The Beauty of Humanity Movement

The Beauty of Humanity Movement by Camilla Gibb, ©2010, Doubleday Canada

In times of strife, the artists reach for beauty. They paint, write poetry, pen elegant missives—all in the name of keeping humanity alive. In Vietnam, it was no different.

When Maggie returns to Vietnam many years after fleeing with her mother during the Vietnam war, she is seeking answers. She never saw her father again after a tearful goodbye, but what happened to him? Who was he? Why was he targeted by the government? And how does she find those answers? It all starts over a bowl of Phở.

Old Man Hu'ng has been making Phở since he was 11 years old. He has seen much in the decades since then, both inspiring and devastating. Through it all, he found a way to offer his own form of humanity—in his specialty noodle soup. A soup that nourished a movement, and a generation fighting for what they felt was right.

Tu' was born after the revolution and grew up in an age of relative economic reform. He is part of the next generation, welcoming the world to Hanoi with his Nike knockoffs, and tourist-ready smiles. But despite his best efforts to gloss over a tarnished history, Vietnam cannot shake it and Tu' is only just beginning to understand what that means.

When Maggie meets Hu'ng and Tu', all of their worlds collide. Secrets spill out and truths can no longer go unspoken. Camilla Gibb weaves her character's lives together in a beautiful way that proves that humanity will never die. It is a movement will all hold in our hearts, if only we pause long enough to see it.

Music for a Rainy Day

I started A New Day almost ten years ago. It has gone through several transformations, featuring the story of my travels through Africa, plenty of poetry, lots of photos, several book reviews, and even music. A few years ago, I even started a Monday Music feature that showcased some rather esoteric musicians.

Music strikes a chord with everyone. Whether you are into rap, roots, reggae, folk, classical, or hip hop, it bridges most divides. People associate with lyrics that touch them. They rock out to wicked drum beats or daze off listening to dreamy trance. I am no different.

My musical tastes have changed somewhat over the years. As a teenager, I thrashed around the dance floor to goth tunes that spoke of dark feelings and existential crises. That was interspersed with bouncy tunes by the likes of Canadian artists Bare Naked Ladies and Spirit of the West. It should be no surprise that an international flair sprang up in my musical tastes after my trip to Africa. And once again, music took on a new role after my husband died. I turned to music to help me heal and find new roots for myself.

I still appreciate any music that touches me, but am always interested to discover new musicians. They pour a little of themselves into the world and share what it means to be human. We all have hurt, experience love, feel joy, and sorrow. And sometimes we discover what it feels like to dance in the rain...

The Love Poems of Rumi

Happy Valentine's Day! What better day than today to take a look at Rumi's love poetry, as translated by Nader Khalili. The folks at the Quarto Books were kind enough to send me a copy of this beautiful book of poetry to review. Today I share it with you.

Love Poems

The Love Poems of Rumi; as translated by Nader Khalili, © 2015, Wellfleet Press

Reviewing a book of poetry is a tricky thing. Poetry is personally subjective. It is full of emotions, personal reflections, and poetic turns of phrase that spring forth from a poet's heart. Who is a critic to call it good or bad?

Such is my challenge.

Add to that, the fact that this is a translation from Rumi's works, and the prospect is daunting at best. Sure, I can comment on the artistic license that Nader takes in not including any capitalization or punctuation [Do I attribute that to Nader or Rumi? I would think Nader, as Rumi wrote in Persian, which is a whole different alphabet. Nader offers the English, therefore makes his call on translation and interpretation]

Regardless, I personally find 'i' distracting from the poetry as a whole. I want to correct the text every time I see the lower case letter. My sritique, but certainly not enough to take away my pleasure in these poems. If anything, I suspect we are to put less stock in 'i' the self, versus the bigger concept of capital L Love. Love is so much bigger than mere i in the grand scheme of things.

So perhaps we should delve into the text then, as Love is certainly the theme of the poetry inside the ornate pages of this book. Translation aside, the words of Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī are enough to sweep anyone away with their beautiful and heartbreaking prose that reaches through the ages. For despite the fact that Rumi lived from 1207-1273, I am sure that many can relate to these universal feelings we ache from; the pathos of Love.

anyone who is not in love
cannot be as light as a soul
like moon and stars
cannot be orbiting restlessly
hear it from me
as the final word
a flag can never dance
with no air and no wind

I would be remiss, if I did not share
some of the beautiful murals
found within the pages of the book

Ah, do we not all dream of the mythical ideal of love to give us air to breathe and stars in the sky. It is love that makes it so...

love is

a mirror

you see nothing

but your reflection

you see nothing

but your real face

Should we seek outside ourselves to find this love though? Reading this and several other poems leads me to conclude the answer is not necessarily so. It can be found within and without. Love is joy and suffering. It is a journey we are privileged to be a part of.

Wise council fair Rumi. Thank you for these interpretations Khalili.

But lest we give up on earthly love, and the boundless challenges that come with it, there are still many lines which offer hope to those still looking for love this Valentine's Day. The journey may be long and hard, but Master Rumi suggests the path is necessary and infinitely worth it. Khalili gathers these thoughts together and counters them in subsequent pages, but the message rings out throughout—Love is...

There are so many more lovely images, but I will share these last lines for auspicious lovers to be today. May you find your sweetheart friends! I have many more poems to ponder, as I wander along my own journey towards Love.

this heart will one day

find you a sweetheart

this soul will one day

take you to the beloved

seize your pain as a blessing

your pain will one day

lead you to healing

March

March, by Geraldine Brooks, ©2005, Viking

It seems appropriate to have read March during February—Black History Month. This novel is set during the American Civil War, as people raged against each other in the name of black emancipation. While a work of fiction, it touches on some of the many historical events of the day, many of them heartbreaking. More interesting for me though, was the fact that this book is an imagined perspective from Mr March, the absent father from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. And while I don't usually go in for fan fiction, this novel is a worthy read in its own right (won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for fiction).

Brooks readily notes that she takes license with some of the time periods, but she did her homework before writing this book. She started with Little Women, but dug deeper into Alcott's own personal history, where Little Women was born. In fact, Alcott's father became the model for Mr March. Some of the supporting characters who appear throughout Brooks' book are taken directly from historical letters shared between Bronson Alcott and Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, neighbours of the Alcott family. Mr March's strict vegetarian lifestyle and support of racial equality were also point of fact from Alcott's life. One must remember though, that this is a work of historical fiction.

I must admit, I did not always like the character of Mr March. He strove to control his wife's hot temper too frequently for my sensibilities. That would have been common for the day, but that was what attracted him to her in the first place. And would his beloved Marmee really have been so outspoken during such a tumultuous time? Perhaps, but it seems unlikely. Again though, a work of fiction derived from another classic piece of English literature.

Mr March was a stalwart in his fight for what he believed was right though, and however misguided he sometimes was, one must applaud the courage he took to stand in the face of the popular belief of the day and the rampant abuses that were slavery in the 1800s. Seeing snippets of the Underground Railroad, the bloody battles, the horrific medical practices, and the people who lived through those turbulent times was interesting though. So many heroes, even while they strived to be human at best. For perhaps to give a genuine care to our fellow humans, is the most heroic of deed of all.

"I simply ask you to see that there is only one thing to do when we fall, and that is to get up, and go on with the life that is set in front of us, and try to do the good of which our hands are capable for the people who come in our way."
~ Grace Clement; quote from March by Geraldine Brooks

A Gentleman in Moscow

A Gentleman in Moscow; by Amor Towles, © 2016, Viking

As most anyone knows, Russia has had a tough history. There have been wars, civic upheaval, glittering triumphs, and questionably dark events. This novel is set in the midst of some of them.

In 1922, Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov is arrested by the Bolsheviks. His crime—being too Aristocratic. And it is true. Having lived a privileged life, Rostov moved in elite circles, rubbing elbows with the Upper Class of Russia and the world,  all while appreciating the finer things in life. But that all ended with a poem that sent him back to the Metropol Hotel under house arrest, never to leave again. Effectively, he became a non-person.

This is where this sweeping novel begins, and, despite never truly leaving the confines of the hotel, where we get to reflect on the events transpiring outside the Metropol's doors. As despite the fact that Rostov can never leave the hotel, the world still walks through its elegant lobby.

So while Rostov readjusts to life in a cramped attic room, a far cry from the generous suites he was previously used to, life still happens. And while the story is slow to unfold, one cannot help but be swept up in Rostov's reflections on it. There are touching scenes of love, friendship, fealty, honesty, and deviousness that are hard to resist. My favourite scene being when Rostov is led into the cellar to view the vast wine collection, only to find not a label in sight. I too was aghast at the travesty of it and couldn't put the book down from there.

While the book is a work of fiction, Towles adds plenty of historical events to set his stage. For fans of Russian literature, I'm not sure if this novel would hit the mark, but I found it worth the read and look forward to discussing it further with my book club when we meet.