Distilling a Medley

Distilling a Medley

"Time's a goon, right? You gonna let that goon push you around?"

Egan obliterates our perception of time. Our sense of perspective is pushed to its limits as we are plummeted into a symphony of different voices. Some readers may feel motion sick at the idea of its flightiness. However don’t feel put off, as each character is strung onto the two main characters: Bennie and Sasha. We are flown through a sporadic momentum of people who communicate their mind. The book begins with something so individual, so personal that it feels as though we can only inhabit their mindset. And then suddenly we are shifted into a wholly alien planet. Each character clings on desperately to our attention attempting to resist our fingers turning the page towards the end of the book, the end of time. Yet as a reader we do not feel as though we are heading towards the end. As we are flown backwards and forwards: past, future, present. Egan opens our eyes to the possibility. And yet provides a soothing whisper that our sense of emotional humanity will remain intact.

Towards the end she adds in a rather allusive chapter based just on power point presentation. You may be thinking that Egan is attempting to relive an avant-garde era. To a certain extent I did feel as though I was returning to the picture books of primary school. Yet I can see that she has attempted to produce discontinuities with the book, representing the motion of time. Yet it feels slightly forced, Egan sits us in front of a computer screen and goes through her symbolism slide by slide. Suddenly we lose a sense of voice. Time becomes paused and we are left dangling in mid air. Is this what our future will come to? Are we supposed to expect silence? Egan suddenly dip dives the reader into a cold rush of hollowness. We don’t know what to do with this piece of work except plough on.

And it is not without its rewards. Within each segment, Egan manages to push and pull the strings of time. As each event commences, another voice will emerge sinking us back into a different era. It is as though we are submerged in water, and Egan is slowly dragging us back up to the surface. Each character is vital to the next story. As we reader we feel as though each story is fragile. If one were to break, the whole story would come apart. Egan shows how life is a balance of people, just as dependent on the next as the one below.

Egan manages to string each voice together, becoming one beautifully constructed lyrical note. Each character has a significant view of the world. We must acknowledge that whether dead or alive or not even born yet: every voice is important. Distance becomes minute as the book provides a horizon beneath the lens of a microscope. She doesn’t let the restrictions of time or distance get in the way of her creative imagination. The reader gets the feeling that Egan is setting each character on a journey through time. In the end one character will evolve.

Most people want to learn about their family. Where they came from, how they came here, who they are. And I feel this book does so. Egan conjures up real people who are individual, who have fears, weaknesses and mistakes. People who have a past that they cannot get rid of. And a future they cannot avoid. Egan breaks the limits of time. Providing an endless past. An endless future. To essentially make every moment of the present a momentous event.