Paradise by Greg Lazarus

Title: Paradise
Author: Greg Lazarus
Publisher: Kwela Books, 2014

Expect the unexpected – that is the only advice I can offer readers who pick up a Greg Lazarus offering. For those who don’t know, Greg Lazarus is the pen name for Cape town-based writing duo Greg Fried and Lisa Lazarus.

Paradise, to put it mildly, is one helluva quirky story – there’s no other way to describe it – and though the plot itself is loosely structured, there is more focus on the characters, all of whom have a more than healthy dose of oddness in their makeup.

Maja is a thief, and has been since a young age, when she and her father collaborated as art thieves. She is now in Cape Town, tasked with stealing a sculpture from an eccentric, philosophising Avram Tversky. Only the theft won’t be easy, because Maja has to work around the socially awkward building manager Hershel Bloch, who has only recently discovered that he has an adult daughter – Surita Adam. And Surita has her own issues, keeping people at arm’s length while being just that little bit hard on herself with regard to her aspirations in competitive judo.

At a glance, it seems impossible that this disparate collection of characters might somehow hang together to participate in a coherent story, but that is the beauty of Paradise.

Though each character has his or her path to walk – and each must face up to some aspect of their selves and others before we reach the conclusion – each has their moment that brings them to a crystallisation of the issues that have been ignored up until that point. Each key character is trapped in a maze of their on devising: Maja must learn to let go of her brother Carel, whom she has carried for a long time; Hershel needs to face up to the fact that he is a terrible building manager, and perhaps it is time that he devotes himself to his passion – if he can find it; Surita needs to take that leap of faith to admit that her present path is untenable, and let down her guard, both emotionally and physically; and Avram exists on the periphery, as part father figure who, at the end of his life, is able to offer his own brand of acerbic advice.

Capetonians will be on familiar turf, as the authors capture the essence of our Mother City’s inhabitants’ vibe, with lashings of absurdity, such as the animal activist antics that occur near the end, or in the oddly apt historical letters peppered throughout the narrative. Paradise is tactile and textured, and though not all the characters are equally likeable, there are many layers to peel back at your leisure. The ending might not bring full closure, but you’ll get to know some souls for whom you’ll cheer as they take those first steps into unknown territory.

Meet Greg Lazarus. #interview

WHEN in Broad Daylight I Open My Eyes is a recent release by writing duo Greg Fried and Lisa Lazarus, who collaborate under the pen name Greg Lazarus. The novel, a psychological thriller set in Cape Town,  explores the emotional entanglements of its complex main characters in the context of the games they
play, often with tragic consequences.

Underpinning the story is the realisation that everyone has choices, and that real life is very much like a game of chess in which we choose to make particular moves.

When in Broad Daylight I Open My Eyes slowly ratchets up the tension to an ending with a surprise sting. The novel echoes real life; Fried is a philosopher and Lazarus a psychologist, which mirrors career choices held by the characters Kristof and Maria.

To this, Lazarus says: "We think that psychologists and philosophers belong in psychological thrillers. In a thriller, the characters - and the reader, if the book works - keep asking themselves, what's behind the mystery? And that, in different ways, is what philosophers and psychologists do: they try to find out what's really going on."

It follows that the sometimes subtle power games people play should flow naturally in this environment. To a degree, some are aware, others perhaps not so much, that they are being played, which can be highlighted in how Kristof toys with women, or perhaps how the somewhat ominous esoteric Circle of Mystics presents  itself to the public.

Lazarus adds: "Some of the characters do try to manipulate each other to achieve their own ends. As Tversky warns potential recruits to the Circle of Mystics, 'You might ask who it is that you ought to suspect. Beware of smiley faces and kind words. Watch out especially for those who go on about how they're concerned about you, how they want to help you, how they cherish you.' Of course, some figures, for example Kristof, are more purposefully manipulative than others. And certain characters, as a result of their own vulnerabilities, get taken for a ride."

Greg Fried and Lisa Lazarus.

Half the joys of a writing partnership is having someone to bounce ideas off. With regard to the process, Lazarus says: "When we wrote the first draft, we didn't talk enough about the book: one of us would write a
chapter, we'd speak briefly, and then the other one would get to work. The result was a disjointed mess! After that, we learnt to discuss everything - story, character, tone - before writing and while writing. It takes a lot of talking before two people are living in the same imaginary world. Once we both had a feel for the world of our story, we found our joint ideas were richer than whatever we managed to come up with alone."

During the writing process, Fried and Lazarus did find that there was a degree of overlapping, in which they began to understand and integrate the other's ideas. Lazarus elaborates: "For the first draft, we were each in
charge of one main character, but after that, both of us worked on everything. So we wouldn't say that either main character 'belongs' to one of us. Each of us learnt to write in the tone and style of all the figures in the novel.

"As we developed the characters, some of them changed a lot. For example, a meek mystic turned into a hardnosed businessman."

And characters are well-rounded, their redeeming qualities tempered by a healthy dose of casual cruelty toward others. Kristof, for instance, bears a lot of animosity toward women, perhaps even a mother/whore complex, whereas Maria's issues with men possibly relate to an absent father.

Lazarus says: "We were interested in the way that people pretend - to others, to themselves - that their motives and characteristics are much finer than they really are. For example, we have Kristof, who presents
himself as cultured and caring, but is also a predator; and Maria, who thinks of herself as sensitive and insightful, yet fails to understand why, in her relationships with men, she is the prey."


Those who are enchanted by When in Broad Daylight I First Open My Eyes, wherein some characters even possess the ability to dominate from beyond the grave, will be glad to know that the writing duo are working on another novel.

#review When in Broad Daylight I Open My Eyes by Greg Lazarus

Title: When in broad daylight I open my eyes
Author: Greg Lazarus
Publisher: Kwela Books, an imprint of NB Publishers, 2012
Link

I have to laugh. The moment I tried to explain to my friends what the title of the book I’m reading was I couldn’t. So I just kept saying “this really cool book with the very long title”. And I said as much on my Twitter feeds until the author chimed in and suggest I should just call this novel WIBDIOME. I had to laugh. Yes, When in… has a Very Long Title.

Long titles aside, Greg Lazarus is the name for the talented husband-and-wife writing duo, Greg Fried and Lisa Lazarus. And, as if to echo the main characters in this novel, Greg really is a philosopher and Lisa a psychologist. So, when I cracked open the book I suspected I was going to be in for a thought-provoking work of fiction. I’m happy to report my initial opinion wasn’t disproved.

Set in Cape Town, When in… is told from the dual perspectives of Maria, a psychologist, and Kristoff, a philosopher. Without giving spoilers, these two begin a carefully choreographed dance around each other as readers are gradually drawn into their worlds.

But Maria and Kristoff’s tales plays out against a bigger backdrop—of Maria’s mother’s story. Claudia was a prominent astrologer linked to a mysterious esoteric order, and whose motivations for committing suicide aren’t immediately clear. Her relationship with her daughter seems almost ambivalent, and when the dark past is revealed, no less tragic.

Maria finds that, even beyond the grave, that her mother has an impact on her life, a fact that she resents but finds herself unable to avoid.

Kristoff, at a glance, is cold and manipulative, and appears to gain great pleasure out of toying with women’s emotions. As the story progresses we discover why he engages in such casual cruelty. As a reader, at times, I wanted to slap the man for being the way he is, yet although some of his actions are morally reprehensible, he is nonetheless fascinating to observe.

In conclusion, When In… is a novel about power, and the games people play with each other, both inside and outside the bedroom. The authors’ combined style offers fast-paced and crisp prose, which kept me guessing right until the end. Although there were one or two points where I felt they withheld viewpoint character information a bit too much, they successfully communicate sinister, simmering tension and a sting in the tail that made me gasp.