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MY NAME IS DAMIAN - REVIEWS
Benjamin Virc
DIFFERENCE AS A STATE OF MIND
Men and women leading easy and carefree lives probably don't
question their manhood or womanhood or ask any other existence
questions during their morning rituals, when showering, puting
make up on or shaving. Such questionis would seem unusual to
them, even though those same questions could have the positive
effect of making them more conscious of themselves.
---
Suzana Tratnik's newest novel My name is Damian sincerely speaks
about such a quest for one's own consciousness. The author is
a sociologist ,but above all, she is an individual who is sensitive
enough to open the door to social and individual themes which
have not been granted such freedom in Slovenian millieu.
Not at all pretentious, this is a realistically persuasive work,
which deserves to be qualified as a good book. It reminds us
to look at the world through different eyes --- through the
mechanism of synthetic-analytic narrative techniques, the reader
is implicitly faced with the question: what in fact is the thing
that determines one's gender, has it only to do with the body
itself, with behaviour or is it enough to be aware of oneself
as a man or a woman.
---
The story takes place at an interesting stage of growing up
and could simply become a part of the cult of rebels with a
cause, rebels who believe in human sound sense and warmness
of the heart --- We just have to broaden our view and forget
about the obvious, which is, thanks to Damjan, left out of this
literary piece.
2000 Dvatisoč, Nr. 140/141/142, Ljubljana, 2001
Vrni na vrh / To top
Varja Velikonja
MY NAME IS DAMIAN
---
Damian can happen to anyone of us. At any age. At any time.
At any life period. When you just can't handle the hypocrisy
anymore and you just are exactly what you are. Damian, for example.
With or without ovaries. Who cares? With counselling or without
it, with meetings with socially acceptable quacks or without
them.
---
Damian was independent enough to go off on his own with the
symbolic act of renaming himself. That's just the beginning.
The story continues from there. Suzana Tratnik has written an
exceptionally readable novel which, for a change, does NOT moralize,
but only documents. It is a fragment of time and space, written
in a very witty and humorous style.
Masinfo, nr. 20, Nova Gorica, 2001
Vrni na vrh / To top
Roman Lešek
DIFFERENCE DOES NOT DETERMINE ONE'S LIFE
The SKUC-Lambda publishing house has published Suzana Tratnik's
new novel My Name is Damian. The book has surprised us with
its fresh, current and provocative theme. Tratnik, in a seemingly
light story, plays with life failures, financial deprivation,
fear of what the neighbours will think, the ruin of the family
and sexual orientation.
---
My Names is Damian could be classified as a social novel but
otherwise, it resists classical labels. In some libraries we
can also find it in the children's section, which is a pleasant
surprise for the author, though she stresses that the novel
isn't written for children at all. The story is placed in Moste,
the working class part of Ljubljana, where 19-year old Damjan
grows up in average Slovenian family. He himself deviates from
the norm by dropping out of school, always being late for work
(when he has a job) and he spends most of the time drinking
with his friends and partying till all hours in the morning.
He can't stand any criticism; he declines it or just ignores
it. He is a rebel, but his goal is to become an average citizen
and most of all he wishes to be invisible.
Through the first person narration. we get to know Damian's
relationships with his social environment and people. Most of
the time, the language he uses is his own local Ljubljana dialect
which contributes to the feeling of genuineness.
In every new chaper, Damian, with the help of his friends,
especially Roki who wants to be just like him, pastes a new
experience onto his collage. Roki and Damjan are companions,
Damjan needs someone to adore him, his own side-kick. They have
a similar sexual identity although they never discuss it. Situations
in the story become more and more extreme and it becomes clear
to the reader that there is no way out and Damjan is drowning
in several layers of his problems. At this moment the book could
end up as a comedy and the collection of cruel sketches of a
certain town. Damian's countless parties, drinking with friends
and marginal events are sometimes pierced by his thoughts and
memories on his own identity.
Damian's carefully rehearsed façade of his everlasting farce
and perfectly trained "bluff" suddenly starts to crack
with every new event. Damian is spinning around with Roki and
friends on the wild merry-go-round of night party life in Ljubljana,
wild gatherings, cutting veins, taking sedatives and alcohol,
false friends, women who "don't understand him", or
"just fine" faggots. More and more information, which
Damjan supresses in his inconsciousness, comes out now and we
learn more and more about his childhood. We also learn why he
became Damian instead of Vesna. Family relations fall apart
as his parents want him to become a normal person, to get a
grip of "herself" and stop shaming the family. His
family doesn't feel responsible for Damian's problems; they
think it is something in his head that needs to be cured by
a shrink and no more.
So Damian goes to a self-help group for girls and boys with
problems which is led by Vlado, a social worker and psychologist
(the short introductions of each chapter, summarized again in
the last chapter, are supposed to be written by him). At first
glance, this is a new place for Damjan to have his own fun,
but it is also the place where he finally opens up about himself,
although he swears at the beginning, that they will never hear
his real name.
Finance, 30. august 2001
Vrni na vrh / To top
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