A Field in Arlon – Marek Nowina
A Field in Arlon is one of those pieces of writing that have you reflect and ask if you were ever there, whether you were any one of
those involved, or whether you thought you’d left it all behind...
A Field in Arlon is the pained cry of a desperately
unhappy and lost soul; a man who might have everything but who believes he has nothing; a man who, in his search for gratification
and peace of mind, stands to lose all.
A Field in Arlon is concerned with a man in mid-life crisis - at least,
that is how others would see him. Yet, for him there is another, perhaps one final, quest as though his
life has been one continuous journey and this trip is, therefore, no different to all the others.
The crisis is his past, coming back to haunt him repeatedly.
However he tries to rectify situations and to understand himself, he is bound to fail, simply because he is too much
an egoist to look beyond his own needs. Yet, this is his story and he is too self-absorbed to listen to
the voices of others. This is his pain; this is his very own outcome.
The story is presented as a novel within a novel, written as a narrative and each,
a journey to Amsterdam.
Part-reality and part-fantasy, the reader is invited to retread the journey with only changes in typeface indicating
when the central character is, himself, writing. Secondary fantasies at either end of the story are used
as vehicles to explore the anti-hero, Melly’s, deepest desires and cravings.
Melly is a baby-boomer.
Melly witnessed the 60s revolution yet it passed him by. He was always a hippie but, somehow, didn’t
get enough of what was going around. What he craves now is sex with affection; what he yearns for is sobriety;
what he desperately needs is participation against simple observation. He wants to be involved and, at
the same time, wants to be able to stand back and excuse himself any failure.
The story is about sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, but without the rock
‘n’ roll. It is salacious without being pornographic; it is an example of lifestyle without
advocacy; it is about honour with dishonour, both of which are blind.
