TYRONE GRIMA speaks to Lara Zammit about his novel Frammenti, which is enshrined in a sense of mystery, inviting its readers to piece the narrative together.

LZ: Fragments suggest incompleteness, or lack of resolution. What influenced this stylistic choice for your latest novel? How does this shape the narrative structure of the story unfolding within? 

TG: The starting point for the writing of Frammenti was the concept. I was intrigued by the idea of what would the experience of a person be like if he should suddenly wake up in the morning to realise that there is nobody around him.

Of course, this is linked to the notion of nothingness, a notion I am very drawn towards on an intellectual and a personal level. In this case, however, it is a constrained nothingness. The protagonist did not choose nothingness. The rest of the story then developed as soon as this initial point was established.

Tyrone Grima

The book is also postmodern in the sense that even though it follows a linear structure, apart from some flashbacks, it distorts the way we see reality, and questions norms and conventions.

The final outcome is a sense of mystery that enshrouds the novel, inviting the reader to pick up and put together the pieces, in the same way as the protagonist is.

LZ: Within the post-apocalyptic element of the book, the protagonist is faced with cataclysmic change engulfing him in emptiness and void. Is emptiness a central theme within this narrative? Can you elaborate on the nature of the emptiness here?

TG: As you correctly remarked, the theme of emptiness is also fundamental in the narrative. But like nothingness, the protagonist did not opt to be in an empty space. On the contrary, he refuses this emptiness, and his objective is to try to fill it in by understanding what has happened.

The protagonist can only address his existentialist issues if he is capable of embracing the chaos of the water within

The only person he encounters on this journey is Sophie, who is in a similar situation to his. Their imposed emptiness is what brings them together. Sophie, though, eventually comes to a point where she understands that the ghosts of the past have to be faced, and this sudden realisation is a U-turn in the story of the protagonist.

The flashbacks in the novel, sporadically scattered in the narrative, provide the reader with the back story which shows that the protagonist already had issues in the past with otherness, reflected in his relationship with his parents, but most importantly with his boyfriend David.

The empty space that he is now in can be transformed into a golden opportunity for the protagonist to get to the core of the matter. The crux is whether he will have the stamina and the strength to endure the journey.

LZ: The sea is a running motif throughout this book. As islanders, the sea represents our wilderness. How does the sea feature within the narrative?

TG: The sea is extremely important in the novel. The chapters are named after locations in Malta, almost all of them being seaside towns and villages. The protagonist is on a journey, moving from one seaside town to the other, unravelling the absurd situation that he is in.

The sea in this context is a barrier: it prevents the protago­nist from escaping, as the Gozo crossing scene shows, as well as the dramatic scene on the boat in Marsaxlokk. The sea is also a source of conflict. Both main characters have had horrible experiences related to the sea that have severed their relationships with significant others.

Personally, I have always had an ambiguous rapport with the sea. To me, very much in line with Biblical spirituality, it represents chaos and the unknown. I can only appreciate the sea if I am a safe distance from it. And yet, the sea in the novel provides the connection.

The protagonist can only address his existentialist issues if he is capable of embracing the chaos of the water within.

Frammenti is available for sale from leading bookshops or from the Merlin Library website.