Deranged As I Am

Driven to Derangement
Review of the Fum d'estampa paperback edition (November 25, 2022) translated by Alice Banks from the French language original "Dérangé que je suis" (January 3, 2019)

Deranged as I am I have only seven ancient shirts in all. Seven pairs of trousers and seven pairs of shorts all pocked with holes and on each of them is written a day of the week so I don't forget reminding me that I shouldn't wear the same outfit twice you see?! Understand me but don't read too far into it! There are even people who take advantage of my passing by to read me like a calendar: Ah! It's already Friday! Good God that escaped me thank you Deranged you're an angel! As if my name were really Deranged!

This was quite a rollercoaster of a ride show more which follows the life of a haulage worker on the docks of Mutsamudu port in the Comoros, a tiny island nation north of Madagascar. [Readers with World Country reading challenges may want to add this short novella to their TBRs]. The title character, nicknamed 'Deranged', leads a scuffling existence hauling goods by hand with his wheeled cart nicknamed 'CaRleWis'. He is in constant rivalry with a trio of similar workers nicknamed the "PiPiPi" for Pirate, Pistol and Pity (and their fancier labelled carts 'Usain Bolt', 'LaShawn Merritt' and 'Michael Johnson'). A competition to haul the goods of a rich man results in a bet to run a race around the town of Mutsamudu. The rich man's wife is holding the stakes, but she also has other plans in mind for Deranged. Can he win the race, outfox the wife and beat off his neighbour's chickens who shit on his laundry every morning? The odds are against him, but Deranged is a survivor, and I don't count him out, even if it ends in seemingly dire circumstances.

See photograph at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Mutsamudu_port1.jpg
A view of Mutsamudu and its port on the island of Anjouan in the Comoros. Image sourced from Wikipedia.

This may initially strike you as difficult reading with its long paragraph style and dialogue embedded without punctuation. It is novella length though and once you are immersed in it, it will carry you along in its underdog's journey and its comic tragic scenarios and set pieces.

The translation by Alice Banks was outstanding and read very easily and naturally.

I read Deranged as I Am through my subscription to Fum d'Estampa Press. It was "founded in 2020 by translator Douglas Suttle to bring exciting, different Catalan language literature to an English speaking audience. Though small, the press quickly established itself as an ambitious publisher of high quality titles. Since then, we have been long- and short-listed for some of the most important literary prizes in the UK and abroad, and have recently started to publish fantastic literature in translation from languages other than Catalan." show less

Ils s’appellent Pirate, Pistolet, Vibreur ou Dérangé et sont dockers sur l’île d’Anjouan aux Comores. Une dramatique histoire de rivalité et de séduction sous le soleil, racontée dans une langue vibrante, colorée et inventive, à la limite entre le mythe et une triste description sociale.