"Laziness in the Fertile Valley" by Albert Cossery

New Directions ISBN: 978-0-08112-1874-0

I'm not a man that has a lot of heroes, but if I was going to choose one hero, it would be Albert Cossery.  A wrier who is devoted to watching pretty girls from cafes and being lazy.  With those two high-standard activities, this is a writer I will follow from heaven to hell. "Laziness in the Fertile Valley" is another one of his masterpieces that deals with a set of characters who prefer to do nothing when 'something' appears and shows its ugly heard.  What we have here is a family of men, who one, the older brother prefers and does only a great deal of sleeping.  Waking up for the occasional meal, and then back to bed.  The younger brother, foolishly has a desire to go out of the house and find work, and the Dad, is busy arranging a marriage, but has to deal with some rather old guy's specific problems.

Cossery, Egyptian born, but lived most of his adult life in Paris cafes - mostly all located in the St. Germain des Prés section of Paris, is a writer who according to Anna Della Subin in her informative afterword enclosed in this book, came from a family of lazy people.  His grandfather, for instance, refused to leave his bedroom.  For me this is a much desired lifestyle.  There is a tinge of jealousy when I read Cossery's novels, but alas, the enjoyment I get from them is a sense of bliss.

January 23, 2014

January 23, 2014

I woke up early this morning to go to the Broome Street General Store to meet my friend Albert Cossery, for coffee, who just finished a remarkable novel "Laziness in the Fertile Valley."  He just got back from visiting another common pal of ours, Boris, who is an engineer, but works at a paper manufacturing plant, doing something technical.  Both of them has this long-term on-going game of playing Frisbee.  Boris and a friend of his Walter it seemed invented this flying disc, and eventually sold the rights to it to Wham-O.

Albert and I, as we sipped our coffees thought of the other great Wham-O toy products like the Hula-Hoop, and my personal favorite Slip n' Slide.  It is basically a large strip of plastic filled with water, and what you do is you jump on it forward and you'll slide to the other side.  It is perfect for Los Angeles hot weather, but be warned, don't do it near a staircase.  What happened to me was I jumped on and then fell a flight of stairs to a very dry and hot piece of pavement.

It is very rare for two adults to have such a long friendship, but Albert and I share a great deal of common passions.  Both of us are huge fans of the films of Sergei Eisenstein.  We had a passionate argument that lasted for hours regarding Eisenstein.  Albert insisted that Randolph Scott got his start in "Ivan The Terrible."  I told him that is so wrong that it makes a wrong into a right.  We almost came to blows but we changed our mind and instead we ordered another round of coffee.

But since Eisenstein films' were silent, I would show him my 16mm print of "Battleship Potemkin" with an additional soundtrack by Django Reinhardt.  For whatever reason the hot jazz music fits in perfectly with people getting smashed and destroyed in this film.  What became a horror show turned into a really funny slapstick film.

Both Albert and I are big fans of Eisenstein's book "The Film Sense" which is about the idea of 'montage' in film.  But in reality that can be used in an almost everyday occurrence. I can't remember the film's title, but the one starring Jeanne Moreau, where she walks around, what I think is Paris, with cool Jazz music.  If one put in a symphony in that soundtrack, it would have changed the mood.  Maybe even destroy that scene?

As I said goodbye to Albert, and watch him walk away from the coffee shop, I thought 'it is so nice to have such a great friend.'

"Proud Beggars" by Albert Cossery

A beautiful and very young prostitute gets killed in the beginning of “Proud Beggars” which sets off a journey of self-discovery. Also everyone is likable, including the young girl's murderer. Welcome to the world of Albert Cossery!

The narrative takes place in what we believe is in Egypt – perhaps Cairo? Cossery is from the Middle-East but lived in Paris most of his life. A hardcore member of the St-Germain crowd, Cossery is a writer of incredible charm, that is full of poison. What is fascinating is that via this novel we enter into a world of beggars – where it is not only a choice for some, but a desired lifestyle. Poverty worn as a sign of pride. Of course there is anxiety in knowing where one is going to sleep that night, or where the next meal will come from (if any at all), but the sense of freedom that goes with the lifestyle is the addiction where these characters roam with great joy.

Albert Cossery

The detective who is investigating the murder, is a closeted homosexual who is deeply attracted to the people he's after. A strange dance or chess game with all the characters who are expressing a certain school of existentialism – Cossery, as a writer, has the knack of expressing a culture in a light hearted way but again, with a sense of great wit, and this book is a very dark comedy. The murder was committed with no real purpose, which is shocking, but what is more shocking is how the characters react to the crime. A very strange book in that sense and it reminds me a bit of Paul Bowles' work. Maybe because its a strange culture to me, but the surrealism of the scenery and the joy that the beggars (at least the main characters) have with life is kind of upsetting. This is another remarkable novel by a great writer.

Albert Cossery

Albert Cossery

The Dandy Albert Cossery

Tosh Talks Dec. 13. 2010

Tosh Talks focuses on London and Paris/Cairo....in book form of course.

Albert Cossery

Albert Cossery's "The Jokers"

A pal of Boris Vian's and a citizen of the Saint Germain-des-prés, Albert Cossery is a writer with a wicked sense of humor and has a deep understanding of human folly.  His novel "The Jokers" is about a group of revolutionaries (in Egypt?) who fight the power by showing noting but the highest respect for that power.  It is sort of a revolution via The Marx Brothers than anything else.

Also there is a joy in life that is actually revolutionary - and how they apply that in a political take-over or the removal of the Governor, is quite profound.  "The Jokers" has a light touch but the message against authority is clear, very enlightened, and a wonderful read.

A Review of Albert Cossery's "A Splendid Conspiracy"

A Splendid Conspiracy by Albert Cossery


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Anyone who is a friend of Boris Vian is a friend of mine. And Albert Cossery is very close to the aesthetic quality of the Prince of St. Germain-des-Prés. This is the first novel I have read by Cossery, and because of it I am now a loyal follower of this magnificent Egyptian born, but hardcore Parisian writer.

"A Splendid Conspiracy" (Un Complot de Saltimbanques) is a novel about three young friends among other citizens of a small town in Egypt. One is a police informer, the other a European traveler who tasted the good life, and the third is basically a nihilist punk who is über-smart.

Through these three characters, we see small town conservative life and its under-current of sexual adventure, decadence, and possible series of murder. But all of this serves in the background and its interesting how Cossery introduces each character and how they become part of the narrative. Life is a remarkable adventure and this book reads as a map to appreciate your location as well as how things are connected by the dots, but those dots can lead you to something strange, scary, weird, or ...sexy.

The book is translated by Alyson Waters and the language flows easily. A classic. And of course it is published by New Directions. His other novel "The Jokers" will be published by NYRB. So he's in good company.

View all my reviews >>

My New Literary Hero Albert Cossery

At the moment I am reading a fantastic novel "A Splendid Conspiracy" by Egyptian born, but lived in Paris Albert Cossery. Any artist/writer who looks down on work is ok with me. Nevertheless this novel is really wonderful to the max. All the characters are really interesting, but they also grow out of the pages into something else. And it's really a page-turner of a book. Nicely translated from French by Alyson Waters.



New York Review of Books, which is a fantastic press by the way, is putting out another novel by Cossery called "The Jokers." I can't wait!



A longer review will come shortly here.