Book Review

“The World’s Wife” is a collection of poetry by Carol Ann Duffy. This feminist anthology of poems subverts well-known stories and myths with women at the center. Duffy challenges us to reimagine history and literature, in order to challenge patriarchy and sexist conceptions of female identity.

In “Medusa,” Duffy utilizes various literary devices to confront stereotyped femininity head on with parodic subversion. She uses alliteration and the rule of three to reimagine Medusa’s conventionally poisoned mind. In the beginning of the poem, Medusa is skeptical of her husband’s faithfulness. She remarks “a doubt, a jealousy grew in my mind… as though my thoughts hissed and spat on my scalp.” These emotions compact into the rule of three, suggesting that Medusa’s insecurity is obsessive and evolving. “Hissed” and “spat” are onomatopoeic, evoking the sounds of a snake. Duffy alliterates Medusa’s transformation into a Gorgon; her “bride’s breath” connotes the once strong marriage, which is ‘destroyed’ by the “soured, stank” of a jealous relationship. Later, a “buzzing bee” and “singing bird” are turned into stone. Overall, this demonstrates that jealousy and rage have consumed Medusa, as a result of her male partner.

As the poem progresses, the reader gains sympathy for Medusa. Medusa maintains her love for Poseidon but knows that he will “stray from home.” Refusing to take responsibility for his adultery, Poseidon shows up with “a shield for a heart” and “a sword for a tongue.” He, as a reference to patriarchal society, has made Medusa into a monster. She is to blame while Poseidon is devoid of feeling and love. As such, Duffy is critical of the misogynistic treatment of women as trophies, or property to be used and discarded without any consequence. “Medusa” represents a pattern of women’s reactions to wrongdoings against them, where they are unjustly seen as the ones punishable and deserving of the mistreatment by the patriarchal Man (capital M). Duffy cleverly positions the myth as a symbol of female empowerment—by looking at Medusa straight on, women can take back their agency and challenge the patriarchy.

My second favorite piece in the anthology is “Little Red-Cap.” Duffy refreshingly disrupts the fairytale of “Little Red Riding Hood.” She employs allusion, internal rhyme, and intertextuality to flip the story’s traditional dynamic and challenge patriarchal conventions. Red is enamoured with the wolf. His jaw is stained by “red wine,” which is a drink of sophistication. He has “big eyes” and “ears”—a sexual, even phallic reference. Although the wolf is intimidating, Red is the instigator. She “clapped eyes on the wolf,” revealing her intentions and desire to exert power. Expressions like “sweet sixteen,” alluding to the age of consent, and “never been,” indicate that Red knows she can play up her innocence to grab the wolf’s attention. Paradoxically, her strength almost comes from the fact that she is perceived to have none. In this sense, the reader is compelled to reconsider the roles of the hunter and the hunted within wider hierarchical structures of gender and power, as the Wolf is an allegorical figure.

The sexual encounter between Red and the wolf develops into a ten-year struggle. Despite the wolf being originally presented as more prey than predator, he is later depicted as controlling in their relationship. The internal rhyme reflects the repetitive nature of his behavior, “season after season.” The wolf’s “heavy matted paws” indicate that he is rough and graceless, and Red’s search for the “white dove” conveys her desire for fulfillment; the replacement of lust with love. Thus, by taking “an axe to the wolf,” Red does not require the help of a male to liberate her. In fact, Red (instead of the original woodsman) fills the wolf’s belly “with stones,” intertextually subverting the gender roles. This is the poem’s greatest metaphor for empowerment. Furthermore, Red sees the “glistening, virgin white” of her “grandmother’s bones”—a broader metaphor for exerted ‘purity,’ or reclaimed honor for past generations of oppressed women. The very act of killing the wolf is symbolic of escaping patriarchal oppression and even killing the patriarchy itself.

In sum, Duffy has amassed a powerful collection of brilliant, feminist poetry that is filled with intriguing metaphors and layers of meaning. She reimagines patriarchal conceptions of female identity, both challenging centuries of male control, and demonstrating female independence. I highly recommend this creative anthology.

 

Robbie Kozman is focusing his studies on English, history, and economics. He plays varsity basketball, soccer, and golf and is a member of the senior school concert and jazz bands. Robbie’s writing have been recognized by Scholastics Art and Writing and Polar Expressions Publishing in Canada.

“No man is an island.” This famous quote by English poet John Donne captures the essence of human nature and the unavoidable need for human connection. In other words, it demonstrates that people do not exist by themselves and that in order to grow and live in a society, they inevitably have to interact with and coexist with others. These social interactions build up over time and anchor people to one another. Instead of floating aimlessly in an endless sea of individualism, we are strung together by our differences and proximity. An interesting example of the nature of human coexistence can be found in Fredrik Backman’s novel, A Man Called Ove. In the book, we trace the life of Ove, a fifty-nine-year-old man who is initially very grumpy and strict with others after the loss of his beloved wife Sonja, who was the sun around whom Ove revolved before her untimely death. Through his interactions with Sonja, Ove could escape from his ordinary daily life which in general did not make him feel like he was truly living. After Sonja’s death, Ove is isolated until he meets his young neighbor, Parvaneh. As time passes, Parvaneh helps Ove coax out his true, interior mindset from the depths of isolation and strict rules. These interactions with Sonja and Paravaneh provide valuable insights to Ove. Interactions with others help people develop their initial values or thoughts positively by providing valuable insights. Through Ove’s relationships with Sonja and Parvaneh, Backman illustrates how human interactions provide valuable insights, allowing people to evolve and enrich their lives in unexpected ways.

His interactions with Sonja bring color and joy into Ove’s repetitive life routine by providing valuable insights into finding happiness beyond his strict rules, making Ove change his initial evaluation of himself. Backman utilizes a series of flashbacks that detail the development of Ove’s relationship to Sonja to demonstrate how she was able to slowly pry open Ove’s carefully constructed walls. In the past, Ove was a grim young man who relied on strict rules and routines to structure his days after the loss of his parents. One day, Ove met Sonja on the train—this was a classic example of love at first sight. Through many interactions with Sonja, Ove could find his happiness and start to break free from the shackles of his loneliness. Sonja gave color and joy to Ove’s repetitive routines of life. For example, Ove once recounts how Sonja “stood outside the station with his flowers pressed happily to her breast, in that red cardigan of hers, making the rest of the world look as if it were made in grayscale” (Backman, 133). This vivid description shows that Sonja started to inject colors into Ove’s grayscale world, which is nothing more than a repetitive, grim routine. From another perspective, it is a sign that Ove is slowly cracking away his rough exterior to allow him to eventually compromise on his precise, almost tyrannical routine to seek true happiness. He breaks so far away from his familiar routine that he even unconsciously lies to Sonja that he completed military service in a conversation they were having on the train just to impress her (Backman, 130). This act of improvisation proves that Ove is clearly falling in love with Sonja as lying is completely out of character for a man who is known for his honesty and rigidity. His lie is a small act of rebellion against his own structured nature, suggesting that Sonja’s presence inspires him to step out of his comfort zone. Sonja teaches Ove to find joy in spontaneity and imperfection, lessons that transform his perception of himself and the world around him.

In addition, the interactions with Parvaneh help Ove develop as an altruistic person who helps others rather than an antisocial hermit. Initially, at the beginning of the novel, Ove is a person who doesn’t help others. He used to refuse to help others like Anita and Rune. He was rude to others in his immediate surroundings and openly pessimistic about life. After Parvaneh moved next door to Ove’s house as his new neighbor, Parvaneh tried to have many interactions with Ove by approaching him. During interactions, she often forced Ove to help others. For example, he helped a person who was about to die in a train accident. He also helped Parvaneh when she needed to go to the hospital to see her husband. He even extends his altruism to the cat, who is about to die due to the weather. One prime example of Ove’s growing altruism is when he fixes Parvaneh’s radiator. She pleads with Ove to help her fix the broken machine so that her children won’t spend the night shivering in pain. Parvaneh asks Ove, “And you can’t let the girls freeze to death tonight, Ove, right?” (Backman, 127). By urging Ove to help others, Parvaneh initiated a shift in Ove’s character.

To this end, A Man Called Ove by Backman utilizes the character of Ove as a tool to prove that interactions forged between human beings are the ones that shape and redefine who we are. These interactions help us positively develop beyond our initial forms to become the best versions of ourselves. Through Ove’s journey, Backman reminds us that we are not alone and that even in our darkest moments, there are people willing to reach out, if only we allow them.

As readers, we are invited to reflect on our own lives and consider the ways our relationships mold us into different versions of ourselves. Just as Ove finds solace and meaning through his interactions with Sonja and Parvaneh, we too can find strength and purpose in the bonds we share with others.

 

Dongyun (Daniel) Shin is a tenth grader originally from Seoul but is currently attending an international school in Jeju, South Korea. He enjoys taking personal notes, especially on interesting articles he reads, things he listens to, and videos he watches. Originally, this piece was for an English assignment but he has since adapted it into a book review of Fredrik Backman’s 2012 novel A Man Called Ove. Daniel hopes that readers get a chance to reflect on their own relationships in their lives and remind themselves of the importance of forging meaningful human connections after reading this post.

There are times when readers have the unquenching desire to melt into the symphony of a writer’s words; their orchestration of sentences and metaphors leaves the audience bejeweled with awe and veneration. Hence, it is not rare to proclaim Toni Morrison as a towering literary genius and exceptional novelist, brilliantly capturing the fundamental human condition and Black experience. In her blazing second novel, Sula, Morrison’s literary themes interrogate white exclusionary politics and celebrate Black girlhood, remaining deeply relevant in the 21st century. Morrison’s words, reading like music, illustrate a stunning portrait of Sula Peace and her hostile environment as she grows up in a generational household of defiant women. As Sula’s subversive acts are curtailed as malevolent and wicked, readers are granted a glimpse into the turbulent nature of growing up as a Black girl in the midwestern United States, witnessing the impacts of trauma, grief, and ostracization. Whether it is the townspeople’s moral repulsion of Sula or Shadrack’s gentle fondness and consideration towards her, Morrison extends beyond the lines of an unbiased, third-person narrator, becoming not only the storyteller of the events but also the insider to each of the character’s innermost thoughts and fears. Hence, she embraces all the wretched and kind, disparaging and encouraging perspectives of Sula, detailing the politics and shortcomings of freedom and rebellion and asking readers if it is worth performing as to what society confines and defines as a ‘moral’ person.

I remember reading Sula for the first time last year; it was harrowing as it was transformative. Through her writing, Morrison truly was a leading figure in combating 20th-century American conservatism and parochial views on Black life and girlhood. We see Sula, a woman who has been exploited and pigeonholed into becoming the pinnacle representation of spite and malice, as an allusion to general society’s demonization of Black womanhood and autonomy. After consuming this brilliant novella, I myself have cogitated on the parallels or contrasts between morality and rebellion, deliberating on the tumultuous nature behind living free and unabashedly despite societal discouragement and denigration. I believe every person should read at least one (or two, or three) Morrison books in their lifetime, with Sula being one of them. You’ll leave with your mouth agape, marveling at her ability to incorporate fires (yes, fires) into the book so seamlessly.

A poignant yet stunning portrait of Black girlhood, love, loss, and defiance, she ultimately examines the politics of insubordination in the name of liberation. We question what it means to be either disparaged or commemorated by those who fabricate the definitions of conventionality and morality.

A literary giant and acclaimed genius, Morrison’s searing legacy laid the path for the long lineage of Black female writers and their commentary on socio-political affairs. In a world where men are not the primary purpose, her novels defy the customary tradition that it is an inescapable tragedy to craft a story in the absence of men. Inventive for the 1970s United States, Sula proves to be a relevant, scintillating story of Black female defiance and power, engaging contemporary readers in continued conversations about ostracized and berated racialized identities.

 

Chaeeun Yoo is a high school senior studying at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Yoo is the Founder and Executive Editor of The Redwood Review and has been recognized by The Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop, Mint Hill Arts Center, Scholastics Art and Writing, and others. In their free time, they love vermicomposting and tending to their plant garden.

If you are thinking of pursuing a degree in literature or  are just someone who loves to read books on the aftermath of colonization and postcolonial studies, then this book is for you. Jamaica Kincaid’s book A Small Place is a work of creative nonfiction as it is based on reality. She writes intricately about a small island named Antigua. This novel is written from the point of view of a first-person narrator who provides a blunt outlook on the post-colonial state of Antigua, and describes the impact of tourism and how it plays a major role in maintaining corruption along with imbalanced wealth distribution.

This book feels like a conversation not only between the tourist and the Antiguans, but also between the reader and the writer, as Kincaid continuously uses the words you and I throughout the book which makes it quite intriguing.

A Small Place is divided into four loose sections, and in the span of only eighty pages, Jamaica Kincaid skillfully addresses all the critical issues accurately. In the first section, Kincaid addresses a tourist who is bewitched by the ethereal beauty of Antigua and wonders what it might look like from the inside. However, when he does get to know that it’s not in a very good condition, instead of exhibiting signs of distress, he is over the moon to see this island in a very reckless and deteriorated state not just physically, but also culturally, economically, and psychologically. In the third and fourth sections, Kincaid evaluates the post-colonial state of Antigua as it is today and the neocolonial influence left by the colonizers as a legacy to the Antiguan bourgeoisie.

The way she critiques the tourists and the Antiguan government is eye-opening. It not only feels realistic but relatable to me as a reader as I was immediately reminded of the state of my own country (Pakistan). I like this book a lot because it accurately depicts the deteriorated postcolonial state of countries like Antigua, and helps us to realize that Antigua and the like have so much potential to prosper, they just have to get back on their feet and work with all their might.

The structure of this novel is shaped like Antigua itself, beautiful on the surface level but rotten by fraudulence at its core. This is similar to how the author tries to criticize the wrongs, and addresses themes of corruption and colonization while maintaining a humorous tone. An example of her satire can be seen in this excerpt:

“Have you ever wondered to yourself why it is that all people like me seem to have learned from you is how to imprison and murder each other, how to govern badly, and how to take the wealth of our country and place it in Swiss bank accounts?” (Kincaid 34)

Her satirical and witty tone with a realistic touch is what makes this book stand out amongst others, as the author is not afraid to criticize the government for its corruption, and the tourists for adding to the crippling state of Antigua, because she believes that tourism is an instance of neo-colonialism and imperialism. Therefore, if you are a tourist in some postcolonial country, especially an American or European tourist, then this book won’t be an easy read as it is brutally honest. But we must not take anything the author says personally; rather, we as readers should try to understand the point she is trying to make.

All in all, what pushes me to recommend this novel is that it’s a thought-provoking and very powerful novel coming from a ‘subaltern’ herself, and Kincaid isn’t afraid of holding back her bitter yet truthful words, which are a definite blow to the face of corruption and injustice.

 

A recent graduate from Kinnaird College for Women University, with a bachelors degree in English Language and Literature. Kashaf Ahmad has a knack for writing and sharing motivational stuff. She loves to read self-help books and is a huge fan of manga and classics. Her hobby is to capture fleeting moments of life with her camera lens.

 

This gripping novel is by far one of the most chilling reads I’ve ever come across. Picture this: someone incredibly important to you suddenly passes away, leaving you in a state of utter despair. How would you handle such a heartbreaking situation?

The heart of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary lies in exploring the mysteries of life and death.

The narrative begins with the Creed Family – Louis, Rachel, their daughter Ellie, their toddler son Gage, and their cat Church. The Creeds have just relocated to a small town in rural Maine, as Louis has accepted the job as the head doctor at the University of Maine.

Upon settling in, their elderly neighbour, Jud Crandall, promptly becomes their friend. Jud is a sociable old man and Louis and Jud begin to regularly spend time together.

Louis, along with Jud, uncovers a hidden pet cemetery, where the pets of the town’s children had been buried for generations. Unbeknownst to them, this cemetery holds a dark secret that will soon come to light.

The Pet Sematary is rumoured to possess a mysterious force that brings the dead back to life, and that’s exactly what occurs.

At first, I found the beginning a bit dull, but as you get further into the book, it becomes more and more mysterious. It’s a classic horror novel, and King really knows how to make it spine-chilling.

Pet Sematary is more than just a scary story – it delves deep into the darker side of human nature, exploring themes of grief, loss, and the consequences of tampering with the natural order. Stephen King’s unique blend of the ordinary and the eerie makes this novel a must-read for horror fans.

Stephen King’s unique mix of the mundane and the macabre elevates this novel to a true horror tale.

I hope you enjoy reading this book- have a great day!

 

 

Sanskriti is an avid reader, programmer, and author. Her writing typically focuses on science and nonfiction. She has been published as a writer, with a science article appearing in Bookosmia magazine. Additionally, she serves as the head of her school’s editing department, as a writer for The Teen Magazine, — and has a strong passion for stargazing.

 

If you’re a bookworm, you’ve probably found yourself in a situation where you don’t know what to read next , but desperately want to read a book; If that’s the case for you right now, I recommend you read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, my favourite book of all time. There are countless reasons why I would recommend this book to you, and naming them all would take us all day, so I decided to share the top three reasons why you should read the book.

To begin with, Jane Austen’s characters in the book are undeniably outstanding; they each have their own personalities, and as you read the book, you will become acquainted with them. Austen’s legendary writing skills transfer you into the story. Lydia and Mrs. Bennet are sometimes so annoying that you want to hit them, while Jane is sometimes seemed very reserved when it comes to love, and her personality makes her always appear very kind and good-natured. Lizzy, short for Elizabeth, has always been my favourite character in the novel as she is rational and intelligent and always speaks in a lively playful tone, and perpetually stays very optimistic no matter what has happened.

Elizabeth’s attitudes toward love, gender, wealth, and relationships are quite modern, and the charm of this novel is that, while being written many years ago, we can still relate events in the book to our daily lives.

Secondly, the plot is absolutely engaging, and the writing is unquestionably phenomenal, you won’t feel bland and bored reading it even if you’ve read it many times before. Every time you read it, there will always be something new for you to discover that you hadn’t taken much notice of before. Unlike some romance novels, Pride and Prejudice makes you think deeply about wealth, status, and the true meaning of love after you finish reading it. I believe this is the enchantment of classic literature that makes you feel it will never be out of date.

Finally, the book’s writing is delightful, and there are usage of words/phrases in the book that we rarely use nowadays that will surely help you enhance your writing skills once you become acquainted with them. Reading Jane Austen’s writings will take you back in time, and through her descriptions, it is nearly impossible to resist wanting to live in the British countryside in the nineteenth century. The scenery, the landscape, the good-natured people, and the estates all seem flawless.

Pride and Prejudice is an unblemished novel because of its extraordinary characters, the engaging plot, and the undeniably delightful writing. Austen has a mastery over her creativity which makes the story appear flawless and intriguing. I’ve always enjoyed reading classic novels, but Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is my all-time favourite, which I’ve read many times and never grow tired of.

 

 

Fiona Li is an up-and-coming writer from Toronto, Canada who is making a name for herself in the literary world. As a lifelong bookworm, Fiona is passionate about writing and literature, spending much of her free time reading and writing. In addition to her literary pursuits, Fiona is also a talented pianist, drawing inspiration from her love of music to fuel her writing. Her work can be seen on a variety of popular websites, including Teen Ink, Book Recaps, Wikihow, and The Teen Mag. With a natural talent for writing and a deep passion for the written word, her work is sure to inspire and captivate readers for years to come.