A foreword usually comes before the beginning of a narrative. A frequently skipped over written introduction to the upcoming piece, placed at the beginning of a book. Where most books start after their foreword, Found Audio starts within it. But while the foreword is still an introduction, it introduces the novel by immersing the reader in the world of the work instead of providing external input on the story to follow. The book is framed as the non-fictional transcripts of mysterious cassette tapes, and the illusion begins with the very first page.
Within the tapes lies a chronicle of the narrator’s supernatural experiences as a journalist. He finds himself in a psychedelic swamp, an odd chess tournament and, ultimately, a mysterious place where the recordings themselves are made.
Through the narrator’s adventures, Campbell explores the human quest for knowledge. After seeing and experiencing seemingly impossible things, he becomes obsessed with finding explanations for them. He repeatedly finds himself questioning his own sanity as his inability to explain the things that happen around him perpetuates a frustrating and intoxicating pursuit of answers.
The “American,” as he is referred to in the transcript, epitomizes an obsessive need to learn and find reason within the unreasonable. While his story is an extreme one, it demonstrates a fundamental desire that all readers can relate to. Campbell creates a story that parallels the experiences of the reader – as the narrator becomes overly invested in explaining the things he has experienced, readers follow suit.
The ‘packaging’ of the novel as a transcript played a large role in the entirety of that narrative. The speaker gets interrupted from time to time with blocked out or overwritten audio, interjections from unnamed sources, and footnotes from the transcriber.
For a book that spends so much time setting up its premise as a transcript of audio, the writing in the majority of the novel is far from realistic dialogue. A majority of the book is written in introspective prose and, while it meanders in a realistic way, the tone of the writing isn’t necessarily characteristic of a person attempting to retell old stories. Maybe the unnamed journalist is superbly articulate from years of writing articles, but it nevertheless detracts from the illusion that the book works so hard to create.
The dialogue of others also did little to add to the book, and seemed to be there mainly as a tool to further the mysterious impact of the “transcripted” writing, sparking additional questions. Other speakers and sounds did add to the intrigue behind the tapes, but they also did not seem to really serve any further purpose.
However, that “found audio” form of the book was still a powerful tool in the cerebral effect of the novel. It allows the narrative to bleed into the world of the reader, allowing for musings about the events of the book to translate into questions about the nature of humanity and the world around us.
The book absolutely achieves its goal in creating questions. Not only does it spark questions about the most fundamental aspects of the book (Who is the narrator? Why were these audio recordings made?), but it also provokes a deeper sense of questioning as readers continue through the narrative.
Those loose ends and unanswered questions contribute to the mystique of the book and further its contemplative nature. At the same time, those questions impair the book’s ability to convey a cohesive narrative and leave the reader with a real sense of closure. It is hard to determine whether that effect was intentional or not. The lack of answers and the frustration that the reader feels mirrors that of the narrator, once again blending the narrator’s experiences with our own.
I wouldn’t necessarily characterize the book as a singular narrative; but rather, three independent snippets of one individual’s life that function as an only semi-translucent window into the supernatural. When read from that perspective, it is easier to understand the decisions that Campbell made throughout.
The narrator’s story is one that cannot create a fully formed, singular narrative with a beginning, middle, and end. Instead it takes a meandering path, not unlike the ones that are found in real life. I think that part of the book’s intention is to create a work that is not perfectly tied up at the end. Instead, the book aims to provoke thought and illustrate that journey towards understanding that is fundamentally imperfect and human.
Overall, Found Audio was a very enjoyable and creative book that I would recommend to people who are interested in exploring the universe of possibilities and odd occurrences. It definitely is not a clear cut singular story, but it is still one that is well written and executed in its own unique way. Found Audio will provide you with questions, but it is up to you to find your own answers.