Kenneth Sinclair’s VU – Groundbreaking Experimental Fiction

Kenneth Sinclair’s debut novel, VU, is a groundbreaking work of experimental fiction. Is it, indeed, a novel – or a new form entirely? Reviewing for the Historical Novel Society, Susie Helme exclaims, I’ve never seen a book like this! … [every paragraph] … a jewel, an iridescent text that causes others… to quiver a little. They flit like butterflies, never quite anchored, like Japanese tanka court poetry, little bubbles linked not so much by narrative but by theme or emotive effect. Read her full review.

VU is French for ʻseen,ʼ and refers to what a reader may see in the mind’s eye while reading. Brendan McKelvey writes in Foreword magazine: Epic in scope, the literary novel, VU, is made up of woven-together historical tales used to deliver a thorough picture of the past.

The writer’s aim

A literary pioneer and avid reader, Sinclair wanted to bear witness to the terror, the tragedy, the beauty and the wisdom of two thousand years of culture as he has seen it through books and art. In order to suggest the vastness of the whole, he brought together myriad beautifully-written fragments. Then he searched for a frame to put them in: After a lifetime of reading, looking at art and listening to music, I found myself searching for a form in which to express the things that most impressed me. Having been brought up on the Thousand and One Nights, it struck me: here was a way. But I wanted to reverse the gender roles. Out of this arose VU.

A captive storyteller

Gabriel is a captive storyteller who narrates to the Princess Scheherazade. He sees her through the nights, those interminable nights, with a tale. We follow him down torchlit corridors to the Princessʼs apartments. There she reclines on her juniper couch while the stars wheel above. Later, we follow him into a sun-drenched courtyard to meet an enigmatic old storyteller seated beneath a palm tree. And finally, we see him in his cell where he has, leisure to reflect on those French writers who might have been attracted to a fate similar to mine. Gérard de Nerval had conjured with a history, mingling memories of his studies with fragments of dreams. And had not Huysmans contemplated the fascinating prospect of writing a novel concentrated to a few sentences, that would open vistas where the reader could muse.

How to read VU

How to read a book with a scope as wide as VU? Sinclair imagines his readers dipping in, like swallows swooping over a pool, taking a beak-full of water, a little here and there, pausing to ponder and dream. Passages may inspire research. I’ve found myself exploring Wikipedia articles, finding in VU an intriguing springboard, a window on the world. But my favourite way of reading VU is unquestionably to read aloud, when the poetry of the writing can hold an audience spellbound, like clouds drifting by.

A frame within a frame

Sinclair builds his frame narrative from a handful of characters, but this turns out to be a frame within a frame. The author himself slips in and out of his story, his blue pen poised above his pad, his dog patiently waiting for a walk. The telephone rings. Then childhood scenes are recalled and we catch glimpses of a tousel-haired boy playing with a model stage-set or building a house of cards. Later, we watch this same boy watching the lamp-lighter on his rounds, slowly advancing through deepening dusk.

The ambiguity of freedom

Although Sinclair deliberately turns away from page-turning plot and engrossing character-development, he has a theme: the ambiguity of freedom. Scheherazade is an archetype of mystery and glamour, but well-read in her own right. We watch her slowly unbend towards her captive storyteller, dark and hazel eyes meeting. When Gabriel asks repeatedly if he will one day regain his freedom, at first we fear with him that it may be never. Then the enigmatic old storyteller pronounces his dismissive statement: Freedom, that Western word. Readers may recall this when, at the last, Gabriel himself grows to become ambiguous about his fate.

A book to accompany a reader down the years

VU is a book to accompany a reader down the years; a book to pick up from time to time, revisiting passages from new standpoints. Its depth lies in its juxtaposition of contrasts, its non-judgemental observation, and its humble recognition of the astonishing complexity of life.

Gillian Paschkes-Bell

Editor, Pantolwen Press

VU was published on 19 December 2024

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