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Nightwood
Djuna Barnes's 1938 novel Nightwood is a dark and evocative work of prose that reads like poetry. Barnes's diction includes words like "encomiums" as well as what were at the time new French imports like chic (p. 4). In fact, Barnes's writing style reflects the worldly spirit and life of both the author and her characters.
For Barnes in Nightwood, imagery and tone are more important than plot. The reader is emotionally imprinted after completing the novel; in the same way that completing a poem leaves lingering images in the mind like a dream. Barnes does create a dreamlike state in Nightwood, which is aptly titled. The night, and creatures of the night, feature prominently in the text. Many of the novel's chapters are titled with nocturnal mofits: "La Somnambule," "Nightwatch," and "Watchmen, What of the Night?" Under cover of darkness, individuals are free to be themselves, explore their shadows, and act with anonymity.
One of the reasons T.S. Eliot writes the introduction is because Nightwood is as many parts poetry as prose. At times, Barnes's writing style becomes cumbersome, as the author has a predilection for run-on sentences. Yet such was the style of the times. Flowery prose also seems to be conducive to a novel about embroiled love triangles and female sexuality.
Characters in Nightwood are developed in a non-linear way, which genuinely reflects honest real-life emotional growth. Barnes does offer a helpful description of characters that help them become solidified in the reader's mind. For example, Guido Volkbein is portrayed with unambiguous prose: his substantial midriff "produced by heavy rounds of burgundy, schlagsahne, and beer," (p. 1). Barnes does not overly rely upon symbolism, which would unnecessarily weigh down a novel already replete with poetic devices and ample imagery. Yet the author employs symbols judiciously, to evoke and tickle the reader's senses. For example, Volkbein's stomach is marked with a symbolic "obstectric line seen on fruits," (p. 1). Here Barnes provides two obvious means of feminizing Volkbein. Such sexual and gender innuendo pervades Nightwood, making the novel spectacularly nuanced, richly layered, and textural. Barnes also does not shy away from subjects related to ethnicity and culture. Her poetic prose cleverly navigates through the barriers that separate human beings from each other, and illustrates those ties that bind.
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