David Constantine

     I had never heard of David Constantine, and this must be because he has not been much published in the United States--or perhaps he was published and I just missed him. But after reading a glowing review of his book of stories, "Another Country," I bought it for my Kindle. And I am enormously impressed. The US publisher obviously felt he had to push the promotion of the book, and these extraordinary blurbs appear in the material at the front of the e-book and presumably on the cover of the print version.

 “After reading David Constantine’s story ‘In Another Country’ … I can’t figure out why a US press hasn’t caught on to his work. He’s won … the Frank O’Connor Award … beating out Joyce Carol Oates, Deborah Levy, and Peter Stamm—and no wonder.”—Nicole Rudick, The Paris Review
  
 “Constantine is writing for his life. Every sentence and paragraph is shaped, tense with meaning and unobtrusively beautiful, his images of the natural world burning their way into the reader’s mind.”—Maggie Gee, The Sunday Times   
    
“Masterful … pregnant with fluctuating interpretations and concealed motives.”—The Guardian           

“This is a superb collection of stories: Constantine’s writing is rare today, unafraid to be rich and allusive and unashamedly moving.”—The Independent  

 “The excellence of the collection is fractal: the whole book is excellent, and every story is excellent, and every paragraph is excellent, and every sentence is excellent. And unlike some literary fiction, it’s effortless to read.” —The Independent on Sunday   

“This is a haunting collection filled with delicate clarity. Constantine has a sure grasp of the fear and fragility within his characters.” —A.L. Kennedy 

    There is a strangeness about the stories and much of the writing deals with what is going on in the heads of the characters. There are also certain themes that get repeated. Characters living under a railway viaduct appear in two stories. Characters climbing or hiking to remote places and spending the night there also feature in two stories, and two stories concern people living on remote islands. But this does not in the least detract from the quality of the writing and the acute insight as to what is happening in the characters' heads.
     The length of the stories varies, and couple might almost have been slightly short novellas. But this is a good solid book, with seventeen stories, all of high quality. Constantine's talents are considerable--he has published a number of collections of his own poetry and also translations of German and French poets; he is co-editor of the journal "Modern Poetry In Translation; and for the full range of his work you will need to go to Wikepedia...
     The title story "Another Country" has provided the basis for a new film entitled "45 Years," with Tom Courtenay and Charlotte rampling.