Showing posts with label Jim Crace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jim Crace. Show all posts
Wednesday, 10 June 2015
Wednesday, 22 January 2014
Jaipur Literature Festival 2014, Day 5--A Glorious Finale!
Magic, finally, on my last day at the JLF, probably the wettest n coldest day in the history of the festival. Till yesterday, I was adamant that next year I would take a break from attending the fest, but after today's sessions I am not so sure.
It was lovely listening to Crace talk about his writing as he is such a modest person and instead of blowing his own trumpet, he pointed out his 'bad habits': a tendency to be over-moralistic; the over-use of rhythmic and poetic language; and a leaning towards pessimism.
He began the session by declaring himself to be an old fashioned storyteller, and then went on to state that the ability to tell stories is what makes us human. Perhaps, everyone can tell a story...but not many can write one well!
Crace talked about the importance of deciding which tense and person to write in. While the third person is the default voice of story telling, it implies an all-knowing narrator. In contrast, with the first person narrator, there is a sense that the narrator does not know everything and, instead, encounters things along with the reader. Similarly, by using the present tense, there is a sense of not knowing what lies ahead. Crace likened his narrator of Harvest to Nick Carraway who, though being a party to the action, was an observer.
He mentioned that in Harvest he touches upon three issues: capitalism; the tendency of people under pressure to look for scapegoats; the duality in the nature of humankind, of a person's immense love for his/her own land vs an immense curiosity for the rest of the world.
Crace while discussing religion said that though he was an atheist and believed more in land than in god, he did not dismiss god. He felt it was the norm for humankind to have belief. While he did not believe in the truth of religious stories he believed in the comfort that such stories provided. Great religions, according to him, understand the importance of a memorable story as a means for people to believe. Crace explained that he believed in the power of storytelling. However, with the progress of science religious narratives are being pushed to a corner so, according to Crace, new narratives are needed.
What really gets under Crace's skin is the assumption that an uneducated person person cannot have great sensibility. According to him, the argument that Shakespeare could not have written his plays because he came from a humble background is rubbish. He said that if one were to look at the upper class of the times they were 'buffoons'. Just like Shakespeare loved converting nouns to verbs, Crace confessed he loved doing the same.
Jim Al-Khalili's session was electrifying, pure magic! In less than an hour, he gave one a glimpse into the Golden Age of the Arabic speaking world, buzzing with the frenetic energy of scholars on their quest for learning. To hear of Ibn Sina and Al-Biruni exchanging letters, quizzing each other on the limits of their knowledge made me think that if it were not for their names, this could be a European Renaissance or modern day story of great minds swapping notes. Then, I thought to myself, why should it be such a surprise that science was so advanced in the Arabic speaking world, after all, the sophistication of their art and architecture would have to be paralleled in the other realms of knowledge. To think that this session with Al-Khalili was a bonus as the scheduled author was unable to make it for her time slot! If you have the time, you must watch this session on the JLF website.
The last session I attended was by Artemis Cooper on her biography of Patrick Leigh Fermor. She told such an engrossing tale about the man who walked across Europe over the span of two years; who romanced a Romanian princess; who kidnapped a German General off the isle of Crete; who accidentally became the target of a vendetta; who travelled to exotic islands to finally settle down in Greece and pen many a book; that not only am I motivated to pick up a copy of her biography of the man but I also want to read his travelogues.
Well, as you can see that over the period of this five day literary smorgasbord, I have ended up with quite an extensive reading list that I am going to be broke for a while!
Though I have not read Jim Crace's Harvest yet, I attended his session for two reasons: firstly, I had heard him earlier and he speaks very well; and secondly, my dear friend V, who is my guru, particularly, when it comes to advising me on what to read next, highly recommended Harvest;
so, how could I miss his session? It was lovely listening to Crace talk about his writing as he is such a modest person and instead of blowing his own trumpet, he pointed out his 'bad habits': a tendency to be over-moralistic; the over-use of rhythmic and poetic language; and a leaning towards pessimism.
He began the session by declaring himself to be an old fashioned storyteller, and then went on to state that the ability to tell stories is what makes us human. Perhaps, everyone can tell a story...but not many can write one well!
Crace talked about the importance of deciding which tense and person to write in. While the third person is the default voice of story telling, it implies an all-knowing narrator. In contrast, with the first person narrator, there is a sense that the narrator does not know everything and, instead, encounters things along with the reader. Similarly, by using the present tense, there is a sense of not knowing what lies ahead. Crace likened his narrator of Harvest to Nick Carraway who, though being a party to the action, was an observer.
He mentioned that in Harvest he touches upon three issues: capitalism; the tendency of people under pressure to look for scapegoats; the duality in the nature of humankind, of a person's immense love for his/her own land vs an immense curiosity for the rest of the world.
Crace while discussing religion said that though he was an atheist and believed more in land than in god, he did not dismiss god. He felt it was the norm for humankind to have belief. While he did not believe in the truth of religious stories he believed in the comfort that such stories provided. Great religions, according to him, understand the importance of a memorable story as a means for people to believe. Crace explained that he believed in the power of storytelling. However, with the progress of science religious narratives are being pushed to a corner so, according to Crace, new narratives are needed.
What really gets under Crace's skin is the assumption that an uneducated person person cannot have great sensibility. According to him, the argument that Shakespeare could not have written his plays because he came from a humble background is rubbish. He said that if one were to look at the upper class of the times they were 'buffoons'. Just like Shakespeare loved converting nouns to verbs, Crace confessed he loved doing the same.
Jim Al-Khalili's session was electrifying, pure magic! In less than an hour, he gave one a glimpse into the Golden Age of the Arabic speaking world, buzzing with the frenetic energy of scholars on their quest for learning. To hear of Ibn Sina and Al-Biruni exchanging letters, quizzing each other on the limits of their knowledge made me think that if it were not for their names, this could be a European Renaissance or modern day story of great minds swapping notes. Then, I thought to myself, why should it be such a surprise that science was so advanced in the Arabic speaking world, after all, the sophistication of their art and architecture would have to be paralleled in the other realms of knowledge. To think that this session with Al-Khalili was a bonus as the scheduled author was unable to make it for her time slot! If you have the time, you must watch this session on the JLF website.
The last session I attended was by Artemis Cooper on her biography of Patrick Leigh Fermor. She told such an engrossing tale about the man who walked across Europe over the span of two years; who romanced a Romanian princess; who kidnapped a German General off the isle of Crete; who accidentally became the target of a vendetta; who travelled to exotic islands to finally settle down in Greece and pen many a book; that not only am I motivated to pick up a copy of her biography of the man but I also want to read his travelogues.
Well, as you can see that over the period of this five day literary smorgasbord, I have ended up with quite an extensive reading list that I am going to be broke for a while!
Sunday, 19 January 2014
Jaipur Literature Festival 2014, Day 2--A Critique
Day two saw my initial euphoria of being at the literature festival subside and replaced by a more exacting frame of mind. I spent the day classifying writers into good and bad speakers, for despite being masters of the word, not every writer is necessarily a good speaker. So, who were the good and the bad and the indifferent....(of the sessions I attended)?
Interestingly, some of the best speakers were professors...after all if you want to hold your class' attention you better be a good orator! Professors whose classrooms I would love to be in include:
Marcus du Sautoy--whose fascinating lecture on symmetry and the language of maths made me, a totally non-maths person, pick up his book Finding Moonshine!
Anthony Beevor--always great to listen to him. While talking about non-fiction he pin-pointed the problem with historical fiction--a genre that I find uncomfortable dealing with. According to him, the problem with historical fiction is ascribing thoughts and feelings to real, historical figures.
Reza Aslan, a consistently engaging speaker, mentioned how he does not like the distinction between fiction and non-fiction to be that the latter is true. Rather he prefers to define non-fiction as being tethered to reality. He explained that the non-fiction tag gives a voyeuristic layer to the story which makes it more true. He also stated that the goal of all writing is to reveal character.
Other impressive non-professor writers were:
Xiaolu Guo who pointed out that East Asian writing was more poetic and less narrative than that of the Western world and then went on to condemn American Literature as being over-rated. I do admire such people who don't hesitate to speak their minds and I do agree with her when I think of Franzen's Freedom!
Nadifa Mohammed a very articulate speaker pointed out that FGM in Somalia is a part of every day life and therefore is regarded in a different way than outsiders view it.
Jim Crace--always wonderful to listen to. According to him 'global novels' are non-English novels that capture the imagination more than the country they are written in such as Achebe's and Marquez's works.
Fariba Hachtroubi--what a passionate speaker! She totally held one's attention and had so much to say about Iran and women's rights, echoing Gloria Steinem and Shereen El Faki, in the importance of having control over one's own body.
Shereen El Faki pointed out how the Arabs a thousand years ago were very open about sexuality and that it is Islamic fundamentalism that has made the discourse on sexuality so narrow. I am definily attending her session on 'Sex and the Citadel'.
Carsten Jensen with his engaging anecdotes has proved to be a great writer to listen to. Today's anecdotes were about how reading helped calm and reassure him whether as a young child scared in his room or an adult travelling on a dangerous road to Kabul.
Andrew Graham-Dixon's session on Caravaggio I hear was amazing. I got to hear a bit from him on the session on 'How can the sacred be sensuous' and I could understand why his earlier session was such a hit. Here he pointed out that in Boticelli's Birth of Venus, the cloak being held by Venus was shaped as a vagina--only the male eye could figure that one! Guess I better examine the painting carefully now.
George Michell. I guess I was already biased in his favour having enjoyed studying his works in univ. I was so disappointed that he spoke so briefly today as the others were monopolising the show. In the session on the sensuous and sacred focusing on Indian temple art, he stated that there was a strong connection between the court and the notion of what a beautiful image was and that 90% of the imagery of the Indian temple was that of the privileged elite. I can't wait to hear more from him on Monday.
Samantha Shannon, I place her under this category not because she made a huge impact on me but because I think that what she has achieved so far is very credible and because she was interesting to listen to, despite her young age. I liked the way she pointed out how YA which is supposed to refer to a target audience of 12 to 18, now refers to a genre of fiction!
Writers who are proficient speakers but failed to impress were:
Jhumpa Lahiri: she is an intelligent writer and made several pertinent points, but lacked the x factor...
Vidya Dehija...yes she is a professor but her lecture with loads of quotes from tamil poets was not terribly exciting. I found her whole perspective very westernised starting with her investigation into why the sacred in India is sensuous, for this is not a strange thing for Indians. Furthermore, I felt that this approach led her to a superficial explanation that it was a way for the patrons to ask to be blessed with conjugal bliss. Yet, we do know that the sexual images in places of worship in
India have a deeper meaning...a way of attaining another plane of awareness through the release of sexual energy.
The challenged speakers were:
Bejan Matur...in her case I think not being a native English speaker proved difficult for her, so while she made some interesting points she failed to excite one's imagination.
Nadeem Aslam...an extremely disappointing speaker, especially given that his books have been so well received.
Cyrus Mistry was perhaps the worst speaker...but he went up in my esteem by publicly acknowledging that public speaking was not his forte. I will read his Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer, as it just won the DSC prize for South Asian Literature.
So, as you can see today was quite an intense day, because of which I am only going to attend the second half of the day tomorrow. Well, the real reason actually is that strangely no session in the first half rally appeals to me.
Interestingly, some of the best speakers were professors...after all if you want to hold your class' attention you better be a good orator! Professors whose classrooms I would love to be in include:
Marcus du Sautoy--whose fascinating lecture on symmetry and the language of maths made me, a totally non-maths person, pick up his book Finding Moonshine!
Anthony Beevor--always great to listen to him. While talking about non-fiction he pin-pointed the problem with historical fiction--a genre that I find uncomfortable dealing with. According to him, the problem with historical fiction is ascribing thoughts and feelings to real, historical figures.
Reza Aslan, a consistently engaging speaker, mentioned how he does not like the distinction between fiction and non-fiction to be that the latter is true. Rather he prefers to define non-fiction as being tethered to reality. He explained that the non-fiction tag gives a voyeuristic layer to the story which makes it more true. He also stated that the goal of all writing is to reveal character.
Other impressive non-professor writers were:
Xiaolu Guo who pointed out that East Asian writing was more poetic and less narrative than that of the Western world and then went on to condemn American Literature as being over-rated. I do admire such people who don't hesitate to speak their minds and I do agree with her when I think of Franzen's Freedom!
Nadifa Mohammed a very articulate speaker pointed out that FGM in Somalia is a part of every day life and therefore is regarded in a different way than outsiders view it.
Jim Crace--always wonderful to listen to. According to him 'global novels' are non-English novels that capture the imagination more than the country they are written in such as Achebe's and Marquez's works.
Fariba Hachtroubi--what a passionate speaker! She totally held one's attention and had so much to say about Iran and women's rights, echoing Gloria Steinem and Shereen El Faki, in the importance of having control over one's own body.
Shereen El Faki pointed out how the Arabs a thousand years ago were very open about sexuality and that it is Islamic fundamentalism that has made the discourse on sexuality so narrow. I am definily attending her session on 'Sex and the Citadel'.
Carsten Jensen with his engaging anecdotes has proved to be a great writer to listen to. Today's anecdotes were about how reading helped calm and reassure him whether as a young child scared in his room or an adult travelling on a dangerous road to Kabul.
Andrew Graham-Dixon's session on Caravaggio I hear was amazing. I got to hear a bit from him on the session on 'How can the sacred be sensuous' and I could understand why his earlier session was such a hit. Here he pointed out that in Boticelli's Birth of Venus, the cloak being held by Venus was shaped as a vagina--only the male eye could figure that one! Guess I better examine the painting carefully now.
George Michell. I guess I was already biased in his favour having enjoyed studying his works in univ. I was so disappointed that he spoke so briefly today as the others were monopolising the show. In the session on the sensuous and sacred focusing on Indian temple art, he stated that there was a strong connection between the court and the notion of what a beautiful image was and that 90% of the imagery of the Indian temple was that of the privileged elite. I can't wait to hear more from him on Monday.
Samantha Shannon, I place her under this category not because she made a huge impact on me but because I think that what she has achieved so far is very credible and because she was interesting to listen to, despite her young age. I liked the way she pointed out how YA which is supposed to refer to a target audience of 12 to 18, now refers to a genre of fiction!
Writers who are proficient speakers but failed to impress were:
Jhumpa Lahiri: she is an intelligent writer and made several pertinent points, but lacked the x factor...
Vidya Dehija...yes she is a professor but her lecture with loads of quotes from tamil poets was not terribly exciting. I found her whole perspective very westernised starting with her investigation into why the sacred in India is sensuous, for this is not a strange thing for Indians. Furthermore, I felt that this approach led her to a superficial explanation that it was a way for the patrons to ask to be blessed with conjugal bliss. Yet, we do know that the sexual images in places of worship in
India have a deeper meaning...a way of attaining another plane of awareness through the release of sexual energy.
The challenged speakers were:
Bejan Matur...in her case I think not being a native English speaker proved difficult for her, so while she made some interesting points she failed to excite one's imagination.
Nadeem Aslam...an extremely disappointing speaker, especially given that his books have been so well received.
Cyrus Mistry was perhaps the worst speaker...but he went up in my esteem by publicly acknowledging that public speaking was not his forte. I will read his Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer, as it just won the DSC prize for South Asian Literature.
So, as you can see today was quite an intense day, because of which I am only going to attend the second half of the day tomorrow. Well, the real reason actually is that strangely no session in the first half rally appeals to me.
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