The Trope Teacher
December 4th 2011 23:45
This is an extract from The Trope Teacher, the third of three novellas in
Chaim Potok's book, Old Men at Midnight. I like this idea that Chandal, a novelist, states, that a memory can be induced from a 'zero point.'
The other character, Benjamin Walter, is having trouble with his memoirs, for which he's been paid a substantial six-figure advance. But he can't get to grips with the earliest part of his life; it's somehow been blocked off. He is the first to speak:
"You see, I have no idea how to continue. I have a book without a beginning."
She [Chandal] put down her cup, patted her lips with a napkin. She gazed at him guardedly, seeming ot be calculating, measuring.
"Well, Benjamin, I start from the zero point of memory."
"The zero point?"
"From the very least bit of memory."
"I'm not sure -"
"From the involuntary memory that comes like a bolt out of the blue. From the memory that is your aura."
"My what? My aura?"
"Listen to me, Benjamin. When I say the word, 'war,' what comes immediately into your mind?"
"I don't - "
"The word 'war,' Benjamin. Immediately!"
" 'Why?' "
"Why what?"
"The word 'why' comes to mind."
"And who speaks that word?"
He hesitated.
"Who, Benjamin?"
A wildly careering search. "An old teacher."
"What is he doing or saying, your old teacher?"
"I can't - "
"What, Benjamin?"
Still he hesitated.
"You'll excuse me, Benjamin, but I see in your face that you have a story to tell. So tell me the story, get down to your zero point of memory. Or call it a night, go back to your wife, and I'll get on with my work."
A desperate effort. "Let me try."
And he proceeds to tell a long story about his 'trope' teacher, a man who taught him how to sing the Torah when he was a child. We discover why Benjamin is so focused as an adult on the study of war as a result.
This extract comes from pages 206//7 in the Alfred A Knopf edition of 2001. Old Men at Midnight was written a year before Potok died of brain cancer.
The other character, Benjamin Walter, is having trouble with his memoirs, for which he's been paid a substantial six-figure advance. But he can't get to grips with the earliest part of his life; it's somehow been blocked off. He is the first to speak:
"You see, I have no idea how to continue. I have a book without a beginning."
She [Chandal] put down her cup, patted her lips with a napkin. She gazed at him guardedly, seeming ot be calculating, measuring.
"Well, Benjamin, I start from the zero point of memory."
"The zero point?"
"From the very least bit of memory."
"I'm not sure -"
"From the involuntary memory that comes like a bolt out of the blue. From the memory that is your aura."
"My what? My aura?"
"Listen to me, Benjamin. When I say the word, 'war,' what comes immediately into your mind?"
"I don't - "
"The word 'war,' Benjamin. Immediately!"
" 'Why?' "
"Why what?"
"The word 'why' comes to mind."
"And who speaks that word?"
He hesitated.
"Who, Benjamin?"
A wildly careering search. "An old teacher."
"What is he doing or saying, your old teacher?"
"I can't - "
"What, Benjamin?"
Still he hesitated.
"You'll excuse me, Benjamin, but I see in your face that you have a story to tell. So tell me the story, get down to your zero point of memory. Or call it a night, go back to your wife, and I'll get on with my work."
A desperate effort. "Let me try."
And he proceeds to tell a long story about his 'trope' teacher, a man who taught him how to sing the Torah when he was a child. We discover why Benjamin is so focused as an adult on the study of war as a result.
This extract comes from pages 206//7 in the Alfred A Knopf edition of 2001. Old Men at Midnight was written a year before Potok died of brain cancer.
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