Review of "The Stranger's Child" by Alan Hollinghurst

The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The ambitious novel,   The Stranger's Child, by Alan Hollinghurst, spanning from 1913 through 2008, chased the shadow cast by a domineering war hero-poet, Cecil Valance through the debates of his literary merits and uncovering every details of his life.  His short life had left much holes in his biography and in the following decades, some biographers tried to fill in the details, or leave some out, and in those fact-gathering processes we were presented a gallery of people who had crossed path with him, and the younger generations from his extended families, and people were were obsessed with him.

Hollinghurst did a wonderful job in describing the characters in social contexts, particularly in those long begone eras.  Perhaps, the early parts seemed more engaging or endearing, because the main characters then seemed more sympathetic and romantic, whilst when we learn more about them in the consequent decades, the more foolish and absurd they seemed to modern readers, and precisely because of that, Hollinghurst succeeded in being an impartial observer, instead of presenting something rosier than it was of those long-gone eras, and avoided sentimentality.

He buried numerous details in many places and decades for different characters and readers to discover; it not the poet's secret itself but what portion of which, and when and how it might be discovered proved most engaging and propelled plot forward.

This book, however, would only be interesting to the people who are curious about British life of certain people in recent historical settings.  More important, Hollinghurst wrote about gay people, and it was a bit bizarre that almost all the male characters in this novel had, has or ready to have an affair or sex with other males.  Ultimately it was hilarious.  However, it might be true, considering the English public school tradition.  If you can overlook this particularity or can savor it, then this book is quite enjoyable.



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Three Magazines to Publish My Works in April

Incredibly, three art and literary review magazines are to publish my works in this single month.  These magazines are:

• Superstition Review, published by Arizona State University
  
• Wilde Magazine
  
• Pomona Valley Review, published by California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
  

Currently, my works have been published or featured by several magazines and book cover, published by these institutions:

• The Artist Portfolio Magazine (MyArtContest.com)
• Epistemologies of Ignorance in Education (Information Age Publishing)
• Sychronized Chaos (synchaos.com)
• The Amistad (Howard University)
• William and Mary Review (William and Mary College)

My already published works can be see on my website: www.matthewfelixsun.com/publications/
 
Below is the slide show survey of those previous publications.  Stay tuned for the updates once the new publications come out.




Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst: 
- Two Figure Paintings of Mine Published by Wilde Magazine Issue 2 
- Pomona Valley Review, Issue 7 Published with My Paintings and Installation
- Four Paintings of Mine Published by Superstition Review, April 2013 
- Opening of "Free Art" at Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland
- Featured in "News and Buzz" on ArtSlant
- Honorable Mentioned in A Juried Competition

Review of "As Above, So Below" by Rudy Von B. Rucker

As Above, So Below by Rudy Von B. Rucker

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Very fascinating fictional account of Pieter Bruegel the Elder's life.  Several famous paintings by the master were cleverly employed to propel the plot.  However, the stories got somewhat way too far-fetched.  The author, obviously no artist, gave a pedestrian account of how inspirations and commissions came to Bruegel and the depictions of process of creations were less than inspired.  The most serious flaw was the repetitive expositions (historical information best feed in through footnotes here) and the stiff dialogues.  That said, it was a fascinating story about a fascinating artist in a most stirring time. 

I remembered many paintings I saw in Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna and some in Rotterdam and I browsed a copy of a monograph on Bruegel and learned a scholarly account of those famous paintings and that made a complimentary study of this master.  After you've read this novel, it would be great to read similar monograph to fully grasp his achievement and his time.

Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- Devastating Novel "The Land of Green Plums" by Herta Müller
- Ashamed of Oneself - Reading Book "Never Let Me Go"
- Molotov's Magic Lantern: A Journey In Russian History by Rachel Polonsky and Some Journeys of My Own
- David Malouf's Ransom
- Banned Books in Mao's China

Contents versus Expression

While trying to improve my art, I constantly try to concentrate on the message of my work - what does it need to say, what it is all about? In the eagerness to clarify my message, sometimes, I allow the the other aspect of painting - form to take back seat.

Last night, I heard a book review on NPR title The Gods, At Play In The House Of Mortals by Maureen Corrigan of the book The Infinities by Man Booker's Prize winner John Banville. What she said that struck me most is: "I used to put a lot of stock in an adage about writing. It went roughly like this: 'If a student says he wants to be a writer because he has something to say, discourage him. But if a student says she wants to be a writer because she likes to play around with words, well, that student may have what it takes to be a writer.'"

She continued: "I don't believe in absolutes about writing anymore: People write out of all sorts of longings and take many roundabout paths to producing good books. But I thought of that axiom as I was reading John Banville's new book, The Infinities. I often had only the dimmest idea about what Banville was trying to say in this novel, or indeed, what even happens in it. But it's clear that Banville — as a stylist whose first literary mentor, not surprisingly, was James Joyce — loves playing around with language. And his zest carries a reader over most opaque thickets here, where sound totally triumphs over sense."

Immediately, I thought about my desire of writing and desire of telling the story via painting or drawing. Am I falling the same trap Corrigan described here? Having something to say is important but then equally important is to tell it in a way which is engaging, interesting, and better still virtuosic. Without the well executed form, a message would be no better than a slogan.

I had a discussion about this radio book review with a writer friend and he, though didn't totally contradict Corrigan, warned me that I should not abandon my desire to tell a story or send a message - without them, virtuosity itself is nothing but just meaningless virtuoso display. Definitely I will pay more attention to play with paints, charcoals, pastels, crayons, etc.

The best contemporary artists, such as Anselm Kiefer, William Kentridge, and Andy Goldsworthy triumphed in both aspects, therefore they are great.

"Gomorra"

Last Saturday, I saw an Italian movie "Gomorra," (Gomorrah) directed by Matteo Garrone, based on book by Roberto Saviano. The screenplay was credited to Maurizio Braucci, et al.

It contained a series of brutal and heart wrenching tales in gangster- and drug-infested Naples, Italy, concentrated on a housing project compound that had the character of a human dump. Watching people trapped in the hopeless situations was difficult and sobering experience. The movie was brutal but not nauseating. Violence was portrayed as a matter of fact, not depicted as sensual experience as Hollywood might have done, or pornographic sadism, à la Mel Gibson.

Such a hard life, trapped in eternal hopelessness reminded me a Romanian movie: "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," written and directed by Cristian Mungiu, which told a story that takes place in Romania in 1987. Different culture, different class of people, different variety of trap, yet the same bleakness. Inevitably, I also think about the many human tragedies happening everywhere.

Humankind is damned, but some people are more damned than others.

"Crime and Punishment" and "Betrayed"

Last week, I attended the performances of "Crime and Punishment" at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and "Betrayed" at Aurora Theatre. The two plays were fascinating and a little frustrating in different ways, though overall both were qualified successes.

Crime and Punishment, based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's seminal novel, was adapted by Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus, and directed by Sharon Ott. The feverish degeneration of Raskolonikov's mind was faithfully captured and presented, symbolized by the multi-layered, functional doors, like the cells of protagonist’s brain. The staging itself was a triumph. The adaptation, blessedly devoid of the trap of a cheap thriller, focused tenaciously on the main point of the novel, which was admirable. However, there were a few dead spots, no where more damaging than the gratuitous and embarrassing "questioning the audience" out of blue. It was a desperate act to engage by shaking the shoulders of the audience. The final transformation and denouement of the play was murky and rushed, therefore less than utterly convincing.

The three actors gave decent to great performances except for the speeches and body language mannerisms of Delia MacDougall who portrayed an array of roles, and somehow slightly out of sync in Tyler Pierce's portrayal of Raskolonikov in his emotional outbursts or physical responses to exterior knockings. His flaw was not as damning as in comedy and could be ironed out easily with the run. The other actor J.R. Horne was brilliant as inspector and Sonia's father.

The overall impact was however strong and the non-linear structure served Dostoevsky well, considering the enormous challenge of staging such an internalized story. It was a 90 minutes evening well-spent.

Betrayed, written by New Yorker's staff writer George Packer, depicted the plight of some Iraqis who had participated in re-building Iraq after the country was invaded by the US forces and Sadam Hussein was overthrown. These Iraqis became stigmatized and faced threats on their lives, and indeed some died because of their "collaboration" with the US. The journey from naïvety to the awakening of an idealistic diplomat, Prescott, who tried to help those Iraqis, was almost parallel to that of the playwright, who, as a journalist, helped to drum up the invasion of Iraq. Consider this his own atonement.

One would not and should not compare this play to those by Ibsen, Strindberg or Chekhov. The characters, though vividly written and performed, stubbornly remained types. I believe that was out of the choice. The playwright didn’t want us to dwell on one individual, but rather a class of such people who magnanimously pronounced that they, the helping Iraqis, didn’t really feel betrayed. So, the play should be best described as "Betrayed?"

The evening was preceded by an event hosted by The List: Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies. The List Project was created by Kirk Johnson to help such Iraqis to relocate to safe countries. Prescott seemed based on Kirk Johnson as well. After the show, Johnson was joined by CEO of Ning.com, who had reached out to him to set up a social network to advance his cause, representative from Tides Foundation who helps non-profits to incubate, and a relocated Iraqi engineer who currently works at UC Berkeley. It was a moving experience to see so many people come together to atone for our sins. It was mentioned that PBS had video-recorded the New York production of Betrayed and it is a mandatory viewing for us, the Americans -- it was in our names, that our Army invaded and is still occupying Iraq.