Here at the End of the World We Learn to Dance - Lloyd Jones

When student Lionel, fresh from the country, takes up a part-time job as a pot washer in an Argentinean restaurant a whole new world opens up for him. Every evening when the last customers have left, Rosa plays Argentinean tango music and before long Lionel becomes obsessed with the haunting songs. One night when all the other staff have gone home Rosa asks Lionel to dance with her. Lionel is a terrible dancer but he tells Rosa he wants to learn ...
...knows. Late at night when the restaurant is empty Lionel shows Rosa what he has learned and Rosa tells Lionel the story of her grandfather and the woman who travelled halfway across the world to secretly dance the tango with him in Argentina.

I had already read and very much enjoyed Lloyd Jones novel "Mister Pip" so when I saw this one in a bookshop I pounced on it. Surprisingly the reviews of this had passed me by but the ... more

When student Lionel, fresh from the country, takes up a part-time job as a pot washer in an Argentinean restaurant a whole new world opens up for him. Every evening when the last customers have left, Rosa plays Argentinean tango music and before long Lionel becomes obsessed with the haunting songs. One night when all the other staff have gone home Rosa asks Lionel to dance with her. Lionel is a terrible dancer but he tells Rosa he wants to learn and she sets up some lessons with a teacher she knows. Late at night when the restaurant is empty Lionel shows Rosa what he has learned and Rosa tells Lionel the story of her grandfather and the woman who travelled halfway across the world to secretly dance the tango with him in Argentina.

I had already read and very much enjoyed Lloyd Jones novel "Mister Pip" so when I saw this one in a bookshop I pounced on it. Surprisingly the reviews of this had passed me by but the subject matter and my previous experience of the author were enough to persuade me to make the purchase. I love the tango and it's one of ambitions to travel to Argentina to learn to dance it properly. No dance can surpass the drama and passion and sheer intensity of emotion of the tango and I was sure that Lloyd Jones would be able to put this across on paper.

The story alternates between contemporary New Zealand, and First World War New Zealand and post-war Buenos Aires. At times I found the shifts in location a little confusing and had to flick back to remind myself where we were. While Buenos Aires seemed to me brilliantly depicted, I was less able to spot anything evocative in the descriptions of New Zealand. In fact, it was not until a good way into the story that I was certain this was the setting at all. I don't suppose the setting for the contemporary storyline was so important but it would have been nice if it had been as well portrayed as Argentina.

Another element that lacked balance was the development of the characters. It seems that we learn rather too much about Lionel and Rosa and not enough about Rosa's grandfather, Schmidt, and Louise, the woman who became his secret dance partner. Granted Schmidt is something of a mystery to the people of the small town where he turns up once a year to tune pianos. With so many young men from the town called up to fight overseas, the townspeople are understandably suspicious of a German who isn't away fighting in the war himself. We know a little of Louise's background but what we learn of the actual personalities of both her and Schmidt is disappointingly little.

Pared down to the minimum "Here at the end of the world we learn to dance" consists of two romances running side by side. When Rosa decides to take charge of Lionel's dance training herself she becomes his teacher in other matters too. As for Lionel he becomes obsessed with this 36 year old married woman and the more he learns about the tango the more he falls for Rosa. The romance between Louise and Schmidt is rarely referred to directly but we learn all the details of the relationship between Rosa and Lionel. This is a shame because while I thought that Jones depicted this affair between a young man and an older woman with great skill and humour, there was more potential in exploiting the one between Louise and Schmidt. I thought that the author did a brilliant job at portraying Lionel's agonies and the trauma of his first real love without schmaltz and corniness.

My favourite thing about this novel should have been the descriptions of the tango but Jones never quite imbues them with the sort of passion the tango usually provokes in those who love it. There were a few interesting details about different steps and the traditional music to which tango is danced but ultimately I felt that the author just didn't care enough about tango and I couldn't see why he would write a novel about something so intensely passionate if he didn't feel that way about it himself. I was left with the impression that Jones thought that the tango would sell books and tried to exploit that.

Instead my favourite thing was actually Lionel's parents, middle-aged farming folk coming to retirement age and worrying about how they will cope on their farm and whether Lionel will come back to help them. Set in their ways and having led sheltered lives in the middle of nowhere, Peter and Jean are amazed when they see their son dance with Rosa and even more so when Rosa insists they should dance too. I loved the way they sprang into action, as charmed by Rosa as their son is. Lionel's mother, in particular, is a gem of a character who steadfastly refuses to listen to Lionel's claims that Esperanto is a pointless language to learn, and not just because they live in remote, rural New Zealand.

If Lloyd Jones had managed to convey the passion that the four main characters had for the tango I might have felt more positive about it. However, the descriptions are weak and fairly lifeless and the fact that the romances between the four characters are centred on adultery somewhat took away a large part of the romance of the story. This isn't a terrible book but it is one that could have been so much better. I'll give it a generous three stars to reflect the humour and the contemporary element of the story but, ultimately, this was meant to be a book about the tango and should convey to readers the passions and strength of feeling it evokes and somehow I can't see anyone who doesn't already love this sensual dance being instilled with those feelings.

272 pages

 

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