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Blind Spot by Teju Cole

by
November 2017, no. 396

Blind Spot by Teju Cole

Faber & Faber, $39.99 hb, 352 pp, 9780571335015

Blind Spot by Teju Cole

by
November 2017, no. 396

The text tells us this is Venice, or more precisely Giudecca, but what we see is an empty arcade, a distant tower, and the long shadow of the photographer. It is a scene with an understated surrealism, like a painting of de Chirico, but both photo and adjacent text are by Teju Cole. Giudecca, writes Cole, means ‘“Jewry,” though there’s no proof a Jewish community ever lived here’. In the act of scanning the photo’s negative, however, this absence takes on a different meaning. ‘I get an unexpected text message from A,’ the text continues, ‘who is a doctor: “One of my patients is a holocaust survivor. 93 years old. Still has PTSD and screams at night”.’

Louis Klee reviews 'Blind Spot' by Teju Cole

Blind Spot

by Teju Cole

Faber & Faber, $39.99 hb, 352 pp, 9780571335015

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