In his
acknowledgements section, Axelrad writes “that although none of this happened,
all of it is real”. Ultimately perhaps the message is that the human spirit is
resilient, even when damaged. – Review by Margaret von Klemperer
This is Sven Axelrad’s third novel, following Buried Treasure and God’s Pocket, both of which were very well received here in the author’s native South Africa and beyond.
This one is a quirky, inventive read,
hard to categorise and, I have a feeling, one that may be something of a
Marmite book, dividing readers into lovers and haters.
The narrator is Nathan, telling the story of his decidedly unusual childhood from his perspective as an adult.
When he and his brother Danny were young children aged four and six, their mother died, having been struck by lightning during a Durban thunderstorm while they watched. And they were then left in the care of their father, the oddly named Esben Muesli. As a single parent and caregiver, he was a long way out of the ordinary. He was the author of one bestselling book, but the readers of this one get to hear little about it – merely that it was a source of his fame.
As a story of Nathan’s coming of age, The Nicotine Gospel goes into the world view of Esben as he brings up his children. He invents his personal Nicotine Gospel, which is a way of summing up and understanding the people around him by studying the brand of cigarettes that they smoke. And he insists that his children learn the rules of his system to enable them to survive in the world. But his curious gospel is not the only thing he brings into their lives. His girlfriend, who moves in with them, is nasty, vicious and abusive. All in all, it is a very unusual childhood, damaging to both boys, though in different ways.
Moving backwards and forwards from the past they endured together to a present where Nathan and Danny, long estranged, are travelling together to their father’s funeral, the novel creates a strange world, but one that becomes oddly believable.
There are moments of clever and dark humour – Esben’s funeral is particularly funny. And there are episodes of deeply disturbing action, glimpses of another existence which Nathan aspires to and may eventually reach, and some excellent descriptive writing.
There is no doubt that Axelrad is a talented writer, but as I said earlier, this book will not appeal to everyone. In his acknowledgements section, Axelrad writes “that although none of this happened, all of it is real”. Ultimately perhaps the message is that the human spirit is resilient, even when damaged. - Margaret von Klemperer
The Nicotine Gospel is published by Umuzi: ISBN 978-1-41521-139-7
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