The part of the answer to the title question is I did. I invited him because Jenny Erpenbeck wrote a novel entitled Kairos, and, tempted by the facts that 1) the name was unfamiliar and 2) the book was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker prize, I put it on my kindle. I started by looking up the name, which, though I flatter myself that I have a, not exhaustive, but better than average, acquaintance with Greek mythology, Kairos was not in my vocabulary. Turns out that he is the god of the “right or opportune moment.” Or if you want to get religious about it, you might call it the “holy” or blessed moment. I found it fascinating that there was a whole god devoted to only that particular circumstance, so I tapped into the book, and away I went.
About halfway through, I recalled a comment I’d read years ago from some critic or another who was describing a typical New Yorker style of story as one in which “nothing. . .almost. . happens. In Kairos the action centers around an affair between the protagonist and a married man. Waiting to see what the answer to the question of their what the next step might be. I kept waiting for that “moment” that the title promises. But it never came, and I figured a couple of hundred pages was a long enough wait. I don’t often give klup on a book without finishing it, but for Kairos, with its endless and pointless rumination I made an exception. I’m not a Tom Clancy kind of reader reader thirsting for explosions and disasters on every page, but I do want more than this stagnant pondering.
I respect the Booker prize above all other literary prizes, but I submit that to honor Kairos with the award would be an injustice to the other contestants, though I am familiar with none of them, whoever they are. I don’t expect the jury to come asking me, though I’d be honored if they did, but in case this post somehow wanders into their notice, I strongly advise that they take my opinion into account.
