The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
- Book Review: 'State Of Wonder' is a pleasure to read
- Martin Jacques' latest views on China
- Cake to gobble up ... and savour
| Book Review: 'State Of Wonder' is a pleasure to read Posted: 28 Oct 2012 07:19 AM PDT This is a mature and thoughtful novel that creates an atmosphere that stays with the reader even after the book has been put down. State Of Wonder MARINA Singh is from Minnesota in America, but she carries the legacy of her Indian father's name and skin colour which makes her stand out from the rest of her translucent extended family with their Scandinavian blood. This has very little to do with the story, but is just an example of how this wonderful novel shows right from the outset that one of its predominant techniques is contrast. Author Ann Patchett shows that by setting things as opposites, they stand out all the more. The story follows Marina, a former surgeon who now works as a pharmacologist for a large pharmaceutical firm, from the snowy featureless plains of Minnesota to the heart of the Amazonian rainforest. The new environment is nothing like the urban landscape she is used to. We compare the northern and southern hemispheres through her eyes – one where nature is tamed and picked apart at microscopic level in her laboratory and the other where nature is very much "red in tooth and claw" and puts all sorts of dangerous and potentially lethal obstacles in her path as she tries to find Dr Swenson, an old college lecturer of hers who made a strong impression on her formative years. As Marina navigates her way up increasingly remote tributaries of the Amazon River, it is difficult not to be reminded of The Heart Of Darkness, Jospeph Conrad's classic tale, with Marina standing in as Marlow and Dr Swenson as a female Kurtz. We follow Marina through the transition from the clinical brightness of the pharmaceutical laboratory where everything is mastered, to the dark depths of the tropical rainforest where almost everything is beyond her control, or so it seems at first. Initially, Marina is drawn into this adventure more or less against her will but complies with what is expected of her because that is how she has always led her life. But Marina is shaped and changed by her journey, whittled down by her experiences. Any excess is stripped away. Not once, but twice, she loses her luggage, including her phone, and she has to let go of everything that might link her to her former self in the modern world. For lack of other clothes she is forced to dress like the natives. In the tropics, her skin becomes as dark as the inhabitants of the rainforest and at one stage she is even mistaken for a member of the tribe. And during her time with the matriarchal Dr Swenson she faces the things she fears the most and emerges stronger and transformed. But State Of Wonder is much more than just a simple quest novel. It successfully weaves important social issues into its enthralling plot, addressing themes such as medical ethics, the role of women in medicine, and the impact that a teacher can make on our lives. Perhaps the book's most important theme, however, is women's fertility. The author herself is in her late 40s and has no children of her own, a deliberate choice on her part and a choice being made by an increasing number of women who choose a career over the traditional role of child-rearing. She creates a scenario that allows her to explore what might happen if women could choose to have children much later in life than nature usually allows and tackles the moral and physical implications that go with that. We see all this through the eyes of a 42-year-old childless Marina who comes to the understanding that not making a choice is a choice in itself, while at the same time learning that we have to be careful what we wish for. Essentially, this book looks at the arrogance of rational, analytical science pitted against the supremacy of dark, unknowable nature. Ultimately, nature will win. State Of Wonder is quite a long book and will keep the reader happily engrossed for many enjoyable hours, though there is a sense that, though sown, and even watered, some seeds for sub-plots never germinate and certain avenues and possibilities of this story are left unexplored, somewhat like the dark unknowable tributaries of the Amazon that Marina navigates. The most developed characters in the book are all women, while the men seem to be lacking in substance, to the extent that some of them are hardly there at all and, indeed, for much of the book it seems that all the men in Marina Singh's life are absent, including her father, her colleague, her lover and her ex-husband. When they do appear it is just fleetingly as a device to show us other aspects of the heroine's character. But while this is a book about women and women's issues, it isn't necessarily just a women's book. It is an adventure story too, and keeps the reader turning pages right up until the satisfying resolution. The writing is beautiful and deceptively simple, the hallmark of a good writer. Each sentence flows perfectly, making this book is a real pleasure to read. It is a mature and thoughtful novel that creates an atmosphere that stays with the reader even after the book has been put down. State Of Wonder was one of the six novels shortlisted for this year's Orange Prize for Fiction (eventually won by Madeline Miller for The Song of Achilles); one of Ann Patchett's previous five novels, Bel Canto, also set in South America, won the Orange Prize in 2002. |
| Martin Jacques' latest views on China Posted: 28 Oct 2012 07:17 AM PDT An author shares his views on the growing clout of the world's second largest economy. AUTHOR and academic Dr Martin Jacques released an updated and expanded second edition of his widely acclaimed book, When China Rules The World: The End Of The Western World And The Birth Of A New Global Order, earlier this year. During a recent visit to Kuala Lumpur when he attended an Asian Centre for Media Studies event, Jacques (pic) spoke to The Star about his book and its approach to the subject. Some excerpts: How is the second edition different from the first? Time. Because China is growing so quickly, China time is fast. There's been a lot of updating throughout the second edition. When I wrote the first edition, the 2008 (US-centred) financial crisis had just happened. The last chapter is about the crisis, which was little commented on before. The second edition looks at the beginnings of a Chinese economic world order. How far is the second edition a response to critics of the first? I don't think what I've done is a response to the critics. The inaccuracies in the first edition were very few, and I've certainly responded to those. There was a bit of a jump in the argument between the rise of China and its relations with other countries. Here I look at not just China-US relations, but the rise of developing countries generally, of which China is a part. I use the phrase "rule the world" as a metaphor. I've learned a lot from meetings and discussions. There was never much in the first edition I wanted to change. The structure of the book is basically the same. Do you see China's rise as continuing into the future? Yes, definitely. Along the lines of the book, without any doubt whatsoever. How might a new China-centred tributary system emerge in East Asia? There are echoes of a tributary system. The most obvious return to that is the rise of China. East Asian economies today are much more China-centric. There's the fact we're now moving to a new China-centric system. China is probably the most important market for countries in the region, for trade and investment, with its high-speed rail links, and so on. Getting on with China will be absolutely crucial for countries in this region. Can economic dominance translate into clout in other spheres? If China is economically dominant, that gives it a great deal of influence over other countries. The draw of China will be that much greater. China will be a huge cultural presence in the region. Lots of people in this region will study in Chinese universities. Beijing will be a tremendous draw. You can see that in the flight patterns of Malaysia Airlines, for example. Previously, Malaysians travelled to Britain, not so much to other East Asian countries; it would be interesting to see the changes. The attraction of Shanghai will be that of a big city like New York. People are attracted to power. We'll be much more familiar with Chinese governance and institutions. From being a mystery, they'll be familiar; we were used to the United States before, but much more with China (in future). What of Greater China, the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan? All the ties will get stronger. Hong Kong will remain very much as now, I don't expect it to change. It will become increasingly integrated (with the mainland) and Sinicised, and (still) in many senses not very Chinese. I would expect Taiwan to move ever closer to China. Taipei feels it has nowhere to go except closer to China. There are already a large number of Taiwanese working in China. There has been growing economic integration. Over the next 20 years, Taiwan will probably accept Chinese sovereignty. It will come because it is absolutely the logical step. What of the prospects of China's collapse, as some predict? There are gradations on the scale. China isn't going to sail into the sunset without problems. But what I'm extremely sceptical about are predictions about the problems leading to economic meltdown and Armageddon. Some day China may see a multi-party system, although unlikely. China may be more open, but it will still be very much Chinese. A collapse is not impossible, but extremely unlikely. Can China's economic power translate into cultural influence? It will take a long time. China is still a poor country. Rich countries don't aspire to be like a poor country; economic power is the basis (of cultural influence). The Beijing Olympics is an example: China was unable to stage it 10 years before. Since the rest of the world is not familiar with Chinese culture, the process of feeling comfortable with China culturally and politically will take a long time. Because Chinese culture is so different from Western culture, it will take a century for the West to be familiar with it. I'm sceptical that it won't happen. How is China's rise regarded by India? India has a big problem with China, as it has a very strong view of China. India is a long, long way behind (in growth). Indians are traumatised by China; their relationship with China is erratic, fickle and fearful. Because of the border wars, China looms very large in the Indian imagination. The issue doesn't disturb the Chinese, but for Indians it's an issue. India is so far behind that the thought of overtaking China (economically) is the talk of fantasists in dreamland. India needs to learn as much as possible from China and pursue a strong relationship with it. It needs a clear strategy in dealing with China. India should stop this petty rivalry. At the moment there's not much of that happening. What of China's relations with South-East Asia? In historical terms for this region, 100 years (since the end of China's dynastic rule in 1912) is not such a long time. There is a familiarity with China in this region that is not found in other parts of the world. This marks out relations with China as different here. Countries in this region relate with China in a multifarious process. Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar are dealing (economically) with China mostly through Chinese provinces closest to them. It's a situation most nation states don't allow in their regions. But Chinese provinces close to these countries will deal more with them in future. As for relations with the United States? It will take the US at least 10, maybe 20 years from now to treat China as an equal. It will happen in a series of baby steps here and there, for example by treating China as a partner in the region, rather than as a problem like now. But it won't happen within 10 years. In certain circumstances it may happen quicker, such as a (Western) financial crisis, or it would take longer. And Europe? There's been poor coverage of China in the rest of the world, mainly from ignorance. Coverage tends to be Eurocentric. Soviet reforms under Gorbachev with glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) were well received in Western Europe. But the Soviet system could not be reformed. China's communist revolution had better historical roots than the Soviet's. What remains of the 'Washington Consensus' (ie, US-style economic doctrine)? It's dead. In the developing world, China is the main show. Why look at America? China is actively doing (the alternative): there are general lessons in its emphasis on infrastructure, the importance of the state, of political stability, and so on. Will there be a third edition? I probably won't do a third edition. It was hard work with the (second edition), being governed by the framework of the existing book. I'd probably work on something fresh. More on the lines of "understanding China," so that people can understand the conceptual thinking. |
| Cake to gobble up ... and savour Posted: 27 Oct 2012 04:34 PM PDT Seraphina THE world is the kingdom of Goredd where, 40 years earlier, a treaty had been signed between man and dragonkind. Since then the communities have coexisted in relative harmony. The dragons are obliged to take human form within the city walls and are forbidden to hoard gold. For younger dragons, knowledge is stored instead, literally, in the form of stacks of books. Orma is one such dragon. He is a scholar and Seraphina's music teacher. There is a more complex relationship between the dragon and the book's main character, but I am going to try to keep this review spoiler-free. I fear this means not saying much about Seraphina herself. She is, naturally, at the centre of much of the action and to reveal too much about her would practically give the plot away. Suffice to say she is the only daughter of a widowed lawyer, the assistant to the court composer, and tutor to the Crown Princess Glisselda. Seraphina is quiet, reserved, described by the princess as "cranky". In the course of the novel she proves herself to be inventive, intelligent, brave and compassionate. And of course the music she produces on her flute is "sublime" and transcendental. The book begins at the funeral of the Crown Prince Rufus. He is murdered – decapitated, which raises the question that dragons were involved. Seraphina finds herself drawn into the investigation, first in response to something revealed by Orma, and then, at the behest of Prince Lucian Kiggs, Glisselda's cousin and fiancé. It's an exciting, absorbing story, with enough action to keep you turning the pages, and full of rich and surprising detail – the characters so sharply drawn, the world made real through words that allow you to smell and taste and feel it. Just enough is revealed about events and characters to keep the reader guessing, and wondering, and, most deliciously, longing. The suspense is incredible, and the chemistry between Seraphina and the other characters is remarkable, and, in one instance, heart-breaking. This is one of those rare books that I wanted to re-read the moment I finished it. It is so delicious that I admit to rushing through it – the way you might gobble a wonderful slice of cake – and then regret not savouring every mouthful. I think it just might be my favourite book published this year. And as for Seraphina, she has joined that company of fictional heroes whom I want to be like when I grow up. They are all young women – Dido Twite, Sophie Hatter, Lyra Silvertongue, Hua Mulan (no, NOT the Disney version) – apart from Ged, from Ursula Le Guin's A Wizard Of Earthsea. It's wonderful to know that admirable, flawed, lovable characters are still being created. The second book in Hartman's planned trilogy is scheduled for release in the middle of next year. I look forward to meeting Seraphina again then. ■ Daphne Lee reads to wonder and wander, be amazed and amused, horrified and heartened and inspired and comforted. She wishes more people will try it too. Send e-mails to the above address and check out her blog at daphne.blogs.com/books. |
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