POETRY!!! Sentences, by Patience Agbabi

I’m going to take a different spin on the old review this time, and I’m going to have a look at some poetry.

Sentences, Patience Agbabi

Agbabi is a British poet, born in London, with Nigerian parents. This poem is from Agbabi’s first collection of poetry, called R.A.W., which was published in 1995, which reflect on conditions and deprivations which affected social minorities during the Conservative governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major.

The poem essentially deals with the treatment of a woman by her husband, and their falling out of love with each other. From the first stanza, Agbabi emphasises that marriage is a patriarchal institution – the man ‘may kiss the bride’ as ‘for him to kiss her it is his right’. Later we find out that the unnamed wife of the poem is ‘expecting a baby, their love is complete’. Both these symbols – the kiss and the child – outwardly seem to be the norm, expected from any traditional marriage. However, Agbabi treats them with the irony they deserve, being motifs employed by the man to bring about the illusion of a happy relationship. The baby is just another milestone to be reached as a signifier of the man’s success.

In the third stanza, Agbabi writes that the husband ‘slaps her a bit to keep her quiet’ because ‘he hates to be questioned about his life’. His desire for privacy highlights that his marriage is just a status symbol, as he prefers to spend his time away from her, which in turn reveals he is repressing his unhappiness within the marriage by not being brave enough to confront her. It can be seen that the violence progresses, until her husband rapes her, calling her ‘bitch’, and declaring ‘I’m a man and you’re my wife’. Obviously this suggests that the man has no respect for his wife, and feels that it is acceptable to inflict the desires of his sexual appetite upon her. But it is also a reflection of how society is male dominated, seeing men as intrinsically above women and thus allowing them to treat them however they want.

This idea is explored with the woman’s search for help. The police ‘took him in but they sympathised with him’, and hence he is not prosecuted. But the specific use of the word ‘sympathised’ implies that the police actually identify with the husband’s position. This does suggest, somewhat controversially, that not only all police officers are men, but also that all men would side with their own gender despite the levels of cruelty being depicted. However, I do not believe that this is Agbabi’s main point – she wishes to highlight the corruption within authoritative positions in Britain under the Conservative government. As can also be seen in more of Agbabi’s poetry which focuses on race discrimination, the authorities would often condemn minority racial or sexual groups for fear of their being different to mainstream culture. Unfortunately, in a patriarchal society, women are also treated as a minority group.

I have decided to include the whole poem, because I could not find a link for it online (that’s right, I typed it all out for you) so have a look, it’s not too long, and very easy to read!! Hope you enjoy it. Obviously there is a lot more going on here that I haven’t explored, feel free to comment on anything you find interesting and worth discussing!

‘I now pronounce you man and wife’

Said the vicar ‘You may kiss the bride’

And he raises her veil of gossamer white

And he kisses her lips

For he is a man and she is a wife

So for him to kiss her it is his right

And everyone smiles and the ring shines bright

On the finger where he placed it

And the family album reveals the white

Teeth of the smile of the happily married couple

Not her womanhood buried out of sight

So now their love is legitimate   legal

In the eyes of society   unequal

They begin to live their married life

They both go to work cos they have to survive

He spends his money on having fun outside

She spends hers at home cos she is the wife

But the wedding presents make it alright

A microwave oven, a blender

And an excellent chopping knife

A syncopated heart beat

She’s expecting a baby   their love is complete

And he comes home pissed from the pub one night

And she asks him why he’s late

And he hates to be questioned about his life

He slaps her a bit to keep her quiet

She doesn’t really put up a fight

Then he puts it in her and pushed with all his might

And she closes her eyes and lips so tight

And when he’s finished he turns off the light

Covering up his huge love bite

And now their love is beginning to die

She loses the child and nobody questions why

And the years go by and she has to survive

Though she often thinks of taking her life

She called the police round the other night

They took him in but they sympathised with him

Then he says he’s sorry and she thinks it’s alright

And they say that his bark is worse than his bite

But she thinks of the bruises she has to hide

And she knows that that wedding camera lied

When it showed her smiling fat and wide

And now their love is completely gone

But worse and worse the marriage goes on

And he comes home pissed from the pub one night

And she’s gone to bed and turned off the light

And he turns it on again out of spite

And says ‘Open your legs you bitch, it’s my right

Cos I’m a man and you’re my wife’

So she punches him in the face with all her might

And leaves a bruise

But he holds her round the neck too tight

To be an embrace and he says

‘If you do that again I’ll fucking kill you, alright’

And now their love has changed to hate

And it seems like another age and time

That they went on that first shy date

And her mother says ‘He ought to be locked up inside’

And her father ‘He should pick on someone his own size’

And her brother doesn’t know what he’s like

And her sister says ‘Divorce him’

And she knows her sister’s right

But she’s scared what her man would do

And in spite of it all

She has her pride

And he comes home pissed from the pub one night

And he doesn’t even speak

Just beats her with his fists

And when she asks him why he has to fight

He says ‘you’re married to me for life’

And she knows that he knows that she spoke

To her solicitor on the phone the other night

And she cannot believe that this is her married life

He sees the hatred in her eyes

And he laughs and falls

And the last glimmer of hope inside her dies

She goes to the kitchen

And sees in the microwave oven

His dried up dinner

Sees the broken blender

And the excellent chopping knife

The ring shines bright on the finger

Where he placed it

But she holds the knife in her right

And when she stabs him

She stabs him with all her might

And anger

‘I now pronounce you man and wife’

Sentenced the vicar

The judge said ‘Life’

And she turned in her grave

Cos she know she’d been sentenced

Twice.

Black Swan

Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky 2010)

Wow I’ve seen two new films this year and they’ve both been great! Fabbo. So let’s talk about Black Swan, in which Natalie Portman’s character Nina wins the lead role in a production of Swan Lake. Before we get into the plot etc (no spoilers I hope) let me start off by saying, if you assume that you would automatically brand this kind of dance related film as boring, then think again. Darren Aronofsky uses intense close ups of both the dancing itself, as well as details such as the cracking of foot and toe joints to emphasise the skill and stamina required for ballet. The close ups of the dancers’ exertions also hint at the more lethal and disturbing effects that the pressures of the dance will take on Nina later on in the film, shown in very gory detail.
Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the innocence of the White Swan and the darker cunning of the Black Swan. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but fellow dancer Lily (Mile Kunis) is the personification of the Black Swan, the plot charting Nina’s psychological decline as the rivalry with Lily consumes her.  She also battles to win the admiration of her manipulative director Thomas (Vincent Cassel), who makes his true intentions to Nina very clear.
The film aims to show to two sides to Nina’s personality, as the further she immerses herself into her role, the more she sees evil visions of her changing self. The idea of her slipping to the ‘dark side’ is used constantly throughout, from Nina’s choice of white and light pink clothes to her doppelganger’s shown in black, to the stark black and white decor of the interior of her flat. Indeed, the two principal locations in the film are Nina’s flat and the dance studio, both depicted as simple, sparsely decorated, and bleak. The limited number of sets adds to the claustrophobic sense of ballet taking over Nina’s existence, as she cannot escape it even at home, as her mother is herself a retired dancer. In both locations, the use of mirrors represent many things, for example: Nina’s inability to escape ballet in her own home, the idea of the contrasting ‘other’ side of her personality, and the sense of deception that the cramped rooms are bigger than they actually are.
Portman excells at portraying a woman close to breakdown, although it must be said she does this with an almost unchanging expression on her face throughout the film. But she has perfected the ‘on the verge of tears’ look.
Overall, Black Swan is a gripping thriller, which uses clever settings and cinematography to hint at the future clashes and traumas which take place towards the climax of the film. You may end up watching lots of it through your fingers, such as Nina’s mother cutting her daughter’s fingernails with scissors – your ears filled with the amplified sound of the slicing metal. But that’s OK, for it is not afraid to be a bit weird or daring, and downright intense.

World Book Night

Has anyone heard about this?

http://www.worldbooknight.org/


I hope its not about 'booing knights'. See what I did there?

I think you sign up to try and get a lot of copies of the same book and then you can give them out to people to read...if I am terribly wrong then please correct me!!

Sounds interesting though, everyone loves free stuff, and free books are always a treat. Spread the reading love

Best/Worst Books of the year...

I admit that the book in the ‘Worst Book’ section certainly wasn’t the worst book that I had read this year, but I have chosen two books by the same author to show how one book was a dream to read, and the other rather more challenging.

Best Book – Cat’s Eye, Margaret Atwood, 1988

I read Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) at the start of 2010, and greeted the opportunity to study another of this author’s work with relish. Cat’s Eye was part of my ‘Coming of Age in America’ module which I undertook this year, and deals perhaps not so much with the main character’s, Elaine’s, maturity into an adult, but on how one’s childhood can profoundly influence and shape one’s adult life. it is told mainly through flashback on the key events in Elaine’s life, from befriending a trio of girls, developing her artistic career, marrying, having children, divorcing, up until the moment of confrontation with her past.

For Elaine was not only friends with these three girls, but bullied by them. The leader of the pack is Cordelia, whose love/hate relationship with Elaine is central to the plot. For example, it is Cordelia’s decision which leaves our antagonist at the bottom of a ravine in the middle of winter, yet also inspires her to become an artist.

Elaine’s art allows for the projection for her true feelings for the people whom she has met throughout her life, even if she cannot remember exactly why she feels this way. The theme of repressed emotion is thus explored by Atwood, which language is not capable of expressing, and can only be channelled through her character’s talent for painting. Atwood cleverly hints at Elaine’s true feelings by naming her chapters after the names of Elaine’s paintings.

To be brief, Atwood’s prose in this novel is some of the finest I have read – it is so simple to read, yet entirely engrossing. It is to be commended, as whilst I re-read parts many times to find the obvious golden sentence which must have subliminally drawn me into her work, I simply could not find it. The simplicity of her writing, combined with the intriguing and personal story, cannot help but engross the reader. The use of flashback, with the middle aged Elaine confronting her teenage self, means this text is accessible to a reader of any age.

I found this book interesting for it dealt with an individual situation, yet one which many people have experienced, that of bullying. It also deals with how feelings are expressed in art, and it was a revelation to experience a writer who explains to those ignorant of the fact that art isn’t just pretty pictures, but hides traumatic experiences that NEED to be let out.

Most not enjoyable as I thought it would be book, Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood, 2003

Please don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad book by any stretch. But after reading two previous fantastic novels by Atwood, I was expecting brilliance, but got a text with interesting ideas, yet not as engrossing a story.

Oryx and Crake is a post-apocalyptic novel, set in the near (ish) future, where, at the start of the novel at least, an unknown catastrophe has destroyed human life as we know it. It is here that this novel is interesting – it is far enough into the future that it is not human life as we know it. People have been separated into two classes, those who live in compounds, the privileged, and those in the ‘pleeblands’, which conjures up images of Orwell’s description of the ‘Proles’ in 1984. The antagonist, Snowman, has survived the catastrophe, and lives near an almost superhuman group of people, whose true story is not told until the end of the novel.

And this is this novel’s shining feature. Also told in flashback, it explores the events leading up to the catastrophe. I found myself only wanting to read on with a kind of morbid fascination for what event could have destroyed the human race so efficiently, who are portrayed so disgustingly, rampant with underage porn sites etc, that at the end I wanted them to die off, and the genetically mutated superhumans seem much superior.

Maybe this is Atwood’s point – there is certainly a critique of how we are being desensitised to pain and trauma in the websites which Snowman and his friends look at as teenagers. But it was also these passages that felt most awkwardly written. I find it almost embarrassing when authors say such things as ‘DVD player’ or ‘cellphone’ in order to try to root their text in the modern age, as if struggling to acknowledge that these things exist, and forcing the reader to believe that she is in tocuh. Snowman and his friend send emails to each other – sure, this is possible, yet this terminology seems very outdated in the age of Facebook and Twitter. It seems almost irrational that Atwood could predict the advancement of disgusting websites and genetically altering science, yet not the power of sites such as Myspace or Facebook, which had definitely begun to be influential by the time this novel was written. Also, essential products such as food are now in short supply, and so Atwood feels it is important to point out every time ‘real’ or ‘authentic’ butter, beer, cheese, whatever, is consumed by her characters in the compounds. However, the repetition of this idea or privileged authenticity can become a little dull, perhaps ‘done to death’ is the correct expression.

Atwood again explores the issues of childhood strains on the adult self, yet I’m not sure if it’s the anti-hero of Snowman or the more personal first person perspective of Elaine which makes Cat’s Eye the more engrossing story. Oryx and Crake felt more like a niggling thorn in my side to fill the gaps in the plot, like a Da Vinci Code ‘let’s get this over with’, rather than in Cat’s Eye, where I urgently needed to discover exactly what it was that has created Elaine, a much more rounded, realistic, and embraceable character.

P.S.

I promise to talk about Margaret Atwood next time...

The King's Speech

So I went to see The King’s Speech (Tom Hooper) yesterday (a certain chain cinema, £6.85 student ticket during the ‘Saver’ period, thank goodness it wasn’t Saturday prime time) and it was without question the best film I’ve seen since...Winter’s Bone.
The film follows Albert, Duke of York, the man who would be George VI (Colin Firth) as he attends speech therapy in order to overcome his stammer, so that he may carry out public speaking and not get bullied by his brother and father.  As I am what has been called an ‘anarchist’ by some people, or in my own words, generally just not really a pro-monarchy kind of guy, I could have easily have pretended to hate this film, not taken an interest, and have been delighted that the king could potentially make a fool out himself in front of thousands of people.
But, as sickening as it sounds, both Firth’s performance, as well as that of Geoffrey Rush playing the therapist, Lionel Logue, genuinely evokes your sympathy the Duke’s struggles. I found it generally did this by revealing the coldness in relationships within the royal family itself – George V has no patience with his poor son’s incapacity, and his brother mockingly calls him ‘B-B-B-Bertie’ (George VI’s real name was Albert – I didn’t realise they chose names for kings like they do with the pope, just whatever sounds good).  Bertie finds more comfort with Logue, who takes him down a peg, insisting on calling each other by their first names, rather than ‘Albert Frederick Arthur George’ which the Duke starts out as preferring. Yet their relationship develops, explicitly and hilariously portrayed as Logue invites Bertie to engage with throat and mouth exercises, such as tongue twisters, shouting vowel sounds through open windows, and wobbling his cheeks around as one would do to make a baby laugh. There is no better way of describing it! Although comical, watching a member of the ultra privileged free himself from the shadow of his judgemental family is very rewarding.  
As I have previously said in earlier posts, I enjoy films without the need for over-the-top special effects, focusing on just a few important characters. The first scene with Bertie and Logue interacting is a perfect example of why I find this so engaging – fast, witty dialogue, that could make you laugh and cry, immediately revealing both the Duke’s apparent stubbornness and his therapist’s unorthodox calm determination. I also enjoyed the camera angles used within the sessions between the two men – simply following them as they sit down rather than keeping it as a wide shot was so simple yet flowing and harmonious. It emphasises their growing fondness with each other and the Duke’s increased willingness to open up his private life to a common man, even in his dark and dingy study. Contrast this to a view inside Buckingham Palace (I believe) shown directly from above, the ornate decorations adorning the walls and ceiling enclosing the lens like the frame of a painting. It highlights the film’s outlook on royal life – beautiful in the exterior but ultimately harsh and dissatisfying.
Once again I have waffled on, and not even mentioned Helena Bonham Carter, who delivers as superbly, even in a supporting role, showing a personal and caring side to royal relationships. It should also be said that this was made with the British Film Council – another example of a fantastic British film, low key, brilliantly convincing acting, and an original storyline. How could this institution even be considered for abolition as it is by the coalition government? Outrageous.
 The first and final scenes are some of the best I have seen. The opening is true buttock clenching and knuckle whitening awkwardness as Firth captures the true fear of the Duke as he prepares to make a speech. The final draws all the best parts together – what isn’t funny yet sincerely moving about Geoffrey Rush mouthing the F word and waltzing to silent music to calm to new King as he braves all and delivers his wartime speech over the wireless?

Amazing.

Independent cinema

It seems my book disucssion is thin on the ground, but talking about Winter's Bone got me thinking about independent cinema and how amazing and valuable they are.

I saw Winter's Bone at the Pheonix Cinema in Leicester, which although I admit doesnt have the most comfortable seats in the world, shows a larger variety of films than the local Odeon or 'Cinema de Lux'. Pheonix offers cheap prices (was it about £2.50 for a student ticket? Why arnt they all like that?) as well as showing films which arnt just throwaway Hollywood junk, allowing access to independent or foriegn films.

Similarly, I have visited the tiny cinema in Keswick, Cumbria, which even has usherettes before the main feature to dish out food. Just like the old days. And is real cheap as well.

I wish all cinemas were like this!!!!!!!!!!