threatening journey to findhim in a Saharawi village turns against her as she struggles to find the only thing left worth living for. Martin Schifino's translation is concise yet dynamic, reminiscent of Ondaatje's composed and almost indifferent writing style, and holds on tightly to the reader's attention fromstart to finish.Still, some piec es to the puzzle seem left loose, without explanation, which can be attributed to the author's disjointed chronology. On thewhole, SeeHow Much I Love You is a good read for those looking toescape life's tedium and gain insight into the relevant history of a Spanish colony inAfrica. Meredith Boe Universityof Oklahoma Christine Montalbetti. Journee ameri caine. Paris. P.O.L. 2009. 279 pages. 18.50. isbn978-2-84682-350-0 Christine Montalbetti's new novel focuses on two men, Tom Lee and Donovan, and on the American heartland, from Oklahoma to Colo rado, that bred them. Like many old friends, Tom and Donovan are deeply connected by stories: tales of experiences theyhave shared, of otherpeople theyhave known, of the times theyhave lived through. Many of these stories are less than epic in dimension, but together theymore than suffice to make a life?and, potentially,many lives.As Donovan drives toward his friend's ranch, fol lowing a highway westward during this "American day," Montalbetti sketches some of those stories for us. Deftly, precisely, adroitly, she leads us here, then there. We see a football game in an anthropologi cal light, recognizing it as ritual; for a moment, we are invited to share theperspective of a mosquito buzzing overhead and wondering whom to bite next. We see Tom and Donovan in their student days, and we are introduced to theyoung women they courted?or to those who courted them.We learn quite a bit about some of thesewomen, and indeed about their sisters, and their brothers-in-law, and even their brothers-in-laws' fathers. Stories have a tendency to ramifywhen unchecked, afterall, andMontalbetti gives them free rein here, encourag ingher reader to follow thealluring meanders of narrative. This is a stunning novel, and Christine Montalbetti's best book to date. It isnot for impatient readers, because it's a text that takes its time, inviting us to do likewise. Journee americaine is a dilatory text in the noblest sense, a novel that recog nizes digression as one of the key seductions of narrative and exploits that rhetorical strategy to splendid effect. Montalbetti's narrator is a master of her craft,always mobile, inviting us to investigate various nooks and crannies of her tale, then recalling us to narrative order and the "now" of the telling, then sug 3 gesting yet another excursion into the past. She addresses us directly and inevitably, as itwere, leaving us with no place to hide as she attempts to persuade us that we are fullyenfranchised in theproduction of meaning. Anyone who is will ing to accept the contract that she tenders will discover bracing new readerly pleasures here, and a book thatenchants fromfirst page to last. Warren Motte UniversityofColorado Nii Ayikwei Parkes. Tail of the Blue Bird. London. Jonathan Cape. 2009. 176 pages. ?12.99. isbn 978-0-224 One of themost curious attractions of Tail of theBlue Bird is its privi leging of Ghanaian languages over English. Nii Ayikei Parkes tells a wonderful narrative where all the "English" words are italicized and theGhanaian words of Twi and Ga are not: "Itwas black and shiny,but when the tall red policeman stepped closer itwas wansima, about apem apem thousands" This in itselfsets thebook apart, and yet it isa revolu tionarypublication on other levels, too. Parkes has insisted on the use of phonetic script to capture the sounds of Ghanaian English?kete, sehi, Asem hennil?and mterestingly offersno key or glossary forthenon Ghanaian reader. In terms of con tent, the book marks a moment in timewhen thepostcolonial novel is leaving thestage; there isno "apolo gy" in this narrative, nor is there any great sense ofproblematic opposites. Things in thisbook are very much "as they are." Set in thehinterland ofGhana, the protagonist, Kayo, is "persuad ed" by theGhanaian police force to leave his comfortable forensic labo ratory job inAccra...
No extensive inquiry has been made into what influenced or inspired Baum's story, even though a variety of sources have been suggested for several of Baum's other books.6 Greene and Martin propose that parts of Oz came from stories Baum had made up for his sons (10; see also Mannix 36-37). Perhaps warded off by the widely held view that Oz is a uniquely American fairy tale and hence original and experimental, commentators generally have ignored [End Page 91] the possibility that Dorothy's adventures might be modeled directly upon stories Baum had read.7 Baum himself acknowledged no direct literary influences, claiming that Oz was "pure inspiration . . . right out of the blue" from the Great Author Himself.8 His introduction to Oz alludes to European fairy tales by Grimm and Andersen but purports to be presenting a new kind of tale without the horrible and bloodcurdling incidents, the heartaches and nightmares of traditional tales.9
Blue Highways: A Journey Into America Books Pdf File
2ff7e9595c
Comments