The same idea also pervades his excellent first novel, leaving atocha station. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of leaving the atocha station by ben lerner. Jun 16, 20 leaving the atocha station is a recent novel written by a young american poet who spent a year living in madrid as part of an academic fellowship. Or this poem, or this song, or making this indie film, or delivering this selfimportant biography at a bar or a party. In the hatred of poetry, a personal feeling has been dressed up, given a few distracting academic tassels and a. Leaving the atocha station quotes showing of 31 i tried hard to imagine my poems or any poems as machines that could make things happen, changing the government, or the economy or even their language, the body or its sensorium, but i could not imagine this, could not even imagine imagining it. Adam, the poetslacker with a fellowship in madrid at the center of leaving the atocha station, is an offputting jerk but take a closer look.
Ben lerners leaving the atocha station pigeonfiles. Ben lerners debut novel, leaving the atocha station 2011, received. It is about a young american poet spending a year living in madrid as part of an academic fellowship. Rome2rio is a doortodoor travel information and booking engine, helping you get to and from any location in the world. Leaving the atocha station paperback mcnally jackson books. Leaving the atocha station is the first novel of poet turned novelist ben lerner. Leaving the atocha station tells the story of adam, a poet on a prestigious yearlong fellowship in madrid.
As you are nearing the end of the novel and as we just passed the anniversary of the terrorist attack on atocha station march 11, 2004, there are a few themes to ask questions about or consider further. His first novel, leaving the atocha station, won the 2012 believer book award, and excerpts from 10. The book marks lerners transition from poetry to prose. His story of a postgrad american student on a fellowship in spain is an impressively verisimilar account of ennui and. Leaving the atocha station by ben lerner triumph of the now. I admit i had to look this word up when i first encountered it in lerners fine first novel, leaving the atocha station. Adam gordon is a brilliant, if highly unreliable, young american poet on a prestigious fellowship in madrid, struggling to establish his sense of self and his relationship to art. Im probably making leaving the atocha station sound like a call to duty rather than pleasure.
He experiences major themes of literature and life in an average way. Ben lerners first two books of fictionleaving the atocha station and 10. His poetry collections include the lichtenberg figures, angle of yaw, and mean free path. Rome2rio makes travelling from madrid atocha station to hotel opera, madrid easy. Adam gordon, lerners protagonistwho also narrates lerners acclaimed first novel, leaving the atocha station. Review of the 2011 debut novel by ben lerner in which a young american goes to spain on the us governments buck, meets two girls, and learns to fall in love with himself. Jan 15, 2012 although leaving the atocha station might come off as a first person, autobiographical novel about the authors time in spain, the primary motivation behind its existence is the consideration of. His first novel in an enjoyable journey through the mental machinations of an ambitious young writer, adam gordon. Adam gordon is a brilliant, if highly unreliable, young american poet on a. When adam was 8, he suffered a concussion that left him with migraines so severe that his speech. Ben lerners leaving the atocha station was the last novel i finished in 2012, and an excellent way to end the year. Leaving the atocha station is the kind of book that feels lived rather than composeda postmfa the catcher in the rye for professional adolescents.
John ashbery won three major literary awards for selfportrait in a convex mirror. It is also a poem, dedicated to the gulf between self and selfego and alter ego, true me and false me, present self and outgrown past. Leaving the atocha station provides a glimpse into the everyday. Find all the transport options for your trip from madrid atocha station to hotel opera, madrid right here.
Leaving the atocha station paperback third place books. Jul 12, 2012 leaving the atocha station is ben lerners first novel. Adam does very little but walk from celebrated place to celebrated place, brooding, doubting himself, halfunderstanding whats said to him, and being increasingly ugly to the people around him. One of the books three narrators is adam gordon, the protagonist of lerners debut novel, leaving the atocha station. Leaving the atocha station kindle edition by lerner, ben. Its funny and affecting and as meticulous and knowing in its execution of itself, i. Leaving the atocha station is a recent novel written by a young american poet who spent a year living in madrid as part of an academic fellowship. Leaving the atocha station ben lerner in which a young american goes to spain, meets two girls, and learns to fall in love with himself. Leaving the atocha station book the seattle public. Dec 23, 2012 ben lerner definitely looks like someone with whom a talented readerhell, any serious readerwould enjoy having a beer. T he topeka school, ben lerners third novel, begins with a selfaware joke.
Its packed full of gags adam is convinced that ortega y gasset is two people, like deleuze and guattari and pagelong oneliners. Adam gordon, the narrator of ben lerners subtle, sinuous, and very funny first novel, leaving the atocha station coffee house. This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title atocha. Each of the books are unique but they often bring up similar issues and themes. Leaving the atocha station by ben lerner overdrive rakuten. Before it, he published three well received books of smallpress modernist poetry, and probably no one will be surprised to hear that he has. Buy leaving the atocha station by ben lerner from waterstones today. Although leaving the atocha station might come off as a first person, autobiographical novel about the authors time in spain, the primary motivation behind its existence is. Leaving the atocha station by ben lerner the art of fiction. Leaving the atocha station, 2014 novel by ben lerner. Finally, everyone can just point at leaving the atocha station, and say, you know leaving the atocha station. Adam gordon is a young american on what is basically a gap year in madrid, a scholarship paid.
What leaving the atocha station says about america the. Leaving the atocha station is ben lerners first novel. The stated goal of his fellowship is to write a long narrative. Under the guise of his hashish and tranquilizer fueled narration is a well written and sharply observant novel that explores academias most on trend obsessions. Leaving the atocha station by ben lerner goodreads. One halfwonders if, in the future, this model will loom as large in the minds of young artists as the romantics and the. Atocha station, madrid via wikimedia commonswelcome to the third week of reading leaving the atocha station by ben lerner. Ben lerners leaving the atocha station is another contemporary novel that. Jan 30, 2016 ben lerners leaving the atocha station is another contemporary novel that draws on significant events that have been shaping the twentyfirst century. He has received fellowships from the fulbright, guggenheim, and macarthur foundations, and is the author of the internationally acclaimed novels leaving the atocha station and 10. Ben lerners debut novel, leaving the atocha station is one of the most compelling books about nothing ive ever read. Jul 05, 2012 gales of laughter howl through leaving the atocha station.
The firstperson narrator of the novel, adam gordon, is an american poet in his early 20s participating in a prestigious fellowship in madrid circa 2004. The lichtenberg figures, angle of yaw a finalist for the. His story of a postgrad american student on a fellowship in spain is an impressively verisimilar account of ennui and alienation is, as we must call it now, our post9. Adam gordon, the firstperson narrator and protagonist, is a young american poet who is staying in madrid on a prestigious fellowship. The hero of las, adam gordon, is fond of pot, lying, women who dislike him, poetry, and, mostly, himself.
Leaving the atocha station by ben lerner waterstones. Madrid atocha station to hotel opera, madrid 4 ways to. The book follows adam gordonwho also narrates lerners debut novel, leaving the atocha stationas a high school senior and national debate whiz, plus his mother and father, both researchers at a psychoanalysis clinic called the foundation, as the three of them navigate adams transition into a particularly american kind of adulthood. In the hatred of poetry, a personal feeling has been dressed up, given a.
Leaving the atocha station paperback by ben lerner. The year in question is not made clear until the final third of the text, when a major terrorist attack occurs on the madrilenian metro system. Jun 09, 2016 the same idea also pervades his excellent first novel, leaving atocha station. Ben lerners first novel, leaving the atocha station, and the hemingway classic the sun also rises offer stark differences in the meaning of. Leaving the atocha station is, among other things, a characterdriven pageturner and a concisely definitive study of the actual versus the virtual as applied to relationships, language, poetry, experience. Its too ironic and intellectual to be the kind of novel that really moves. This introduces one of the major themes of the novel. In our brick 91, you can also read catherine bushs interview with lerner, where they talk about his novel leaving the atocha station. Leaving the atocha station by ben lerner overdrive. Leaving the atocha station 2011 is the debut novel by american poet and critic ben lerner.
Is poetry an essential art form, or merely a screen for. He has received fellowships from the fulbright, guggenheim, and macarthur foundations, and is the author of two internationally acclaimed novels, leaving the atocha station and 10. Reading them, you sometimes suspect they dont want to be novels. Leaving the atocha station is a novel for poets, liars, and equivocatorsthat is, for aspects of us all. When i finished reading the novel, i wanted to know what gordon was up to and had to resist the urge to look for him on facebook and twitter, which is a shame. Ben lerners remarkable first novel is narrated by a different kind of outsider. You can buy a ticket from the touchscreen machines which have an englishlanguage facility for a couple of euros and hop on the next train. Leaving the atocha station is partly a description of the inner territory of a new kind of american artist. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Voice is one of the central themes of this ingenious work that also serves as a commentary on the current political climate. Mar 18, 20 atocha station, madrid via wikimedia commonswelcome to the third week of reading leaving the atocha station by ben lerner.
Feb 02, 2012 ben lerner was born in topeka, kansas, in 1979. One of the most talkedabout, widely celebrated, and exhilaratingly original us debuts of 2011, here is a portrait of the artist as a young man adrift in an age of. Ben lerners leaving the atocha station hyperallergic. Jan 07, 20 in read this then that, we pair new books with classics that have similar themes, structures, and stories. Dec 10, 20 leaving the atocha station steel infected bumps the screws everywhere wells perhaps this is a naive reading, but to my mind the poem is intensely erotic, sexual, orgasmic even. Leaving the atocha station by ben lerner librarything. To ask other readers questions about leaving the atocha station, please sign. Gales of laughter howl through leaving the atocha station. What leaving the atocha station says about america the new. Its funny and affecting and as meticulous and knowing in its execution of itself, i feel, as bens poetry collections are. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the. What is actual when our experiences are mediated by language, technology, medication, and the arts. Fiction literature humor fiction publication details publisher. The hero of las, adam gordon, is fond of pot, lying, women who dislike him, poetry, and.
Leaving the atocha station, ben lerner 2011 the only problem with this otherwise stunning novel is its narrow scope, although the political realities of spain, where the novel is set, are alive within the narrative through the beliefs of certain characters that lerner creates. In read this then that, we pair new books with classics that have similar themes, structures, and stories ben lerners leaving the atocha station was the last novel i finished in 2012, and an excellent way to end the year. Ben lerners leaving the atocha station is another contemporary novel that draws on significant events that have been shaping the twentyfirst century. We find the same poet from atocha though hes named ben this time in brooklyn, taking the subway, remembering spain, trying to digest and negotiate the unexpected acclaim his first novel has garnered, going back and forth with the new yorker on edits to a short story.
Ben lerners leaving the atocha station deb olin unferth. The discombobulating words strike me as shortcircuited, electric and nonlinear as a mind lit on fire, endlessly folding into itself in pleasure and pain. We and our partners use your information collected through cookies and similar technologies to improve your experience on our site, analyse. A novel by ben lerner august 23, 2011 6 x 9 186 pages 9781566892742 from a national book award finalist, this hilarious and profound first novel captures the experience of the young american abroad while exploring the possibilities of art and authenticity in our time.
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