THE THRESHOLD AND THE LEDGER

A dizzying invitation to explore the poetry and prose of German author Ingeborg Bachmann.

Originally conceived as an academic lecture and later expanded into a lengthy essay, McCarthy (The Making of Incarnation, 2021, etc.) has crafted a crackling literary investigation that will captivate with its close readings. He begins with Bachmann’s poem “Salt and Bread,” an elegiac, post–World War II enigma that features in its wistful imagery the “threshold” and “ledger” of his essay’s title. “This book,” McCarthy writes, “will be a slow unpacking” of the poem and involve “a set of digressions, of departures and returns.” Grappling with themes of interiority and liminality, McCarthy jumps, in search of clues, from Greek tragedies and the poetry of Anne Carson to David Lynch’s film Lost Highway. He revisits an early work of his own, a high-concept play inspired by both Aeschylus’ Oresteia and artist Douglas Gordon’s seminal video installation 24-Hour Psycho. McCarthy’s play is reprinted in this book’s appendix, as is Bachmann’s “Salt and Bread,” in both English and German. Reveling in the subtle delicacy of Bachmann’s wording, the author investigates particularly potent etymologies and scans multiple translations in tandem. Invocations of works by Kafka, Dostoevsky, and Shakespeare add to McCarthy’s storm of citations, all of which usher in a short study of Bachmann’s 1971 magnum opus, the novel Malina. McCarthy’s work is an invigorating and inspiring incantation: Readers will not only marvel at how the author reads but also at his ability to articulate that experience into something both erudite and accessible. Eventually, Bachmann’s importance feels secondary to the journey: McCarthy resists guiding readers to a comprehensive closing statement and instead chooses to create a framework for the reader with a foundation of literary ideas. Ending on “the threshold of both Malina and the poetic event-field, all the books-to-come, to which Bachmann’s masterpiece opens the door,” McCarthy invites readers through, toward revelations of their own.

An impressive and inspiring critical reading.