I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: TINDERSTICKS-Nénette et Boni [soundtrack] (1996).

After releasing two albums of atmospheric brilliance, Tindersticks were called upon to score the music for the film Nénette et Boni.

And this disc answers the question of whether it is Stuart Staples’ voice that is the driving force behind the band.  And the answer is, indeed not.  This disc is almost entirely instrumental (except for “Tiny Tears” which is a different version from the second disc and is here titled “Petites gouttes d’eau”).  The band brings the same atmospheric/noir quality to this disc that they bring to the ir previous works, but you get to hear it in all of its glory (since you’re not trying to figure out what Stuart is talking about).

I haven’t seen the film, so I can’t say how well it works for the film.  But I feel like I know the film quite well from the tone and music (and what I think may be sounds from the film) that are present.  If you like the band musically, you absolutely cannot go wrong here.  There’s not a bad track on the disc.  Even the half dozen or so tracks that are only about a minute (this is a soundtrack after all) are quite evocative.

I read a brief description of the film online, and I’m not entirely sure I want to see it.  But I sure do enjoy listening to the music.

The reissued disc comes with a bonus disc called Marks Moods.  Marks Moods was a promo disc sent out to film producers to showcase just what the band could do (again, without Stuart’s vocals).  So this is another moody instrumental disc.  The difference is that there are many songs from other discs that are done (or re-done, I can’t be entirely sure) as instrumentals.  The four tracks with vocals are “Sleepy Song,” “Don’t Look Down,” and “Buried Bones” which is actually a duet.  And then there’s “For Those…” one of my favorite songs which seems to crop up all over the place but never on an actual album.

This appears to have been something of a find back in the day.  I’m not sure if it was really worth hunting down, but it is a nice bonus to this disc.

[READ: October 18, 2009] “/Solomon Silverfish/”

The last few uncollected DFW stories that I read were a little less than satisfying.  So I wasn’t looking forward to this one very much.  But man, was it good.  It seems to be a hearty precursor to Infinite Jest (without the endnotes).  It even has a character named Wardine!

The story is typographically a little odd.  The title and “section” headings are in backslashes.  (I have no idea if that signifies anything other than a typographical choice of DFW or the magazine).  The section headings are the names of the character whose point of view the section is.  So, when the story opens we see /Solomon/.

But aside from that, the most unusual thing in the story is that it is written in the voice of a very Jewish individual.  For Solomon Silverfish speaks in an almost stereotypical Jewish vernacular.  Solomon is married to Sophie Shoenweiss, a Jewish woman who is dying of breast cancer.  As the story opens, Solomon is fielding a phone call (at 2 in the morning) from Sophie’s brother Ira.  Ira has just been caught with his third DUI and he’s begging his brother-in-law, a fine public defendant, to bail him out (again).

Solomon has delightful mannerisms, like karate chopping his arms when angry.  And so as he is explaining to his poor wife what her irresponsible brother has done, he chops the air in dramatic fashion.  (This chopping continues throughout the story to humorous effect).

It turns out that this DUI call is an elaborate ruse to get him out of the house.  But from there I will give no further details, because they all get juicier and more interesting as they go along.  I will say, however, that the love that DFW paints between these two people, married for over 30 years, is incredibly moving.  And the flashbacks of their marriage are really beautiful.  (I was really moved by the scene of Solomon standing over his wife, chopping at the air and shouting “Remit” at his wife’s cancer.)  The tenderness and examples of unselfishness are really something.  There’s no irony to be had here.

But things wouldn’t be written by DFW if they didn’t get a little peculiar.  And so, midway through the story, we learn that Solomon is a very generous man, feeling empathy for the downtrodden.  And one of these downtrodden is /Too Pretty/ a pimp and a pusher.  Solomon has helped him out of many a tight spot.  So, when Solomon asks Too Pretty for a favor, he is all too happy to help out his man S.S.

When the main story line of Sol and Sophie is basically at an end (although an ending ever so DFW-like that doesn’t really give you the ending), we get an additional four pages from the point of view of /Too Pretty/, in the vernacular of a pimp and drug pusher (which also shows foreshadowing to sections of IJ).

Too Pretty has nothing but respect for Solomon.  He details the aforementioned favor, for which he is only too happy to help.  And as he relates his own life of drugs and women, he seems to marvel at the fact that Solomon loves his withered, skinny wife, who has caves where her breasts used to be.

There also seems to be some kind of explanation of the misunderstanding that got Solomon into trouble in the first place.  However, this memory, is related with the strict understanding that Too Pretty had taken some very strong heroin.  And he appears to hallucinate the very scene that Solomon’s accusers accuse him of (or is it possibly real?)

And here I got a little lost.  I couldn’t decide if  Too Pretty was the source for the accusations (which seems totally unlikely) or if Too Pretty was mistaken for Solomon (which I guess could happen, the way it is described, even though they look nothing alike).

This confusing epilogue does not detract from the story.  It adds an element of mystery (and yes, throws a haze over some details), but Too Pretty’s section is still remarkable.

I am quite surprised that this story has never been anthologized.  It is a strong piece of fiction with a lot of foreshadowing to his later works.  It also proves that DFW has a great ear for vernacular.  There’s always the possible accusation that his work is offensive since he is neither Jewish nor black, but I don’t think it is.  His characters ring true.  And given the underlying theme of the story absolutely justifies it.

I’d been writing lately that DFW’s true calling was non-fiction.  But after reading this story, I take it back.  When he was on his game, DFW was amazing.

[Read it here.]

Oh, and by the way, the story is also available in the new Sonora Review Issue 55/56.  It also includes a 100 page tribute to DFW (who used to work for the magazine).

For ease of searching, I include: Nenette et Boni