Creation Lake (2024)

Why this one?

I’m reading all the books on the 2024 Booker Prize Shortlist , and this one was next on the list.

Rachel Kushner (1968- ; active 1996- ) was born in Eugene, Oregon, USA. Her parents worth both scientists, and described by Kushner as 'deeply unconventional people from the beatnik generation'. She began her bachelors degree in political economy at the University of California, Berkeley, aged just 16. She later earned an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University.

Her first novel, Telex from Cuba, was published in 2008, and was a finalist fo that year's National Book Award. Her second novel, 2013's The Flamethrowers, repeated that feat as well as being featured in many publications' year-end lists. Her third, The Mars Room (2018) saw her shortlisted for the Booker for the first time, eventually losing out to Anna Burns' Milkman. She has also published a short story collection (The Strange Case of Rachel K; 2015) and a collection of essays (The Hard Crowd; 2021).

Thoughts, etc.

Creation Lake is told from the perspective of a spy for hire (and former federal agent) known for the purposes of her current assignment as "Sadie Smith". She is in the process of infiltrating an agrarian commune of eco-leftists in France, known as the Moulinards. In order to do so, she has entered into a serious ‘relationship’ with a filmmaker called Lucien, who is close to the Moulinards' day-to-day leader, Pascal. We meet her on the way from Marseille (where she is based with Lucien) to the Guyenne region where the Moulinards are based. From early on, her own story is interspersed with her readings of email missives from Bruno Lacombe, erstwhile leader of the group who has now retreated from society to live in an underground cave network. He is obsessed with prehistory, particularly that relating to the Neanderthals, and expounds on his theories relating to their significance at length in his emails.

"Sadie" is a wonderfully amoral-seeming protagonist. She's every bit the 'gun for hire', out to get paid and unbothered by who or what cause she is working for. Indeed, in the book's central mission, she has no idea who her paymasters are. She's brilliantly opinionated, throughout sharing her inner thoughts on Bruno and the Moulinards' philosophy, both the points on which she agrees, and equally often the contradictions and absurdities of their arguments. As we go though the novel, it becomes more apparent that her bold attitude and amorality may be as much a part of her 'character' as anything else, and she's clearly massively dependant on alcohol abuse to sustain her through the constant deception and performance of her role (which she is willing to take to any extreme, as demonstrated by her relationship with Lucien).

Away from the pleasure of spending time with a character like Sadie, which is good enough value in itself, the focus on Bruno's emails gives us an entirely different level of enjoyment. In them, and the Moulinards' reaction (or, ultimately, lack of) we see played out some of the disputes between factions of the radical left since the 1960s. Lacombe's own response to the increasing traumas of capitalism is to withdraw from them, living in a cave and obsessing over Neanderthals, an almost parodic take on primitivism (despite his constant denials of the fact) and with echoes of his inspiration and former colleague Guy Debord. He's a theorist, and a relatively compelling one, but one whose absence and detachment from reality is rendering him less and less relevant to the more active Moulinards like Pascal who are immersed in the realities and actions required to tackle the present-day threats to the way of life of both themselves and the agricultural communities in the region.

I’d initially deprioritised this one due to its regular billing as a ‘spy novel’, which didn’t really excite me as a concept. In reality, though, this is a deeply thoughtful and literary book that happens to have a spy as its central character. That combination actually comes together to create what is probably (in my mind at least) the downright coolest Booker-shortlisted book in a while. I think as a teenager or twenty-something I would have been shouting from the rooftops about this one - coincidentally or not, a period when I was reading a lot of the likes of DeLillo, who Kushner cites as a key influence. It really ticks a lot of boxes - amoral/borderline nihilistic protagonist; engagement with radical left theories; cultural references aplenty (there’s one chapter in which Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’ is blaring out of every passing speaker, locating the action in 2013 without ever actually having to state it, and a thinly-veiled Michel Houellebecq stand-in pops up at one point).

Weak points? I’m partly inclined to gloss over them, but there are perhaps a few. Bruno’s sections are undoubtedly not going to be for everyone, as I think it takes at least a moderate degree of interest in the political context that’s being explored / lightly satirised to get through the wild theories about Neanderthals and such. I personally found it fun, but that’s just me. I also had a few question marks about the ending - not the rollicking silliness of the actual denouement of Sadie’s mission, which is hugely entertaining, but the coda-like section that follows. It didn’t sit right with the vibe of the rest of the book, but then that’s probably part of the point. Seeing where she lands when the mission is over is pretty integral to understanding her story, but it slightly undermines some of the antiheroic qualities she’d built up to that point. (Or was that also just me?)

Is it the best book on the shortlist? Part of me wants to ally with my younger self and scream YES IT’S AMAZING but then it’s becoming apparent that’s this year’s list is extremely strong overall, and I’m not totally sure if this is quite at a level to compete with the likes of James or The Safekeep, for example. So I don’t know if it’s a winner as such. Would I be pleased to see it win? I’d honestly love it.

Score

9

This one might be my secret, ultimately honest favourite, but I’m being slightly swayed by the quality of competition on this year’s Shortlist. I will definitely be reading more of Kushner’s work as a result though!

Next up

With two more to read from the Shortlist, I’m going for Charlotte Wood’s Stone Yard Devotional next.