Sonnets from the Portugese

This little book of pastoral poems was written by the Christian poetess Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861), while she was still deeply in love with her husband, the poet Robert Browning and whom she had married as a delighted bride in 1846.

Here Elizabeth narrates her poetry with gentleness and eloquent tenderness.

She talks about her seaside strolls with Robert, and her prayerful musings on laughter and grief, as she writes, afforded to her by God. She also laments on the sufferings of children and questions the shortcomings of women.

In her mind, God exists and so she uses her painful reflections on another’s sufferings to search out his glory that she would perhaps benefit with more love in which to receive and give. Here, I’ve scribbled out a little excerpt from Sea-Side Walk. :

“We walked beside the sea, after a day which perished silently…

…the sky above us showed a uiversal and unmoving cloud,

on which the cliffs permitted us to see,

only the outline of their majesty,

as master-minds when gazed at by the crowd: And shining with a gloom, the water gray.

Swang in its moon-taught way…” – Elizabeth Barrett Browning. - susan abraham

Book Review – Secret Sea (Antiquarian)

 

 

 

I am reading the Secret Sea written by its author, Robb White who once worked as a former Ltd. Commander in the Navy.

It is an old-fashioned straight-off-the-cuff American novel, first published in 1947 by Scholastic Book Services.

I love my dog-eared paperback for its ancient charm bound into three oceanic adventure tales that spell a dynamic fervour. Picture shipwrecks, storms, battles, crooks and a rush for sunken treasure as part of a dramatic plot.

Musty smells warn of  memory heaped upon memory.

A sraightforward writing style and several scattered illustrations complete the thrills and spills of this now well out-of-print book.

Mini-Biography: Before making his name as a novelist, White worked in different trades.

This included being a deckhand on a vessel bound for the West Indies where White intended to live and work as a writer. He ended up publishing 21 novels in all.

To supplement his income, he was said to contribute dirty stories as well as sunday school ones to a variety of magazines.

White also wrote 4 television episodes for the Perry Mason detective series and a number of screenplays for the master of horror, Vincent Price. White would later attribute his eventual success not to talent alone but to pure rigid discipline of honing his craft.

Today, doesn’t a nostalgic tag like New York*Toronto*London*Auckland*Sydney*Tokyo bring on a wistful smile. Decades ago, these countries proved to be the Gardens of Eden for massive book distribution worldwide. - susan abraham

Book Review – Frangipani, a South Pacific tale

On reading Frangipani (Text Publishing, Melbourne AU$23.00) by the award-winning Tahitian author of Breadfruit, who is Celestine Hitura Vaite, the novel did not disappoint.

The South Pacific tale projected a visible picture of a mother-daughter relationship amongst the Tahitian working classes.

I found myself floating along with the author’s fluid style that stirred and nourished a deep well of emotions with which to tear, toss and swing the heart about by turns but always reaching that positive juncture of hope and optimism at end’s way.

Reality bands with humour. When there is no room for anything else, it’s better to look on the sunny side of things. And so the results are one of a cheerful domesticity straddled with complexities on the poorer side of Tahiti.

Celestine draws up a series of likeable characters and thoughtful conversations that pulls the reader on a long string without once faltering.

The main character Matarena demonstrates that even professional cleaners have a right to dream with their generosity, friendship and abundant feminine wisdom.

There is no degree of measurement in a mother’s love for her daughter as conflicting emotions pop up like a striking prism.

There is also no room for superficiality in Frangipani. Instead, the reader may be tempted to indulge in delicious homecooked chicken cuisine Tahitian style, munch on breadfruit and enjoy the coffees. But not before soaking in the sweet, musky scent of the Frangipani, designed to lure, seduce and arouse the senses to a fragrant passionate love.

I wish the end had reflected a little more exposition of the earlier scenes, that may have tightened the book to a stronger intensity for a dramatic emotional close and then it would have tugged at the heartstrings. - susan abraham

Book – Queen of Dreams by Chitra Divakaruni

The Queen of Dreams authored by best-selling novelist Chitra Divakaruni, is tinged with a pattern of sadness, roped in from a culture where teardrops mixed with customs and hardships, shadow ordinary family life in India.

This packaged history is more than likely to follow a family’s emigration, no matter where their suitcases end up.

It will swim its way cautiously down generations and face sibling rivalry with a wild splash. Stories will stay entrenched in legacies, handsomely bound and waiting to be told, no matter how turbulent the current or which way the tide is turned.

With Queen of Dreams, Divakaruni dives into the supernatural , winding mystery and intrigue like a hesitant toy.

Rakhi, an emigrant to the States, has a mother who dreams only of prophetic secret visions.

The parent sacrifices her assumption of good things and this brings about painful consequences. It is hoped that such prophetic inclinations may trigger bliss amongst family ties. Not so.

Rakhi faces a tragedy and through introspection, explores modernity against the traditional, scoffers with the believers and the metaphysical in unseen time with the physical in real time.

With her given answers, the jovial enterprising Rakhi must instead come to tough decisions on renewing her wilted love for a misunderstood father, restore her broken marriage, calm a rebellious daughter and learn to love a mother with strange abilities.

Divakaruni easily expounds on the technique of journal-writing to separate the supernatural elements in her prose.

Back to real time. Divakaruni throws the reader a hint of mystery by questioning tai chi traditions, describing a rival shop manager in the vein of someone with demonic powers and Rakhi’s own teenage daughter, Jona, who may have just inherited her grandmother’s gift.

As an illustration, when Rakhi reflects on her daughter’s talent just after 9/11. “She had dreamed of a cave frozen with bodies. I couldn’t say like other mothers might, ‘Don’t worry, it’s only a dream.’ The weight of her gift pressed on my chest like a slab of ice.”

And then too, a thoughtful vivid image on American life, from Rakhi’s point of view after September 11.

“People are taking advantage of the sunshine, the mildness of this November noon. Students amble along the path, children run squealing after squirrels, dogs pull their owners along as they explore smells, lovers sit on fallen tree trunks, exchanging kisses as lovers have always done.

A family has spread a tablecloth over fallen pine needles for a picnic. I peer over their blonde heads to see falafel and salad, pita bread, pureed eggplant.

How can everyone look so happy? Is there a magic shield around the grove that filters memory from the minds of those who enter here? Or is this how humans survive, shrugging off history, immersing themselves in the moment. If so, it’s a skill that has passed me by “- Queen of Dreams.

Queen of Dreams spins a tale of heartaches, awakening and hope. - susan abraham