Babylonian Exile Part Three
In Part Three, Döblin has really hit his stride. It’s now clear where the pleasures of this novel lie: not so much in following a plot as in delighting in each colourful incident, with its deftly drawn characters revealed in their physicality and their individual voices, and in the authorial insertions of not quite random items of knowledge from encyclopedias, law books and travelogues.
Babylonian Exile Part Three PDF 2.1 MB (including illustrations)
I suspect that not all fans of Dickens’ later novels appreciate the earlier Pickwick Papers, and those who love Pickwick Papers may find the later novels heavy going. The situation with Döblin is not entirely analogous, firstly because his major fictions are all so diverse, and secondly because only one of them has ever acquired a substantial fan base.
While the first Döblin epic (Wang Lun) received respectful notices and won a prize, some critics gave up on the second (Wallenstein) after finishing just one of the two volumes of the 900-page first edition. The next epic (Mountains Oceans Giants) perplexed and irritated some, even as they recognised the power of Döblin’s imagination and the importance for our age of the themes he highlighted. Then came Manas, hailed by a few leading lights of literature in German and utterly neglected thereafter.
Readers who have ventured into any of these fictional worlds know that it takes stamina to allow the imaginative power to work its way into their own imaginations. Just as it takes stamina to follow the intricate plot of Bleak House, say, or Our Mutual Friend.
But with Babylonian Exile we have a different kettle of fish. For all the sombre undercurrent of the exile theme, and the occasional reminders of the “abyss” that lurks beneath our feet, the main characteristic of this novel is that Döblin is having fun!
The fun shows itself, as in Pickwick Papers, in the frequent absurdities, the succession of colourful incidents, the deft depictions of individuals and the gaps between their reality and their self-regard.
As you will find in Part Three, the reader’s enjoyment lies in savouring each absurdity, incident, character, and in relishing the linguistic skill with which individual voices are brought to our ears.
We are now almost a third of the way through the novel. Lots more treats in store!
