Ms. Hen reviews Unspeakable Things

Unspeakable Things

Kathleen Spivack

Alfred A. Knopf

2016

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel because she is acquainted with Ms. Spivack in writing circles - Ms. Hen is an on again off again member of the same poetry group as Ms. Spivack. Ms. Hen has been meaning to read this novel for a while, and she finally got around to it.

When Ms. Hen started reading this novel, she thought the voice was difficult to grasp. After a few pages, though, she realized why. This is a novel written by a poet! Novels by poets are different animals because they swirl the words around in their mouths like connoisseurs at a wine tasting. Ms. Hen got used to the poetic flair and the words settled into her mind after that.

This novel is about Eastern European immigrants, mostly from Vienna, who end up in New York while World War II still rages on. Maria, a young girl, lives with her mother, brother, and grandfather. Her father lives in Washington D.C., and is a translator for the war. Anna, or the Rat, comes to live with them, and sleeps in Maria’s bed. A pediatrician, Felix, takes care of Maria while she is sick, and does unspeakable things. The Rat tells Maria of her past in St. Petersburg while living amongst the Tsars.

This novel made Ms. Hen think of Latin American mysticism, specifically by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. There are a lot of weird, unsettling aspects to this story. The Tolstoi quartet, a string quartet, has the end of the last finger on their left hands chopped off, and go on a quest to find them. This is one of the dark places where this novel goes. Ms. Hen wondered if there was a tradition in Eastern European Jewish mysticism, and she read there was, but not specifically in fiction, more in the vein of mystical religious writing. Ms. Hen thinks Ms. Spivack might have invented her own genre.

One of the most gruesome and wonderful parts of UNSPEAKABLE THINGS is the part about Rasputin. Ms. Hen has learned about Rasputin, and what he did, and what he was like, but she has never read such a description of his actions. He was a pervert, but the Rat loved it. Ms. Hen wonders if the starved soul is one that would accept any kind of love.

This novel is about a community of people that immigrated to the United States that all had lost people to the war. People would ask each other, and who did you lose? It’s terrible for parents to lose children, and Herbert and Adeline’s loss of their son Michael scarred them, especially Adeline. Many unspeakable things live in this novel.

Something about this novel moved Ms. Hen in places she did not know could be moved. She was disgusted, but at the same time, could not look away. She kept reading to discover how more perverse this could become. Ms. Hen loved this novel. She likes being disturbed, and if that’s not your cup of tea, stay away from this novel! If it is, get ready to drink up the darkness and beauty within these pages.