Medusa Frequency (18 page)

‘Poor Kraken. I doubt that he and the head would have got on very well.’

‘Actually he was a pretty boring guy,’ said Fallok, ‘but I liked his films.’

It was the fourth of December and the
Geburtstag
of Rainer Maria Rilke, said the girl from Tirana, and she went on to read ‘Orpheus, Eurydike, Hermes’. I’m always forgetting what I read, so the same lines can be new to me many times, as now when I heard her enchanting voice say:

daβ eine Welt aus Klage ward, in der

that a world became out of lament, in which

alles noch einmal da war: Wald und Tal

everything existed once more: forest and valley

und Weg und Ortschaft, Feld und Fluβ und Tier;

and path and hamlet, field and river and animal;

und daβ um diese Klage-Welt, ganz so

and that around this lament-world, just as

wie um die andre Erde, eine Sonne

around the other earth, a sun

und ein gestirnter stiller Himmel ging,

and a starry quiet sky went,

ein Klage-Himmel mit entstellten Sternen

– : a lament-sky with disfigured stars – :

As once before, the words departed and I heard only that sweet and promising voice of Eurydice unfound and unlost.

‘Right,’ I said, ‘no more
Klage,
’ and when I looked up at the Vermeer girl it was Medusa I saw, flickering and friendly, trusting me with the idea of her.

My thanks to Jonathan Gibbs for a music session with the
Fairlight computer; to Dr N. de M. Rudolf for his help
with electrophysiological technicalities; and to my wife
Gundula for translations from the German.

Russell Hoban (1925-2011) was the author of many extraordinary novels including
Turtle Diary, Angelica Lost and Found and his masterpiece, Riddley Walker.
He also wrote some classic books for children including
The Mouse and his Child and the Frances
books. Born in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, USA, he lived in London from 1969 until his death.

NOVELS

The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz
Kleinzeit
Turtle Diary
Riddley Walker
Pilgermann
The Medusa Frequency
Fremder
Mr Rinyo-Clacton’s Offer
Angelica’s Grotto
Amaryllis Night and Day
The Bat Tattoo
Her Name Was Lola
Come Dance With Me
Linger Awhile
My Tango with Barbara Strozzi
Angelica Lost and Found

POETRY
The Pedalling Man
The Last of the Wallendas and Other Poems

COLLECTIONS
The Moment Under the moment

FOR CHILDREN
The Mouse and His Child
The Frances Books
The Trokeville Way

The author and publishers are grateful to the following for permission
to reproduce lyrics from copyright material: Chappell Music Ltd for
‘My Happiness’ by Borney Bergantine and Betty Peterson (© 1948
Happiness-Music Corp,); Radio Music Britain Ltd for ‘Yessir I Can
Boogie’ by Rolf Soja and Frank Dostal (all rights reserved, international
copyright secured); Rondor Music Ltd and Four Knights Ltd for ‘Same Old
Story (Same Old Song)’ by Will Jennings.

First published 1987 by Jonathan Cape
This electronic edition published in 2012 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Copyright © 1987 by Russell Hoban

The moral right of the author has been asserted

All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square
London WC1B 3DP

A CIP catalogue record for this
book is available from the British Library

ISBN 9781408835685

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