Collapsing Structures of Life and Death in Mike McCormack’s Solar Bones

In the present essay I argue that that Mike McCormack’s acclaimed latest novel Solar Bones (Brit. 2016, USA 2017) thematises two impulses: on the one hand, the narrator, Marcus Conway, is seeking an order and structural coherence to his world, an order that throughout assumes a distinctly religious...

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Main Author: Wit Pietrzak
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad de Zaragoza 2019-11-01
Series:Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/misc/article/view/6296
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author Wit Pietrzak
author_facet Wit Pietrzak
author_sort Wit Pietrzak
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description In the present essay I argue that that Mike McCormack’s acclaimed latest novel Solar Bones (Brit. 2016, USA 2017) thematises two impulses: on the one hand, the narrator, Marcus Conway, is seeking an order and structural coherence to his world, an order that throughout assumes a distinctly religious tint; on the other hand, the novel features various images of collapse of structures, ranging from the economic system all the way to actual buildings, all of which thwart his efforts. It is those twin movements, towards order and chaos, that reveal an association with Heidegger’s idea that only by becoming aware of death as one’s sole personal mode of life, does one begin to apprehend the essential structure of life, even if the glimpse of that structure is only ever available in its constant deferral.
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spelling doaj.art-5da67c821b3f4fb2863c54afc044e1912023-02-17T16:28:48ZengUniversidad de ZaragozaMiscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies1137-63682386-48342019-11-016010.26754/ojs_misc/mj.20196296Collapsing Structures of Life and Death in Mike McCormack’s Solar BonesWit Pietrzak In the present essay I argue that that Mike McCormack’s acclaimed latest novel Solar Bones (Brit. 2016, USA 2017) thematises two impulses: on the one hand, the narrator, Marcus Conway, is seeking an order and structural coherence to his world, an order that throughout assumes a distinctly religious tint; on the other hand, the novel features various images of collapse of structures, ranging from the economic system all the way to actual buildings, all of which thwart his efforts. It is those twin movements, towards order and chaos, that reveal an association with Heidegger’s idea that only by becoming aware of death as one’s sole personal mode of life, does one begin to apprehend the essential structure of life, even if the glimpse of that structure is only ever available in its constant deferral. https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/misc/article/view/6296Mike McCormackSolar BonesIrish Contemporary FictionMartin Heideggercollapsing structures
spellingShingle Wit Pietrzak
Collapsing Structures of Life and Death in Mike McCormack’s Solar Bones
Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies
Mike McCormack
Solar Bones
Irish Contemporary Fiction
Martin Heidegger
collapsing structures
title Collapsing Structures of Life and Death in Mike McCormack’s Solar Bones
title_full Collapsing Structures of Life and Death in Mike McCormack’s Solar Bones
title_fullStr Collapsing Structures of Life and Death in Mike McCormack’s Solar Bones
title_full_unstemmed Collapsing Structures of Life and Death in Mike McCormack’s Solar Bones
title_short Collapsing Structures of Life and Death in Mike McCormack’s Solar Bones
title_sort collapsing structures of life and death in mike mccormack s solar bones
topic Mike McCormack
Solar Bones
Irish Contemporary Fiction
Martin Heidegger
collapsing structures
url https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/misc/article/view/6296
work_keys_str_mv AT witpietrzak collapsingstructuresoflifeanddeathinmikemccormackssolarbones