海角大神

Smartphones, laptops, tablets 鈥� modern technology has become ubiquitous in our daily lives. But do these devices intrude upon personal relationships, or do they provide opportunities to connect? Does the easy availability of recording ensure accuracy, or does it invalidate genuine memories?

Ben Lerner explores these contemporary issues in his latest work, 鈥淭ranscription.鈥� A mere 144 pages, the book is divided into three parts, each identified by the name of a hotel pertinent to the events recounted in that section.聽

In the first part, the narrator, who remains unnamed throughout the book, is traveling to Providence, Rhode Island, to interview Thomas, his former mentor, a world-renowned intellectual. Now a writer for an unnamed magazine, the narrator inadvertently destroys his smartphone. This leaves him with no means to record their vital conversation, one that will likely be their last owing to Thomas鈥� advanced age. He devises a plan to handle this unfortunate situation 鈥� one that does not include resorting to paper and pencil 鈥� and keeps their meeting.聽

In the brief second section, which takes place years later, the narrator is attending a conference in Madrid to celebrate Thomas鈥� work. The narrator draws upon his final interview in his presentation. He acknowledges that he had not recorded the conversation but rather 鈥渞econstructed鈥� it from memory. This admission draws stern rebukes from many attendees, including Thomas鈥� son, Max, a friend and former college classmate of the narrator.

The final section is an account of a conversation between Max and the narrator, both of whom now have young daughters. Max shares how he and his wife have struggled to address their daughter鈥檚 eating disorder, including abandoning any limits on junk food and screen time for the young child, allowing her to make her own choices. The two men also delve into Max鈥檚 struggles with his own father and the difficulties he faced having such a strong, prominent figure as his parent. Max confesses to the narrator that he thinks the narrator was more of a son to Thomas than he was.

No true plot runs through the book, but Lerner ties the sections together with common themes. With his exquisite prose, he explores how male friendships meld into rivalries, the effect of history upon the present, and the accuracy of personal memories 鈥� and how current technology imposes upon all of it.

During that critical interview, Thomas, who grew up in聽Nazi-occupied Germany, shares that his first memory is hearing a speech by Adolf Hitler. Many decades later, the memory weighs heavily. Thomas hadn鈥檛 recorded the speech, of course, but it continues to strike a deep chord. His experience stands in contrast with the narrator鈥檚, who makes the controversial choice to reconstruct his final conversation with Thomas.聽

Today, technology might capture our conversations, but does it define, or even shape, our memories? While recordings might be accurate, are the remembrances authentic? Or maybe technology enables us to express ourselves more genuinely.聽

In one section, the novel recounts Thomas鈥� hospitalization during the COVID-19 lockdown when a kind nurse used her own cellphone to enable Max to speak with his father. While the phone was propped against Thomas鈥� ear, his son shared honest emotions 鈥� things he had never told his father. But when Thomas recovers, and the two visit in person, Max is unable to speak with the same honesty.聽

Was the difference caused by the seemingly desperate circumstances or the degree of separation provided by technology?

Lerner doesn鈥檛 answer these questions; he leaves them for the reader to ponder. His book exposes the ways 鈥� some good, some troubling, some profound 鈥� that technology imposes upon our daily lives and relationships, ways that have become so common, so much a part of our routines, that most of us do not question them.聽

But sitting and reading a paper copy of this excellent book might make some wonder 鈥� and also consider how Lerner presents a collection of the characters鈥� experiences, which he has translated, to create a story that he copied into a book. He produced a transcription.聽