Marianne Apostolides

Sophrosyne Marianne Apostolides

Sophrosyne, the provocative new novel by acclaimed author Marianne Apostolides, is about desire and restraint in a digital age. The story delves deeply into the human condition via the intense and disturbing relationship between a mother and her son, as recollected by the main character, Aleksandros. Alex doesn?t know the specifics of his mother?s past. And because he doesn?t know, neither does the reader. Instead, the reader is drawn into an amorphous, indefinable undercurrent of love and violation that marks their relationship. This dark tone is created by the rhythm and movement of Alex?s thoughts, by his frustrations recognitions, and struggles with self-control and sexuality . Consistent throughout is an idiosyncratic mind whose language curves and leaps, as befitting the unspeakable ideas Alex is attempting to convey. This fifth book by Apostolides speaks to the author?s attempt to usher in a new movement in literature, posthumanism, which moves toward a new way of conceiving of the human animal through language. Infused with the same liquid medium as Anne Carson?s Autobiography of Red and Denis Johnson?s Fiskadoro, Sophrosyne is both sensual and intellectual, decidedly dark yet highly erotic; its ideas are balanced only by the sexiness of the writing. Rhythmic and unpredictable, the novel asks readers to surrender themselves to its logic, language, and intoxication.