As the title explicitly states, this is a book about a book, but it’s not just any book, it’s Mallarmé’s “Great Work” left unfinished at the time of his sudden death. Though this book only contains the barest sketch of the ultimate work of this esteemed writer, there are flashes of greatness, fleeting though they may be, which are no less mesmerizing for their intangibility.
In some ways it reminded me of Williams’ Paterson in that it was built up out of diverse source material such as original poetic invention, letters and in the case of Mallarmé, all of the measurements and calculations of the production of the book itself.
From what I can gather The Book is like no other book in that it is not intended for a singular reading, but to be performed in many successive readings, each a juxtaposition of it’s various parts taken out of sequence yet revealing it’s ultimate meaning in turn. This tentative guess as to the nature of the work in question was no easy task to surmise, as Mallarmé’s notes largely consist of figures relating to the particulars of production such as the number of pages and leaves, sessions and volumes. It is also worth noting that the introduction and translators notes were indispensable in clarifying some of the abbreviations used throughout.
For all the uncertainty that surrounds the book, it has some excellent poetic and formal innovations, and one could be excused for recognizing what might almost be considered a plot. There is a hero in flight, a fiancée and what seem to be unconsummated vows, a priest and mention of a crime that should have brought glory. All of this in brief images that waver in uncertainty, dreamlike and ephemeral. This is what I enjoyed the most about The Book; the tangential quality of even the most lucid passages. The reader must engage with the text to interpret the flow of Mallarmé’s thought and his true meaning. I treasure this ambiguity in poetry, but admit that it’s not for everyone.
Mallarme himself goes as far as to state:
The page:
the sign —
this book
abstracts itself
Whether he refers to The Book or the collection of notes which comprise the book I am presently reviewing, I think the statement is apt.