BOOKS! (Naomi)

Back in senior year of high school, I took a Greek mythology class in which I read the story of Pygmalion, the sculptor who fell in love with a statue of a woman that he'd carved. I read up more on the story later, and I remember reading somewhere a comparison made between Pygmalion and Junichirō Tanizaki's Naomi. Apparently Naomi is one of the most important works written by this pioneer of modern Japanese literature. The only other book I'd read by Tanizaki was The Makioka Sisters, and since I'd thoroughly enjoyed that one I figured I'd give Naomi a try. Took me four years, but I finally got around to it.

Naomi  by Junichirō Tanizaki
(originally 痴人の愛/Chijin no Ai/ A Fool's Love)

Set in the 1920s, this novel is the story of how a man tries to make a plaything out of a young girl and then gets played. 28-year-old Jōji is an engineer who despite his elite background, doesn't want to be confined to a traditional Japanese marriage. Jōji also has an affinity for modernity and all things Western. He's already been taken with a Eurasian-looking Japanese girl of 15 who works at cafe he frequents, closely observing her every time he goes. And he chooses her (Naomi) to be his perfect wife, figuring that he can groom her into a  modern Westernized woman and that they can have an unconventional, less stringent, and happy marriage together. He is obsessed with her beauty and her body. She's like his little bird, or doll, or puppet, and he worships her. Sometimes she's even his model, as he often snaps and collects photos of her physical features. He dresses her up in fabulous and expensive outfits, he takes her dancing, he teaches her English, and he gives her everything she wants.

It's not clear (or at least it wasn't clear to me), when their sexual relations actually start. From what I gathered they don't become "intimate" until after they have been married for a little while. But no matter. Whatever the nature of their sexual relationship, Jōji soon finds out that he's not the only one, as Naomi has been sneaking around. The extremely quiet, naive, shy girl transforms into a cunning young woman who has no qualms about using her feminine wiles to manipulate men, both Japanese and Western. She has discovered the power she has and uses her beauty and sex appeal like weapons, remaining well-kept and well-dressed along the way.

Furthermore Naomi turns out to be a disappointment in other ways. She pronounces English words perfectly, but she can hardly put together a coherent sentence. She takes to modern fashions, but begins dressing herself daringly in a manner that Jōji finds tawdry and classless. And while she's certainly not a traditional or typical Japanese woman, she takes her independence and runs with it, doing whatever/wherever/with whomever she wants. She values her marriage only for the security that Jōji provides, and she refuses to be questioned or  made to explain herself.

At first Jōji confronts Naomi and tries to get her to behave the way he wants, but it's too late. He's created his own monster, so to speak. In the end he acquiesces, continuing to provide for Naomi while she entertains other men and dispenses money like it's water.  He knows he's being used but just can't bear to live without his goddess, and accepts being dominated by her. Though we are positioned to feel bad for Joji (the novel is narrated from his first-person point of view) I, for one, say that's what you get for trying to turn a woman into a toy. Naomi turns out to be mad spoiled, selfish and disloyal, but what do you expect?

Favorite quotes:

"If there's such a thing as animal electricity, Naomi's eyes had it in abundance. It seemed beyond belief that they were a woman's eyes. Glittering, sharp, and frightful, they still brimmed with a certain mysterious allure. And sometimes when she shot her angry glance at me, I felt a shudder pass through my body" (47).

"It's often said that 'women deceive men.' But from my experience, I'd say that it doesn't start with the woman deceiving the man. Rather, the man, without any prompting, rejoices in being deceived... He plays along, like someone trying to make a small child happy. He has no intention of being misled by here. On the contrary, he laughs to himself that he's deceiving her" (51).

"Mahalia"

Was just on the phone with my aunt and she recommended I look up this song. Very timely considering what's been going on in this country this year, especially in the past couple of months. So many of us are weary. Props to Naturally 7 for interpreting the sadness of the soul in a way that honors Mahalia Jackson so well.

BOOKS! (A Day Late and a Dollar Short)

Oddly enough, I have Lifetime to thank for inspiring me to read this book. Yes, this long-running channel for women, which unfortunately is also one of many bastions of horrible TV movies, inspired somebody. Back in April, Lifetime aired its film adaptation of Terry McMillan's A Day Late and a Dollar Short, and I was impressed! I mean when you bring some of the finest black film and theater actors together to reproduce a novel written by one of the most successful black authors, you want to be excited and hope that nothing can go wrong... But with Lifetime's track record, you never now. Fortunately, I was very much pleased.  Never have I ever been satisfied or impressed with Lifetime movies, but this time I was! So much so that when it was over, I was like, I've got to read this book! So eventually I did.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short by Terry McMillan

Most of this story is told by a woman named Viola Price. Her family is the definition of dysfunctional, and is spread out between California, Las Vegas, and Chicago.
While Viola is at the center of this novel as the matriarch and the person holding the family together, each chapter of the book is alternately narrated by her husband and adult children as well.

These include Cecil, her estranged, philandering husband who's having a mid-life crisis. There's Lewis, the youngest child, only son, and a divorced father of one who's been in and out of jail. He's extremely intelligent, but never managed to make something of himself due to alcoholism and lack of focus. Then there's Janelle, a stay-at-home mom who married well but is still equally as directionless as her brother, dealing with a moody teenaged daughter and a police officer husband who don't get along. There's also Charlotte, a married mother of three and postal worker who has an anger problem, is suspicious of her husband, and has intense beef with her mother and her sister Paris. Which brings us to Paris, the oldest child who from the outside appears to have fared the best in life, working as a highly-paid caterer and event planner. However, the divorced mother of one is also terribly stressed out and lonely, and starts abusing prescription tranquilizers to keep her anxiety in check.

Nobody in the family seems to get along; they might love each other, but they don't really like each other. Rather, they tolerate each other and pretend to get along because they're family. Everyone has their own baggage, deep problems, and broken dreams. Even Viola has her hang-ups and bouts of anger/pettiness, even as she shakes her head and tsk-tsks at everyone else's behavior. Yet and still, she loves her family. And before (*spoiler alert*) succumbing to her severe asthma and leaving her family for good, she arranges a plan to get them to confront their demons and each other, so that everyone can move  forward with love and a clean slate.

McMillan does a fantastic job of placing us in the psyches of six people, so that we understand each person but are still made to be aligned with Viola. We know what everybody has to say about each other, but we also get to hear what each character has to say for herself/himself. I love this book because when reading Viola's dialogue and the sections that she narrates, at various moments I could hear the voices of my mom, or my aunts, or even my great Aunt Jessie in my head. My family isn't nearly as dysfunctional as Viola's, and none of the women on my mom's side yell or cuss like she does as far as I know. But there's something about a mama holdin' it down amidst the calamity (even from the grave!) that is just so real and relatable. And of course, who doesn't love to sit in on a little family drama?

Favorite quote:

"It's embarrassing, really, to be lonely. It makes you feel inadequate in some way. Like you don't measure up in this area of your life. It doesn't even seem to matter that I'm successful, because I feel like a failure as a woman, and I hate feeling like this. I know it doesn't make any sense, and I've tried to trick myself into believing that it's okay to be lonely, that it's not the end of the world, that I'll survive, but it still makes me feel like I'm lacking in something. Missing out on what other people have. In some ways, it even seems like a form of punishment, except I can't figure out what crimes I've committed" (243).

BOOKS! (Symphony of the Soul)

After a class at Red Lotus back in August, I was perusing the selection of books that the studio was selling when I came across this one. I picked it up, thumbed through it, and decided to buy it. My class's instructor noticed my choice and told me that I'd made a very good decision; the book's author was very deep, insightful, and particularly observant of the workings of nature. Up until then she'd been happily chatting with an Indian man who'd also been in the class, and he smiled and agreed with her interjection. She then asked me if I would like my copy autographed. Autographed?  "Yeah, he wrote it!", she giggled and indicated the aforementioned Indian man. That man turned out to be Bhupinder Singh. I'd been in the midst of an author/poet and I didn't even know! "Really? Would you mind?" I asked him. He smiled again and assured me, "Not at all." Then he took my copy and signed it (before I'd even paid for it yet), writing:

Dear Danielle, 

I hope this book will inspired you on your journey.
Blessings.
Bhupinder

Aug 08, 2014 

And there you have it. The story of the first time that I ever got a book personally signed by its author.


Symphony of the Soul: Melodies for a soulful life by Bhupinder Singh

Many writers and enthusiasts take poetry and music to be similar, if not one and the same. Singh takes this approach in treating all of his poems as songs, and all of the lines as melodies. Furthermore the vast majority of these "songs" are about love and intense connection. Rather than romantic love, however, this love is
indicative of oneness with God. And since this is a book by a yogi, there are also poems about freedom, openness, feeling more than thinking, releasing attachments, forgiveness, peace, quiet and stillness, self-discovery, and do on. He even muses on music itself. But love and the Creator are undoubtedly the most consistent threads in this work. And how fitting, seeing as how this book of poetry concerns itself with matters of the soul?

I also appreciate how Bhupinder recognizes that while writing is a profound experience, you never really grasp what it is you mean to say. You get superbly close, but you aren't actually able to get there. A natural response to this would be, Well then, why write at all? However, rather than the futility of writing, I think Bhupinder speaks to a beautifully humbling duality in which poetry conveys with so much depth, and yet experience and emotions are still too vast and multidimensional to be fully encapsulated by words. A poet who recognizes his limits, but writes anyway. I can dig that.

There are too many poems in this book (just under 160) for me to pick a favorite, so as usual here are a couple favorite quotes instead:

"All that is not love evaporates in no time
All that is not love evaporates in no time" (Cup of Love, p. 15)

"We see 
the world
as we know it
And 
We miss
what is true

We look for
God
as we know him
And 
We miss 
God 
right in front
of our open eyes" (God, p. 155)

Song Nº 25

Currently I'm reading a book in which the author talks about his favorite songs, and yesterday I read his chapter on this song. "Hey Self Defeater" by Mark Mulcahy. This is basically the story of my life, since I'm always doubting and second-guessing myself. So to all the unsure people and self-defeaters out there, here's a song of encouragement for you. It's a process, but we don't have to be this way forever. "Look up..."

No Coleslaw, No Problem.

Yesterday Ma, Ms. Yvette and I spent some time eating and chatting at Joe's Crab Shack before going to see Top Five. I was sure that I wanted the jumbo coconut shrimp but didn't want all the stuff that came with it (fries, hush puppies, and coleslaw). I was able to substitute broccoli for the fries, but the waitress wouldn't let me get rid of the hush puppies or the cole slaw. And I was just going to go along with that. But before she walked away Ma cut in, "Hey, you know you can just leave the coleslaw out, 'stead of wasting food. She's not gonna eat it anyway. "

That caught me so off guard! Like daaang,  Ma. I could've sworn I turned 22 two weeks ago. Why are you explaining my food preferences to waitstaff as if I'm some stubborn and picky child? I mean sure,  I probably wasn't going to eat it. But for all you know I might've been willing to give coleslaw another chance! Mama Miriam just came out of nowhere and shut it down, haha! I guess people never stop being children in their parents' eyes.

Tell you what, though. There was definitely no coleslaw on my plate after that!

What's Your Top Five?

As I did with the last movie I watched, I'm starting with what I don't like about this one so that I can emphasize some of its better qualities rather than its shortcomings.

Seen Friday October 12th: Top Five

Chris Rock plays Andre Allen, a washed-up comedian and recovering alcoholic. He wants to take his career in a new direction but no one takes him seriously. On the opening day of his newest film, a beautiful, sharp, yet enigmatic journalist/critic named Chelsea (Rosario Dawson) follows him around for a day. Their interaction forces both of them to reflect on themselves and their pasts with "rigorous honesty".

What I don't like about this film: It's not that funny. At least not funny in the way I thought it would be. It's marketed as being a side-splitter and gutt-buster, and with Chris Rock and the army of comedians he's got with him, you have no reason to expect otherwise. Sure Top Five offers some chuckles, but it isn't hilarious. And that was disappointing. But I think it was only disappointing because I walked in thinking it was going to be a certain kind of film, when it was never that to begin with. Top Five is about comedy, the industry, and the art of being a comedian. But it's not really a comedic film, or a "comedy". What I mean is that it's not a film meant strictly for laughs. It's also meant to make you think. And that can be a let down if you come into it only expecting to sit down and laugh.


What I really like about this film: This film is so smart! It might not be the funniest thing ever, but yet and still the writing is clever and Chris Rock made a lot of smart decisions in it. All that black and comedic excellence in one film? Gold. That scene where the old man from the hood busting Andre's (Chris Rock's) balls about gettin' all "Hollywood" and forgetting the little people turns out to be his father? Gold. That group of black comedians sitting around clowning Andre and talking about their top five rappers? Gold.  Chris Rock, Whoopi Goldberg, Adam Sandler, and Jerry Seinfeld sitting around a table in a strip club talking about marriage? Four of the greatest flippin' comics of all time in one scene together? Gold. DMX growling and singing Nat King Cole's "Smile" in a jail cell? Gold. I was dying. so. hard! Who else can accomplish all that in one film? No one but Chris Rock. Few people have the genius, body of work, connections, and respect amongst his fellows in the industry like he does, and Top Five is proof.

Plus, the film's message is powerful once you catch onto it. Andre is struggling with the reality that people love the character he's played more than the man himself. They like him better when he's broken (drunk and lost). He has more to offer, but is almost ready to give up on himself because he's afraid he might not be funny anymore sober. And of course, in true Hollywood movie fashion, Andre and Chelsea (Rosario Dawson) fall for each other. But he tells her he loves her in an unconventional way ("Hey, what's your Top Five?"). And the film leaves the story open-ended. Does he go back to get the girl? Does he go through with the sham wedding to his reality star fiancee? Does he stay in character and continue to play the Hollywood game? Does he go back to doing standup comedy? Who knows.


Lastly, Top Five reminds us that even after three years, "Ni**as in Paris" by Jay-Z and Kanye West still bangs. Since the film was co-produced by the two rapper moguls, I'm sure that this isn't a coincidence.

Would I recommend it?: Yeah, sure. I wouldn't pay to see it again, but it's worth seeing at least once.