Portrait with Keys
Encyclopedia
A book about a city that has been described as the 'Venice
of the South', Portrait with Keys is a portrait of life in Johannesburg
– and ‘what-what’: home, habit, change, memory, mortality, friendship, ghosts, gardens, walking, falling, selling, stealing ... Neither a novel nor a collection of short stories, the book consists of 138 short texts organised in two parts – Point A and Point B – followed by Notes and Sources, Itineraries and an Author’s Note. Written by a consummate literary artist, this is a unique dossier of city life and a selective self-portrait
of the author – in Ivan Vladislavić
’s words “a bit like a map that shows only the side streets”.
Memory takes root only half in the folds of the brain: half’s in the concrete streets we’ve lived along. – Lionel Abrahams
, poet and author.
From Portrait with Keys, Point A, section 68
“In Johannesburg, the Venice of the South, the backdrop is always a man-made one. We have planted a forest the birds endorse. For hills we have mine dumps covered with grass. We do not wait for time and the elements to weather us, we change scenery ourselves, to suit our moods. Nature is for other people, in other places ...”
The major themes of Portrait with Keys ... are the I-beams that make up the chassis. Subsidiary themes, such as crime and art and architecture, are the brakes and suspension ... The little snippets – for instance, the list of car-guards’ notes – are the city’s rivets and bolts exploded out along their dotted diameters.
- William Dicey, author and book designer.
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Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
of the South', Portrait with Keys is a portrait of life in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
– and ‘what-what’: home, habit, change, memory, mortality, friendship, ghosts, gardens, walking, falling, selling, stealing ... Neither a novel nor a collection of short stories, the book consists of 138 short texts organised in two parts – Point A and Point B – followed by Notes and Sources, Itineraries and an Author’s Note. Written by a consummate literary artist, this is a unique dossier of city life and a selective self-portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
of the author – in Ivan Vladislavić
Ivan Vladislavic
Ivan Vladislaviċ is a South African short story writer and novelist of Croatian origin. He lives in Johannesburg where he also works as an editor. In the eighties he worked as a fiction and social studies editor at Ravan Press...
’s words “a bit like a map that shows only the side streets”.
Memory takes root only half in the folds of the brain: half’s in the concrete streets we’ve lived along. – Lionel Abrahams
Lionel Abrahams
Lionel Abrahams was a South African novelist, poet, editor, critic, essayist and publisher. He was born in Johannesburg, where he lived his entire life...
, poet and author.
From Portrait with Keys, Point A, section 68
“In Johannesburg, the Venice of the South, the backdrop is always a man-made one. We have planted a forest the birds endorse. For hills we have mine dumps covered with grass. We do not wait for time and the elements to weather us, we change scenery ourselves, to suit our moods. Nature is for other people, in other places ...”
The major themes of Portrait with Keys ... are the I-beams that make up the chassis. Subsidiary themes, such as crime and art and architecture, are the brakes and suspension ... The little snippets – for instance, the list of car-guards’ notes – are the city’s rivets and bolts exploded out along their dotted diameters.
- William Dicey, author and book designer.
Reviews
The Weekender http://www.businessday.co.za/Articles/TarkArticle.aspx?ID=2159554Mail & Guardian http://www.chico.mweb.co.za/art/2006/2006jul/060728-keys.html
The Star Tonight http://www.tonight.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3357693&fSectionId=441&fSetId=251
The Citizen http://www.citizen.co.za/index/article.aspx?pDesc=20347,1,22