SKIN ELEGIES

This ambitious novel juxtaposes historical tragedies with a futuristic frame.

Olsen’s oeuvre includes a number of structurally and linguistically innovative works, including My Red Heaven(2020). That novel took a kaleidoscopic view of Weimar-era Berlin, blending moments of human connection with suggestions of the devastation to come. This new novel goes even further with the concept. After a few pages of very fragmented text set in 2072, the action moves to a number of stories set in the recent past. Many of them focus on historical tragedies, including the Challengerdisaster and the plight of refugees trying to escape a war-torn Syria. Others play out on significant historical dates—including Sept. 11, 2001, and the day Richard Nixon announced his resignation—but move in unexpected directions. Aside from a few short vignettes, the significance and context of the 2072 segment isn’t fully explained until the novel’s final pages. Given that the other storylines largely focus on memory, intimacy, and mortality, the larger context into which the ending places them seems fitting. Each of the storylines is told in a different style—one about the origin of the internet is structured as a retrospective podcast interview, one about John Lennon’s murder inhabits his killer’s very subjective point of view, and the subplot set during the Fukushima tsunami and subsequent meltdown plays out in stark, minimalist verse. And while these storylines can be emotionally devastating on the page (particularly the Challengersubplot), the skill with which Olsen links them together keeps things moving at an impressive pace.

Readers willing to immerse themselves in this challenging novel will be left with plenty to discuss afterward.