Unleashing the Power of Words: A Tale of Two Writers

Published in The New Literary Society, by Julia Kalman, on January 11, 2024.

Foreword

Stepping into the World of ‘Don’t Shed No Tears, Brother’ by Nan Constantin Ilie
This summer I simultaneously received two requests for literary translations, from people I didn’t know.

And if I opted to work on Nan Constantin Ilie’s novel Don’t Shed No Tears, Brother, I did it for the story and why not, for the story behind the story.

Now I congratulate myself on making this decision and I am honored to collaborate with such a powerful and sensitive storyteller.

Don’t Shed No Tears, Brother is a foray into the inferno of innocence, inhabited by children saved from communism by their love.

It’s a chosen book.

The autobiographical novel undoubtedly asserts itself through the topicality of the sanitary subject, and the author-character imposes himself at first sight, through his personal charisma and magnetism.

Nan was born in 1948. He is a writer with an epic life from which I highlight some aspects that I could not forget: he stayed for a while in a preventorium, during childhood, and after continuing his studies, he was paralyzed, but he recovered with the aid of divine grace.

He was denied college admission, for political reasons, was arrested by the Securitate during the reign of Nicolae Ceausescu, participated in the Romanian Revolution of December 1989, did business, helped HIV-infected children, then started writing.

And he kept on writing.

The Japanese awarded him the “Yasunari Kawabata” Literature Prize in 2019.

This hard-fought existence led to the writing of Don’t Shed No Tears, Brother — an authentic and original book, meant to preserve and perpetuate the collective memory of the communist period.

I motivate this first argument, by the presence of the specter of the Stalinist Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej on the panoply of characters.

The author captures aspects of the cynical amorality of communism. Interestingly, some iniquities get punished.

Another argument in favor of the book comes from the psychological sphere.

Nan’s writing is endowed with a certain psychological depth, given especially by studying human behavior, at the school of life.

Here I would give two examples, without going into details to spoil the plot.

First, I would like to refer to the characters’ constructions, observing the author’s appetite for the inner, gradual, subtle, but radical transformation of the characters.

Don’t Shed No Tears, Brother proves to be an environment conducive to the formation of anti-social skills, and the development of juvenile delinquency, and all children who have ever been there experienced emotional abuse and the erosion of their identity.

Secondly, I would say that the novel brilliantly reflects a certain everyday aspect.

Here we discover many types of lies, more or less guilty, starting from the official lies.

The third argument in favor of the book is both in terms of structure and content.

The novel’s climax is unpredictable, powerful, and multifaceted.

Even when you think nothing odd can happen and everything is heading downhill to a predictable conclusion, horrors strike.

And now, the counter-arguments.

Nan’s artistic statement, in my opinion, breaks free from standard verbal constraints and transforms into a rudimentary aesthetic that elicits significant critical emotions.

After much consideration, I concluded that reading with a pencil in hand causes us to notice more errors, even if they are deliberate for his unique style.

For example, we come across foreign character pronunciation problems, as well as pseudo-errors that are part of the author’s philosophy, such as the overuse of ellipsis, which now looks special, after I deciphered it.

I invite you to read between the lines, to read quantically, to read through all your senses, but especially with your heart.

Not to mention, that the frothy humor of a few fragments shows the beauty of errors.

The second counter-argument also refers to the beauty of language. I would not say that the author used licentious language, on the contrary.

Perhaps, it might have been interesting, to read more slang, jargon, and regional expressions.

There’s nothing more to be said.

Um, of course, except for a warning. Don’t Shed No Tears, Brother is a foray into the inferno of innocence.

It’s a book about children, but is it age-appropriate for kids and teens? Definitely, not.

In conclusion, I find that the author tempts the reader with the simplicity of the language and the clarity of the feelings, but he surprises every time, with the alternation of antagonistic emotions.

I would say that love is put to the test in Don’t Shed No Tears, Brother, a test that only a few couples pass.

Including the love of the two brothers — Alex and George.

Well, there are many mysteries in this world, but also this great book of confession that is coming out now, after more than 50 years Don’t Shed No Tears, Brother is a traditional novel, round and unperverted, and its author is a magician of emotion.

Nan is practicing soulful writing and wants to move the reader.

He shed a tear on every page, and one can feel that and is convinced.

• How did you come up with the idea to write about the TB epidemic, just a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, I asked him.
• Don’t Shed No Tears, Brother is a prophecy or the future in the past, he told me sibilantly.

Julia Kalman

September 7, 2020   

Reach out to Nan Constantin Ilie, author of Don’t Shed No Tears, Brother, Born on the Dark Side, and the Vietnam War-inspired romance-drama, An American Story of Love, War, and Revenge. https://www.facebook.com/nan.iulian.79 https://www.facebook.com/iulian.nan.338