Reading Corner
Poet of the Month: Pablo Neruda
Poet is only one of many titles Pablo Neruda has had, but it is the reason he has become a timeless testament to the human condition. While he touches on many themes, love—for others and for his country—is one of his most prominent. He exposes the reader to the most intimate of emotions through his meticulous diction and thoughtful voice. Neruda influenced the laws of Chile through his work as a diplomat and senator—but he captured her hearts through his poetry. Suggested anthologies: The Essential Neruda, The Book of Twilight.
Fiction: Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thein
Canadian author Madeleine Thien’s 2016 novel begins in Vancouver with a Chinese-Canadian woman recounting her family life, but through the introduction of political asylum seeker and university student Ai-ming, readers are swept into a magnificent tale of China’s political turmoil, intergenerational trauma, and displacement, all connected through music and an ancient culture’s excruciating rebirth. Epic yet tender, this book is brimming with revolutions, romance and Ravel, conducting a symphony of love.
Non-Fiction: Gently to Nagisaki by Joy Kogawa
Despite the highly autobiographical nature of Joy Kogawa’s 1981 novel Obasan, this recent memoir takes a more intro-spective approach to her life story. She goes beyond the confines of the internment camp to explore themes of religion, sexual abuse, and family. The memoir allows the reader to follow Kogawa on her own personal, mental, and spiritual journey, while still retaining a universal tone that leads the reader to embark on their own exploration of the individual and of the whole.
Drama: Our Town by Thornton Wilder
Our Town is a play that both alienates the audience and draws them in the most intimate ways. Set in a fictional town in New Hampshire in the early twentieth century, it describes the life of several townsfolk. The play gives the audience a window into the lives of these people, but it also gives them an even larger one into the human condition. It wraps up the joy in love and the despair in death into one story without trying to get the audience to sympathize with any of the characters. Its meta-theatrical form, which the ‘Stage Manager’ exemplifies, attempts to create a divide between the characters and the audience, but in the most enduring and human ways, the audience is left with many emotions and thoughts by the end.