The circus bookclub - The Letter Killer Club, by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky
There are some authors I simply cannot get enough of, and Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky is one of them. In this first ever edition of this new bookclub, here in the circus, I'll share with you my most recent read of him! And what more fitting title than The Letter Killer Club to introduce the bookclub, right?
Hello there! I'm the circus resident poltergeist, Eliott, managing this blog until Lav comes back. Here in the circus bookclub I share with you my most recent reads/amazing books I wish everyone would pick up one day!
Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky is an Ukrainian author born in 1887 in Kyiv, who died in Moscow in 1950. He wrote his works in russian language, and was little published in his lifetime: most of his works were published posthumously.
The Letter Killer Club is a short novel (approx. 100-150pages according to the publisher/language of translation) written in 1926. Its story revolves around the life of a Club, the Letter Killer Club, run by 7 individuals. The story starts when they welcome an 8th member, a writer intrigued by the peculiar people seeing each other once a week, in a quiet room lit by the fireplace.
In the Letter Killer Club, the members think that writing their ideas on paper would denature them. In their philosophy, ideas stay pure when they only stay to this stage: ideas. Every week, the members of the club tell each other their book ideas, scenarios, without ever writting them on paper. Each week, one member speaks. This is how the seven chapters of this book are organized, by the story of one individual, followed or interrupted by the occasionnal remarks or conversations around it (reminding me of Marguerite de Navarre's Heptameron, if some of you are familiar with french late medieval literature here). In these stories, Krzhizhanovsky seems to always explore a philosophical thought, or ideas about literature and what it is to be a writer. This is, according to me, part of what makes this book so interesting to read.
These stories are strange, almost metaphysical at times, funny and tragic. I will not go in details about them so you can fully enjoy this book, should you decide to read it, but what striked me in The Letter Killer Club is how well balanced Krzhizhanovsky's writing was, between telling the stories and the characters of the Club themselves. With very few elements, Krzhizhanovsky succeeds in creating a particular atmosphere, one that engulfs you and makes you feel like you are seated there, amongst them, almost as a 9th member of this strange reunion.
Krzhizhanovsky is an incredible writer. These themes of the idea vs. writing it, putting it on paper, what it is to write, to have ideas, to be a writer, are extremely present in most of his works, but they seem to be particularly explored in this one. During his lifetime, while he wasn't much published, Krzhizhanovsky was very present in literary circles, and therefore certainly involved in many philosophical discussions of what it meant to be a writer at that time. This shows in his works, and he explores these questions in a very clever way.
Krzhizhanovsky's writing is demanding and his ideas need some thinking and time to be well reflected upon, but I believe his works are extremely interesting if you ever want to explore more of the literature of his time. Often using fantastic elements or situations to convey his ideas, his writing is a clever mix of fantastic, abstract, absurd and reflection on writing itself.
I hope this made you curious about this author's works! Krzhizhanovsky has written many short stories as well, and these are also great if you ever want to give a chance to reading his writing.
Sources : his wikipedia page for the bio / goodreads for the english edition of the letter killer club
