JANE'S ART

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”

What has changed since 1813, the year Jane Austen’s most famous novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’ was first published? Maybe not as much as we would like to think! Especially for women, who, in my opinion, remain one of the most underprivileged people worldwide, albeit with some and sometimes significant differences depending on the country and the society they live in. This is despite Mao Zedong’s famous proclamation that “Women Hold Up Half The Sky”.

When you dig under the surface of our ‘evolved’, modern and technological world, we (disturbingly!) still find much in common with the early 19^th century society described by my beloved Jane.

I’m a great fan of Austen and have read every word she has ever written plus much that has been written about her. She is the centre of my literary universe. Never having wandered far from the small area in the south of England where she spent her 41 years of life (between Steventon, Bath, Southampton, Chawton and Winchester), her works have reached across the globe and across the ages in a way so extraordinary that it could never have been predicted or foreseen by the ever-humble Jane.

“The little bit (two Inches wide) of Ivory, on which I work with so fine a Brush, as produces little effect after much labour.” is how she once described her work to her nephew Edward with typical modesty.

Having refused an offer of marriage, this most influential of all female writers has lived a quiet, simple life. Supported by her dear sister Cassandra, she has devoted her time to writing. From the tiny corner of her small world and limited life experience, she has simply observed. Like a forensic scientist Jane has applied herself to describing the rules of society, the nature of human relations and the dramas of love and other passions. The intensity of her emotions always inversely proportional to the restraint of her prose. Austen’s reflections are harsh and reveal her to be a realist, yet the message is made digestible by a wit and irony that make us laugh at what we recognize to be our and our society’s cardinal sins. The style of her writing makes her both cynical and compassionate at once.

“He was not an ill-disposed young man, unless to be rather cold hearted, and rather selfish, is to be ill-disposed” – is said about Mr John Dashwood in ‘Sense and Sensibility’.

She points out the everlasting truths that money rules, most men and women are hypocrites, social class is a prison that’s hard to break out of, but perhaps needed to give us all an illusion of order.

Her characters come alive with their unforgettable and often humorous personal weaknesses, foibles and vanities, sometimes with their noble virtues and strengths.

She reveals the unquestionable fact that love remains a mystery so great and so powerful as to blossom even in the most unfavourable circumstances and in defiance of all attempts at control by social mores and rules.

Jane Austen’s message is essential, it transcends the boundaries of culture and time and is therefore, by definition, true Art. It clearly tells us that a woman’s mind, ability and vocation should always be nurtured and encouraged and never ever be denied.

 

Main works by Jane Austen:

‘Sense and Sensibility’

‘Pride and Prejudice’

‘Mansfield Park’

‘Emma’

‘Northanger Abbey’

‘Persuasion’

‘Lady Susan’

‘The Watsons’ (unfinished)

‘Sanditon’ (unfinished)

#JaneAusten  #Art  #PrideandPrejudice #SenseandSensibility #MansfieldPark  #Emma  #Persuasion

Jane Austen was born on the 16th of December 1775. Today would have been her 246th birthday!

'WHAT DO YOU HOPE FOR WHEN COVID IS OVER?' - poster and writing seen on gate of UK park at the start of the first lockdown March 2020

 

'THE MUSIC ROOM' by William Fiennes

William Fiennes’ book ‘The Music Room’ is aptly titled: it reads like a song.

Fifty-one year old Fiennes, third cousin of the actor Ralph Fiennes, is a British writer who had an unconventional upbringing – he grew up in a castle.

The narrative revolves around the author’s home, a medieval castle in Oxfordshire, which becomes a central character, like a living thing. People and events all arise from it and are connected to it from beginning to end.

‘The house didn’t just belong to us: it was part of the country’s heritage, the world’s, and our task was to care for it for as long as we were here, and do our best to leave it in good health for future generations. ‘

Fiennes’ formal education at Eton and Oxford comes through in a rich and creatively complex language that manages to steer clear of arrogance. Everyday detail is described with such clarity and skill as to transform it into something as important as life itself. From time to time the text pops up bubbles of pure genius: ‘Mrs Upton was most forthright in everything, talking as if language had been welling up in her overnight and this was the first opportunity for overspill.’, later she is ‘shuffling in from the world’. Of the brother who died before he was born, Fiennes writes: ‘I knew it was a loss, but I couldn’t feel it as one. He was a presence to me, not something taken away.’ As a young boy watching his mother tune the viola in the music room, what he liked best was ‘the way she’d loosen the peg a fraction before bringing it up to the correct pitch, as if it was only by being first slightly mistaken in something that you could see the right answer clearly.’

The characters are all painted with the colour of love. Amongst them, one figure dominates and encapsulates all that is wonderful and terrifying about being human: Richard, the older brother.

For all who have ever asked themselves ‘What is love?’, here’s a book that offers the definitive answer. Never allowing the thin veil of nostalgia to detract from the truth and honesty of the author’s emotional life, Fiennes’ work is consistently kind and gentle. Therein lies its power; it is deep and precious to the very end.

Let the young William Fiennes, his ‘GUIDE’ badge still attached, take you on the mossy path, over the Sor Brook, through the gates, the castle and into a modern masterpiece.

#TheMusicRoom #WilliamFiennes #Britishwriter #Oxfordshire #castle

A special thank-you to Margaret for giving me this wonderful book

RESPECT MATTERS: M&S, Eastgate - leading through positive action

 

'ON EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS' by Ocean Vuong

Sometimes from the depths of the vast sea of current modern-day writers an unexpected pearl surfaces and casts such a warm light and brightness as to make everything else appear lacking by comparison.

Such is the case with Ocean Vuong’s first novel ‘On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous’. This beautiful young Vietnamese American poet, already a recipient of the T.S. Eliot Prize for his poetry, has tried something quite daring in writing what is essentially an autobiography, but an uncanny one, because it weaves together facts and emotions to craft the story of his and his family’s life. In it, Vuong holds nothing back and delicately, but resolutely exposes everything about himself. He renders himself entirely vulnerable to the point where the reader feels slightly uncomfortable. Vuong experiments with a language that is always poetic, but also at times so imaginative and original, as to appear to be the discovery of a new unexplored place, one in which a style without precedent is being conceived. This is especially surprising coming from an author who only learnt to read at the age of eleven and who suspects that dyslexia runs in his family.

“We weren’t rowing, but adrift. We were clinging to a mother the size of a raft until the mother grew stiff with sleep. And we soon fell silent as the raft took us all down this great brown river called America, finally happy.”

The novel is in the form of a letter from the author (Little Dog) to his mother. They are refugees from Vietnam living in the U.S., but his mother can’t read and works in a nail salon. She’s also clearly scarred by the trauma of the Vietnam war.

“You’re a mother, Ma. You’re also a monster. But so am I – which is why I can’t turn away from you. Which is why I have taken god’s loneliest creation and put you inside it.”

On the background of vivid recollections of the Vietnam war, the novel unravels into a coming-of-age story of a young man, the impressionist style reminiscence of the author’s first love, the depiction of his profound yet complicated relationship with the women in his life (mainly his mother and his grandmother) and of the ruthless and overwhelming hopelessness of poverty.

“In the nail salon, sorry is a tool one uses to pander until the word itself becomes currency. …Being sorry pays, being sorry even, or especially, when one has no fault, is worth every self-deprecating syllable the mouth allows. Because the mouth must eat.”

Vuong shows quite some pluck by openly discussing the issue of being mixed race, a theme which is introduced when he meets his American stepgrandfather. In the age of ‘Black Lives Matter’, the subject of being mixed race doesn’t get much coverage. That’s possibly because it is unsettling to others when someone is mixed race and they can’t be placed, they can’t easily be pigeonholed. It feels unsatisfactory to all, destabilising. It undermines the existing dualistic view of society and challenges the polarising forces currently shaping the socio-political discourse on race and ethnicity. In my opinion, this is one of the most significant topics of the book. Being mixed race can be seen as a curse, a guaranteed foundation for an identity crisis. A mixed-race individual may lack a sense of belonging and may be either subtly or overtly rejected by both of the ethnic groups that begot him/her. On the other hand, being multi-ethnic can also be a source of great self-confidence – having the opportunity to draw from more than one heritage and recognise and accept one’s uniqueness.

“…I was wrong, Ma. We were born from beauty.”

Overall, Vuong’s first novel is somewhat flawed, but for this very reason even more relatable, and a bit uneven in terms of the quality of the writing. I feel that some subject matters are dealt with better than others. For example, I personally found the story of his first love not altogether convincing, but the account of his relationship with his mother, aunt and grandmother and the evocation of the Vietnam war utterly real, wonderful and moving. I view this book as a love letter to these women - Vuong has bravely and touchingly written the story they could never write for themselves.

“I remember cupping the ash and writing the words live live live on the foreheads of the three women sitting in the room. How the ash eventually hardened into ink on a blank page. How there’s ash on this very page. How there’s enough for everyone.”

#OnEarthWe'reBrieflyGorgeous  #OceanVuong  #MixedRace  #TSEliotPrizeforpoetry

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

 

'KLARA AND THE SUN' by Kazuo Ishiguro

‘Klara and the Sun’ is the latest book by Kazuo Ishiguro. In this novel, the author clearly demonstrates why he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017. Kazuo, born in Japan, but raised in England since the age of five, embodies the qualities of two cultures that have much in common, especially when it comes to their attachment to the past, the awareness of the trauma that comes with disconnecting with one’s origins and history and a disciplined approach to life in general.

In ‘Klara and the Sun’ Ishiguro sets his aim exceptionally high and astoundingly succeeds. His work is currently longlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize.

So, what makes this book so special? It would be inappropriate for me to discuss the story itself, as that would be a massive spoiler for those who haven’t yet read the book. Yet this much can be said: the author (possibly deliberately) messes with the reader’s mind. Reading ‘Klara and the Sun’ requires an old-fashioned virtue - patience - especially at the beginning of the book. It first appears to be a modern story about a contemporary subject, that of artificial intelligence. However, the narrative slowly but surely drags the reader further and further down into uncharted territory and suddenly a new realm comes into being, one where nothing is as it first appeared, one made of sophisticated symbolism and depth of thought, a long developing meditation from which it becomes impossible to escape.

Ishiguro’s writing remains flowing, but simple throughout, as if to make sure it won’t overshadow the message, because this book, despite the gracefulness and restraint of the prose, is all about the message – a message that is palpably and pressingly important to the author – the answer to the question: ‘what makes us human?’.

It is both ambitious and generous of Ishiguro to gift us an answer, one which inevitably requires the sharing of his most intimate self; it consequently takes just one word to describe his work: perfect. 

#KlaraandtheSun #KazuoIshiguro #NobelPrizeinLiterature #bookreviews