Quote of the Month - May 2013

"These days, it feels to me like you make a devil's pact when you walk into this country. You hand over your passport at the check-in, you get stamped, you want to make a little money, get yourself started...but you mean to go back! Who would want to stay? Cold, wet, miserable; terrible food, dreadful newspapers - who would want to stay? In a place where you are never welcomed, only tolerated. Just tolerated. Like you are an animal finally house-trained. Who would want to stay? But you have made a devil's pact...it drags you in and suddenly you are unsuitable to return, your children are unrecognizable, you belong nowhere."

From White Teeth by Zadie Smith (2000)

Zadie Smith *1975

Zadie Smith isn't really an obscure 'lesser known' author who would still need an introduction, even to non-English readers. I had taken part in several literary discussions here in the Netherlands on the various titles by Zadie Smith. And it's been only last month that she was listed a second time as 'Granta's Best of Young British Novelists'.

Yet, I've been prompted by this particular quote as I will 'return home' for some weeks to attend my father's 80th birthday celebrations.

Is it actually possible to 'return home', I wonder? Where do I 'return to'? Childhood places? Childhood friends? Everyone's moved on in life each going in their own chosen direction, just as I have. If I were to 'return home' for good, I wonder if we would still be friends?

What about those whose country changed completely such as the former DDR? After the fall of the Iron Curtain, the whole system altered and former conventions/convictions were radically overthrown. Where would they 'return home' to?

What about the millions forced to flee their homes for any number of reasons and never being able to 'return home'?

Do you remember Anjali Joseph? I first introduced her in November 2011 on this blog? She has since published her second novel, Another Country (2012) in which she describes a typical modern nomad life. The protagonist is trying to settle in three different countries. A second novel with its weaknesses but still strong in imagery:

"For each girl, the other's home was non-concrete, but superstitiously to be believed, in the way of a story heard in infancy; it held a reality that had nothing to do with experience. Both knew it, and it made them feel tender, as though for their own lives, which might have been continuing elsewhere."

 I am curious what 'returning home' means to you - feel free to comment!

To those of you unfamiliar with Zadie Smith and her books: she was born Sadie Smith in the northwest London Borough of Brent, UK. Her latest book NW (2012) refers to it as 'NW' is part of the postcode of that particular borough. She grew up with two elder half-siblings from her father's first marriage and two younger borthers from his second marriage to her mother, who had immigrated to the UK from Jamaica in 1969. They were a very musical family: while Zadie loved tap dancing, singing and performing, working as a Jazz singer during her studies, her two younger brothers became rappers. But in the end, it was literature that captured and won Zadie's heart.

Zadie's first novel White Teeth was published in 2000 and was received with fantastic reviews. It immediately became a bestseller and was praised internationally. She won various awards and it raised expectations for her second novel: The Autograph Man. Published in 2002, the novel was less favourably received - but then again, this is quite a familiar occurence for highly acclaimed first book authors. It is said that she even experienced a short spell of a writer's block while writing her second novel. Zadie visited the US in 2002-2003 as Radcliff Institute for Advanced Study Fellow at Harvard University. On Beauty, published in 2005, was written in that period and is set mainly around the area of Boston and won back her standing as an acclaimed author. She was subsequently shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2006 and in 2012 her latest novel NW was chosen as one of the Ten Best Books of 2012 by the NYT. Zadie taught fiction at Columbia University School of the Arts and joined the New York University as a tenured Professor of fiction in 2010. She currently commutes with her family between New York City and London, UK.

I wonder what Zadie considers 'home'...

Quote of the Month - April 2013

"I am often troubled by the enormity of having undertaken to explore two crafts instead of one, two difficult crafts, each of which could command a lifetime's imagination and effort. But there are some things the novel can do which poetry cannot do; lyric poetry is concerned chiefly with the moment's intense vision, the vision of one person; the novel is concerned with the inter-relation of several -and sometimes many- psyches and their impact on each other. It is concerned with growth. A novel requires a long breath, un long souffle as the French would say. It can, to some extent, be planned ahead over a considerable period of time. One can say, "I am going to write a novel next year," but one cannot say, "I am going to write a poem next year." Intellect and will do not control poetry to the same extent."

From Writings on Writing by May Sarton (1980)

May Sarton (1912 - 1995)

May Sarton, born in Wondelgem, Belgium, as Eleanore Marie Sarton; her father George Sarton, a Belgian historian of science, and her mother the English artist Mabel Elwes Sarton. The family left the country, when Germany invaded Belgium in 1914, and moved first to May's maternal grandmother who lived in Ipswich, UK. Another year later, they moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, where her father took up a post at Harvard. May went to the Shady Hill School, only founded in 1915 by Agnes Hocking and her husband, a so-called 'open air school'. May was strongly influenced by Agnes, daughter of the Irish Poet John Boyle O'Reilly, as her poetry teacher. May tells in an interview with the PARIS REVIEW that they were four pupils from school who met, read and discussed each other's poems. At the age of 17, five sonnets by May were already published in Poetry magazine, becoming the opening sonnets in her first book Encounter in April. But that's for later...

When graduating from high school, May decided against her parents' idea of going to university. She became an actress and joined the New York's Civic Repertory Theatre. Unfortunately, the company was dissolved after some years and her dream to run her own repertory theatre failed leaving her at a loss about her aims at the age of 26. Though she had refused to go along with her parents' wish at first, it's them who supported her in this difficult time. May recovered and turned her interest again to writing. As mentioned, her first book, Encounter in April was published in 1937 and over the years, May became a prolific writer with a wide variety of genres publishing a book of poetry and a novel by turns (Check again the interview at the PARIS REVIEW and you'll find out why). All in all, she produced 53 volumes of poetry, novels, journals, essays and children's books. For some time Sarton lectured at various colleges to support her writing, gaining great success with her striking and passionate personality. She also travelled regularly to Europe where she met Virginia Woolf and Elizabeth Bowen.
In 1965, things changed though: Sarton publishes her novel Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing, in which she is writing openly about her being lesbian. It wasn't the time yet. She lost various jobs and the critics turned to diminishing her previous work. Astonishingly, on the other hand, her readership expanded who turned to her for encouragement. Also Sarton's journals and her openness about her emotional life drew a growing group of readers, so as her Journal of Solitude, published in 1973. Additionally, times were changing and at universities Women's Studies gained more and more influence and May's work serious recognition. Nevertheless, reviews were often harsh and May suffered from self-doubt throughout her life, questioning her talent which almost stopped her writing at all in spite of various appointments and several honorary doctorate degrees. She admitted that her writing is far from innovative. Sometimes it seems that she is singularly focusing on her very private life but still her influence and bravery opened doors to many to lead a more complete life. In 1990, May suffered a severe stroke which left her unable to write. But her urge to communicate was stronger so she dictated her last journals, still celebrating her life and love even at an old age. In 1995 though, May succumbed to breast cancer.

Please take your time and read the above mentioned interview in the PARIS REVIEW - it's really worth it and you'll learn a lot about this extraordinary author and her writing.

Quote of the Month - March 2013

"They did not heed the crashing torrents, and the roar of the elements made her laugh as she lay in his arms. She was a revelation in that dim, mysterious chamber; as white as the couch she lay upon. Her firm, elastic flesh that was knowing for the first time its birthright, was like a creamy lily that the sun invites to contribute its breath and perfume to the undying life of the world.
The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or trickery, was like a white flame which penetrated and found response in depths of his own sensuous nature that had never yet been reached.
When he touched her breasts they gave themselves up in quivering ecstasy, inviting his lips. Her mouth was a fountain of delight. And when he possessed her, they seemed to swoon together at the very borderland of life's mystery."

From The Storm by Kate Chopin (1898; publ. 1969)

Kate Chopin (1850-1904)

We're heading forward – the 19th Century: the Victorian era in Britain with Jane Austen and the Bronté sisters presenting strict moral values in their literature. Meanwhile Margaret Fuller and Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote and fought for the various rights on the other side of the Atlantic ocean. But it is also the time of Guy de Maupassant protégé of Gustave Flaubert and favourite French author of this month’s female writer, Kate Chopin.

Kate Chopin was born Katherine O'Flaherty in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Her father was a successful Irish businessman who died when she was only five years old. She grew up with her mother, a pious Catholic, having close contact with her French Canadian grandmother and great-grandmother. Her great-grandmother, a strong-willed storyteller, had a significant influence on her and she became a voracious reader of all sorts of stories and books.

At the age of 20, Kate married Oscar Chopin and moved to New Orleans. She had six children by the age of 28 and became a widow at 32. Persuaded by her mother she returned to St. Louis. Only a year later also her mother died leaving Kate essentially alone with six children. She started a literary career writing short stories, articles and translations, publishing in various periodicals. She was depicting the Cajun and Creole life surrounding her, making her a local color writer. She adopted the style of French contemporaries as Émile Zola and Guy de Maupassant and their realism writing in a non-judgemental narrative style. It was especially her collection Bayou Folk (1894) that won her national recognition, making the Catholic Creoles, their customs and speech memorable to all Americans. A second collection, A Night in Acadie, increased her reputation. Yet, her major novel, The Awakening (1899) was too openhearted in its sexual coming to consciousness of the female protagonist and raised hostility by most critiques. Though the 'new woman' demanding social, economic and political equality was on its way (remember it’s Women’s Day on 8^th March!), Kate's protagonist was one step ahead of time. It was described as 'trite and vulgar' dismissing Kate's sublime art of character development: complex and independent not following suit the current moral ideas as the above named British authors did. Similar to it the short story The Storm (quoted above) has been written in 1898 but only published in 1969 due to the daring characterisation. Bear in mind that the two lovers presented are both married to another partner…what would have ‘Elisabeth Bennet’ of Pride and Prejudice thought of that?

But it is not only the scandals that make Kate’s stories interesting to read: in The Storm, the protagonist develops along the upcoming storm, thunder and lightning form the perfect background of the release of the sexual tension between the two characters, and the dénouement having everyone at ease with the situation. Should Kate have written plays, she could have been a successor of Shakespeare’s comedies. Nevertheless, she is not only some generations farther but also transformed her stories by the usage of theatrical naturalism making her a fine and exceptional local color author. Certainly worth to rediscover this ‘modern’ Creole author!

Again a nice anecdote to be mentioned to modern readers: it is mentioned that she was writing in the midst of her children on a 'lapboard'…

Quote of the Month - February 2013

"A taste of the fine arts requires great cultivation, but not more than a taste for the virtuous affections, and both suppose that enlargement of mind which opens so many sources of mental pleasure. Why do people hurry to noisy scenes and crowded circles? I should answer, because they want activity of mind, because they have not cherished the virtues of the heart. They only therefore see and feel in the gross, and continually pine after variety, finding everything that is simple insipid."

From Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft (1792)

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 - 1797)

Going back in time: we're in the 18th century, the century of the French and American Revolution, the age of Enlightment, the height of the Quing Dynasty and the decline of the Ottoman Empire. Yet, the mentioned citation seems contemporary in its appeal. Time to get to know this extraordinary author...

Mary Wollstonecraft was born the second of six children in London, UK. Not much is known from her early childhood, besides that from an early age on she was frustrated by the career options imposed on women with a confined financial background. Also that she imagined living in a female utopia, of living together with other women and supporting each other emotionally and financially. She almost reached her goal with her closest friend Fanny Blood. They succeeded at least in establishing a school together. Unfortunately, Fanny's health declined rapidly and Mary taking care of her friend abandoned the school which led to its failure. After Fanny's death, Mary wrote her first novel Mary, A Fiction (1788).

With the help of friends, Mary became a governess to a wealthy family in Ireland. But only one year later did she decide to quit her position and to become an author. Another radical decision since there were few female authors able to support themselves let alone authors in general. Nevertheless, Mary was a headstrong woman and with the assistance of the liberal publisher Joseph Johnson, who supported women writers in a time when women were still met with scepticism, she moved to London. She learned French and German, consequently translated various socio-political texts and wrote numerous reviews for Johnson's periodical, the Analytical Review. Johnson supported her and advanced payment to her first book Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787). In 1790, Mary, becoming more and more a fierce advocate of progress and rationality opposing aristocratic and ancestral traditions, wrote her pamphlet A Vindication of the Rights of Men in response to the conservative critique on the French Revolution by Edmund Burke. With it, she became instantly famous. Two years later her most famous and still available work was published: A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792), arguing that women are not naturally inferior to men but generally lack education.

During that time, Mary also attended Johnson's dinners where artists and radical thinkers met and exchanged their inventive ideas. It was at one of these dinners that Mary met her later husband, the political philosopher William Godwin. But Mary was more attracted by the artist Henry Fuseli/Johann Heinrich Füssli who was already married. At Mary's suggestion to form a living triangle, Henry immediately severed their friendship and Mary, humiliated, fled to France where she planned to participate in the French Revolution. While she indulged in the historical events, she met the American adventurer Gilbert Imlay who aroused her sexual interest. She fell passionately in love and gave birth to her fist daughter, Fanny Imlay in 1794. Though Gilbert protected Mary by registering her as his wife, he nevertheless left her as soon as they returned to England. Desperately trying to win Gilbert back, Mary went on a trip to Scandinavia with her baby daughter. In her travelogue Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (1796), Mary describes her impressions as well as her emotional despair. But all attempts to gain Gilbert back failed and Mary returned to her literary life, becoming involved with Johnson's circle again.

Attracted by her Letters, William Godwin courted Mary and by the time she became pregnant a second time they decided to get married, revealing Mary's unmarried status with Gilbert. Godwin, himself, was criticised getting married at all since he had earlier advocated against marriage. Both lost many friends cause to their conduct. Nevertheless, they remained radical retaining their independence by moving into adjoining houses. Unfortunately, their happy and stable relationship would not last. After giving birth to her second daughter, Mary became infected with childbed fever and died 10 days later (Dr. Semmelweis' book on basic disinfection was only published 50 years later). William was devastated. Only six months later did he publish his Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women, wanting to portray Mary with love and compassion, revealing her unconventional life. The book, though, had an opposite effect and distorted Mary's reputation for decades. It's been the suffragettes and feminists who rediscovered her ambitious ideas and appreciated her fight for the rights of women and her influence on the equality of women at an early stage. To feminists worldwide, Mary Wollstonecraft is no unknown author and her ideas and thoughts still reverberate though her life's story is less known. And if you always thought the idea of "living apart together" (LAT) is something new...

Yet another interesting detail:
Mary's and William's daughter took over the literary legacy and became the author of THE classic gothic novel still know today: Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1818) by Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin or better known as Mary Shelley. But that is a different story itself again...