The Empty Space – Book Review
By Marianna Sztyma
Translation David Malcolm
Published by Centrala ISBN: 978-1-912278-00-8
Review by Derek Brazell
With it’s (literally) eye catching cover, The Empty Space intriques with a mainly blank white image. Inside, the book is a slight meditation on loss and the space left behind when someone (in this case, the cat referenced on the cover) is no longer around.
The white shape that appears at the character’s door is the embodiment of her, we presume, dead cat. Well, less of an embodiment, more an amorphous cloud who communicates as the ‘void’ left behind by the departure of a loved one.
Marianna Sztyma’s illustrations use soft colours to depict the character’s appartment, and it’s an attractive environment that places the character in an inviting domestic space.
The book doesn’t end on a sad note, more one of recogntion that time affects one’s sense of loss, and while possibly never leaving, diminishes it’s potency.
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