“The birth of a child heralds a far-reaching future in which we will not fully participate. Julio Ramon Ribeyro summed it up well: ‘The tooth that comes in for them is the one that falls out for us; the inch they grow is the one that we shrink; the lights they acquire are the ones extinguished in us; what they learn, we forget; and the year added for them is the one subtracted for us’,” Zambra writes in the initial
“The birth of a child heralds a far-reaching future in which we will not fully participate. Julio Ramon Ribeyro summed it up well: ‘The tooth that comes in for them is the one that falls out for us; the inch they grow is the one that we shrink; the lights they acquire are the ones extinguished in us; what they learn, we forget; and the year added for them is the one subtracted for us’,” Zambra writes in the initial pages of his book Childish Literature. This is a collection of writing about parenthood and fatherhood. Containing essays he wrote while his son was growing up, and entries from when he was born, this is the author’s experiments in writing as a father.
Zambra writes that men show up ill-prepared to be fathers, unlike women who pass on knowledge of motherhood that prepares their daughters to become mothers. And stepfathers start from behind in the race to be a legitimate part of a child’s life. But Zambra wants to hear more stories where a child will say, ‘My step-father was my real father’. And this is perhaps why he writes Chilean Poet.
In it, Gonzalo, one of the main characters, becomes a stepfather to his high school sweetheart’s son, Vicente. Gonzalo struggles to define his role in Vicente’s life. Even though he is much more involved than the boy’s absent biological father, he struggles to legitimise his relationship with Vicente. The Spanish language has an ugly word to describe stepfathers – padrastro. It has many meanings such as evil father, obstacle and impediment.
Alejandro Zambra wrote Chilean Poet while he experienced step fatherhood, and Childish Literature when he became a biological father. Some essays in Childish Literature read like diary entries from the early days of Zambra caring for his biological child. Together, they form a unique account of fatherhood – rich in love and wit. The reader can tell that the writing of these pieces and the living make for one of the most joyful experiences in the author’s life. Zambra’s son promises to take him for walks on a splendid wheelchair when Zambra is older, and the writer likes to think that Childish Literature will provide an outline for the future conversations they will have on those walks.
All literature is Childish Literature
“The expression children’s literature is condescending and offensive and also strikes me as redundant, because all literature, at its core, is childish. Much as we try to hide it, those of us who write do so because we want to recover perceptions that were erased by ostensible learning that so often made us unhappy.”
Zambra argues that all literature is childish, that the writer tries to connect with the child in herself and in the reader through literature. He writes further, “Baudelaire compares the artist and the child with a convalescent. More than remembering or relating, the writer is trying to see things as though for the first time. That is, like a child, or like a convalescent on their way back from illness and in a way from death, and who has to relearn, for example, how to walk. Parenthood is another kind of convalescence that allows us to learn everything again. And we did not even know we had been gravely ill. We’ve only just found out”
Zambra writes about how the arrival of his son changed the meaning of ‘courage’, and added a new one to ‘sacred’. He also writes about reading with his son. He decides that he will never donate or give away all his childhood books because it would be like getting rid of family photo albums.
Redefining padrastro
While Childish Literature is about being a parent, a writer and a Chilean, Chilean Poet is the story of Gonzalo’s love and his role as a stepfather. The book is divided into two parts – Early Works and How to Become a Chilean Poet – and at the end of the former, Gonzalo finally becomes a published Chilean poet. At the same time, he feels as if he has lost everything. Devastated by heartbreak and loneliness, he wonders if this is what all Chilean poets must go through.
We meet bad fathers too. Vicente’s biological father is one of many missing fathers who, during the rare times they take care of their children, use them as bait to catch the attention of young women. They have learnt to look at the young women’s eyes and breasts at the same time. Gonzalo’s grandfather is referred to as the lech. He has nearly twenty children and he has been missing from every one of their lives, and yet Gonzalo’s mother forgives her father and throws a luncheon to honour him.
Zambra also writes about the pain of abrupt separation of a stepfather and stepson, and about finding love in the mostly unlikely of places He writes about the mysterious ways poetry changes lives. Gonzalo and Vicente, both also Chilean poets, stand the test of time and distance. Even though Gonzalo comes back to the relationship with pain and regret, poetry allows them to reach a place of love that once existed between the father-son duo.
Bonsai - The summary of a novel
Wanting to explore more of Alejandro Zambra’s writing, I picked up Bonsai. A slim novella about two Chilean Literature students who, in trying to find themselves in great literature of the world, find each other and fall in love. A distilled tale of love and memory, Bonsai chronicles the romantic adventures of Julio and Emilia.
Taken together, Zambra’s books are an exploration of the ways of love, paternal and otherwise.
Sharmistha Jha is an independent writer and editor.
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