photograph to the foreground.
A Sorrow Beyond Dreams itself is a memoir of Peter Handke’s mother, which he wrote after she killed herself at the age of 51. For me, what the cover does in relation to the story is emphasize the solitude and loneliness each of us lives with, and inside of, and how permanent it is. The book has been praised to the heavens and it deserves to be. But if there’s a reason I won’t be lending mine out it’s not just the story but the evocative packaging.
The book is a memoir of another sad little round of life, and the cover, a photograph by James Casebere called "A Barrel Vaulted Room," is a good match for it. I’m afraid you can’t appreciate the photo fully in an online “reproduction” but the tone is a chalky greenish grey, cool and institutionally atmospheric. It’s bare, monochromatic and somehow sumptuous in its austerity. Even the cot may be made of stone. It looks more like a painting than a photograph, not least because of its simplicity. And weirdly enough, the photograph looks even better with the black NYRB title square plunk in the middle, pulling the shadows in the photograph to the foreground.
A Sorrow Beyond Dreams itself is a memoir of Peter Handke’s mother, which he wrote after she killed herself at the age of 51. For me, what the cover does in relation to the story is emphasize the solitude and loneliness each of us lives with, and inside of, and how permanent it is. The book has been praised to the heavens and it deserves to be. But if there’s a reason I won’t be lending mine out it’s not just the story but the evocative packaging.