“The Little Mermaid,” written by Hans Christian Anderson and first published in 1837, is a fairy tale about a young mermaid who longs for a human soul, and the love of a handsome prince. In pursuit of her love, she gives up her home under the sea, her identity as a mermaid, and her voice. When the prince breaks her heart, the mermaid has a chance to reclaim her life, but must kill the prince in order to do so. She can not bring herself to kill him, even though he has broken her heart, and so she dies instead.
Beth uses both hands to twist the wire in front of her away and up, so that the pale blue glass hanging from it catches the sun and reflects itself subtly onto the wood below. She steps back to look at the sculpture. It’s by far the largest she’s ever begun. The driftwood she gathered for its base is huge and gracefully gnarled, stretching itself upward like petals on a wooden tulip; she has built it up with smaller pieces, drizzled it with sand, and attached bits of smoothed beach glass to it with curls of wire. She loves it already. Beth closes her eyes for a moment, and the sounds of the lake outside, quieted all morning by her preoccupation with work, rush into the room. Beth takes one deep breath, lets it out slowly, then another, listening to the softly splashing waves, the aching cries of the gulls. She does this until she feels herself dissolve, until there is no difference between her and the lake outside. It’s been a long morning, and it’s time for her to stop working. She looks out the window at the lake, quiet today, a gentle expanse of blue. Time for a swim.
Without explanation, Niles moved out. The next morning Alison arrived at her cubicle early and Jill the secretary listened sympathetically. “Just don’t tell the boss.”
Their squat, jowly boss trod the office in constant anxiety that his all-female staff might detonate into mass hysteria at any moment.
Alison swiveled away from her computer when he said good morning, blotting her silent tears.
“Are you—” he cringed, “crying?”
“Not audibly.” Alison’s voice sounded calm despite the tears, remedied by many tissues.
Later, her boss tsk-tsked. “Still weeping, Alison.”
“My eyes water before the computer screen, which doesn’t seem to mind.”
“I mind!” he said. “How can I work surrounded by caterwauling women? Jill thinks you’ve suffered a romantic setback.”
“She shouldn’t think that,” Alison said.
“Our healthcare policy provides for trauma suffered off-site. Jill has arranged appointments for you after lunch with a therapist on the tenth floor. Emphasis on therapist, Alison—nobody here thinks you’re psychotic.”
That afternoon Alison waited opposite a table bearing a small bronze sculpture trickling water. Vivaldi resounded from above.
A door opened: A plump man in a green turtleneck, and huge brown hangdog eyes. Sitting behind his large desk, he leaned forward, full of concern. Through her tears, Alison said that after she and Niles had lived together for eight years, he had dumped her without preliminaries.
Watkins the therapist pushed a box of tissues toward her. “Coping with unexpected loss, many people spend their first few sessions weeping. The walls are soundproof.”
During the next session, Alison wept but managed to explain that Niles had always been unfaithful, relied on her for money, and had poor hygiene. “A keyboard player.”
Watkins nodded. “A keyboard player.”
Alison’s boss kept asking, “Cured yet?” This only opened Alison’s tear ducts, which sent him scurrying inside his office.
Soon, however, she no longer cried when telling Watkins she still missed Niles; her sadness being followed quickly by relief.
Her next visit, the waiting-room Vivaldi as baroque as ever, Alison heard Watkins through the supposedly soundproof walls. “Why so hostile, Lenore? I work hard; our life is comfortable. I love you; I love the children.”
After awhile, he welcomed her inside—trick of light?—it looked as if his huge brown eyes were brimming. He listened to the ongoing litany of Niles’ idiocies and suggested she take up something fun. He hadn’t tried it himself but by all reports salsa dancing was very enjoyable.
It was fun, Alison discovered, and the men tended to be in good shape.
Weeks later, planning to thank him, Alison distinctly heard him weeping through the closed door. “That’s unfair, Lenore. I love you. I love the children. And I’m begging you: do not do this.”
When he welcomed her in, mopping his eyes, his voice choked. “Please, excuse the delay.”
Collapsing behind his desk, he dropped his head and sobbed. Alison circled behind him and patted his heaving back. “Don’t hold back. These walls are soundproof.”
Gorgeous, Eye Catching, Coffee Table Worthy! The View From Here - The Best of the Best in the new and emerging literary scene!
Issue 21 on sale with our interview with Stona Fitch only available in the printed edition. Stona Fitch is the author of original, powerful, and disturbing novels that have attracted an international following. He is also the founder of the renegade Concord Free Press, the world's first generosity-based publisher. He talks about both his writing and Concord Press in a candid interview with TVFH's Senior Editor, Mike French.
The success in recent years of the Israeli cinema, notably Academy Award nominations for "Beaufort", "Waltz with Bashir", "Ajami" and "Paradise Now" (a Palestinian movie produced and filmed in Israel,) together with the Grand Prix Award at the Venice Film Festival for "Lebanon," a Golden Globe for "Bashir" – and more – has reopened the debate among Israeli writers and film-makers, concerning what we should be writing about.
All the films listed above deal with war, or with Israeli-Arab relations. Add to them a string of novels that have had success overseas, such As Ron Leshem "Beaufort," David Grossman's "Until the End of the Land," and my own "CrocAttack!" And we have what can be seen as a trend of works relating to the Middle East conflict that do well outside Israel.
After the celebrations died down, there has been a sort of backlash. The question the critics are asking: is this all we can write about? Is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict our only claim to fame? Aren't we in danger of becoming a one-trick-pony? Can't we write other stories? Aren't we in fact educating the world to expect this one-dimensional voice?
Then, when it was noticed that some of these films and books did not do as well in their homeland as they did outside of it, a whiff of opportunism tickled the nostrils: is it possible that young Israeli artists are choosing this subject consciously in order to achieve international success? One very respected and successful writer said in an interview recently that he suspects some writers are choosing to write about the conflict as a way of breaking through abroad. Moreover, say the critics, it is too obvious and too painful: digging into pain and blood, shooting and then crying.
Of course, if the writer writes to please his potential publishers and readers, or to fulfill what he thinks is expected of him, that is wrong. But I feel the critics of Israeli conflict-writing miss a very important point: it is interesting. It is fascinating. Our fucked-up reality is heaven for story-tellers. Sure, families and adoptions and relationships and friendships, and all the things that make up life, can - and should be - the stuff of novels, but how can you be satisfied with those subjects when you have such a treasure trove of material on your doorstep?
A good writer can write about drying paint, shoe laces, or anything he wants, and make you drink in every word, but he must be interested in his subject, and even passionate about it. For some writers in Israel, the conflict is too close, too immediate, too frightening, too hard - and too real - to use for fiction, but for others, there is no more fascinating subject-matter than the conflict, with all its complexities, absurdities, passion, and emotions. By grouping all these works as "conflict stories," the critics are doing a great injustice to the impressive and original aspects that these works reveal, for example the breathtaking visual and sound design of "Bashir", or the clean, disturbing minimalism of "Beaufort".
It took me some time to get around to realizing this. My first three works of fiction took place outside Israel. The characters were Israelis, but they traveled to distant places. But then came the surreal period of daily suicide bombings and I felt I simply couldn't evade writing about it. I couldn't turn my back on it anymore. So I started writing what became "CrocAttack," a tale of two young men, an Israeli and a Palestinian, caught-up between 21st-century hitech and biblical hatred, between the modern and the ancient, between the slowness of life and its unbelievable speed. I had to write – if not for any other reason – for myself, as a postcard to my future, which will remind me how we lived at the beginning of this century.
A few years later I read an interview with Jay MacInerney, in which he said he felt the same way about 9/11. Norman Mailer had advised him, he said, to wait ten years before writing about such an event, to let the dust settle, to get the right perspective. But he couldn't wait. And nor could I. And I feel the same way about the novel I'm working on now, which is set in an illegal Jewish settlement on the Palestinian West Bank. Yes, at times it's stressful, it's heavy, it's sad. Maybe after I finish my current book I will need a break – possibly a romantic comedy in which violence doesn't exist. But for now, this is what I need to write. If I sound apologetic, I don't mean to. I think I am lucky to be in a position to write about the lives of people as history is forming and burning around them: some wounds are made for scratching. And some of those scratches turn out the most powerful sensation.
Born in 1968, Assaf Gavron is the author of four novels, a collection of short stories, and a nonfiction collection of Jerusalem falafel-joint reviews. His fiction has been translated into German, Russian, Italian, French, English, and more, and has won prizes, been adapted for the stage, and optioned for movie development.
He is also a translator of fiction. Among his highly regarded English-to-Hebrew translations are J. D. Salinger's Nine Stories, Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint, and Jonathan Safran Foer's novels. Gavron is also the co-translator of his own book Almost Dead from Hebrew to English.
Assaf Gavron was the chief writer of the prize-winning computer game Peacemaker, and he has also contributed to numerous newspapers and magazines, writing on subjects ranging from sports to politics, and from music to food.
CrocAttack! by Assaf Gavron is out now, published by Fourth Estate.
It is my pleasure to introduce the new photographer for The Front View for fiction, Christopher Barrio. After graduating college in 2009 with a BFA in Film/Video production, he now works full time as an Instructional Technology Specialist.
Christopher is a talented film maker and he is part of a team of young professionals who’ve formed a video production company called Collective 47 Productions. They have several projects which they are producing at this moment and their futures are very promising.
A native of Long Island, from Valley Stream, New York, Chris adds a youthful, vibrant, and modern style to his films and videos. Using photography, he creates bold images which accent the fiction at The Front View. Chris is dedicated and hardworking, and brings his skills and distinctive ideas to the forefront for each assignment. I am proud to welcome Christopher to the crew, at The View From Here.
Beauty is the story of a young Muslim Bangladeshi girl trying to avoid an abusive arranged marriage to a much older man. She finally runs away from home only to find life outside her somewhat sheltered existence is not as she expected. Out of her depth in Wolverhampton, she encounters all forms of life and people from the seedier side of the road to those with ulterior motives and discovers that help can arrive from the most unexpected people.
Beauty shows us many parts of life that most of us choose not to see. From the elderly thrown away by their families into nursing homes to the drunken behaviour during a party at the Club.
Through Beauty's naive eyes we gain a view point, many of us would prefer not to see. It would be easy for Raphael to judge Beauty's way of life and her religious views in a harsh light; to show her as the victim of abuse and beaten down as is the case of so many, but he chooses not to. Beauty holds an inner strength gained from her faith and strangely from her family which will endear her to the reader.
A balance is struck between judging others for their beliefs and our own way of life and Beauty is a social commentary pointing out many of the strengths and weaknesses of both worlds. Beauty, as she grows, takes the best and worst of these cultures and it is up to the reader to see what she does with it.
I was surprised at how hard it was to put this one down and highly recommend it to those with a thirst for a great read.
'Selbourne has a brilliant ear for dialogue and real compassion for his characters' - Maggie Gee
About Raphael Selbourne
Your fondest memory as a child?
Going to Blackey Barn (a large stagnant pond in a field in Oxfordshire) with Daryl Austin and his Jack Russell, Nipper.
What motivated you to become an author?
My experiences and what I saw around me in Wolverhampton motivated me to write. I may once have had a fanciful notion of becoming ‘a writer’, but without anything to write about the notion remained fanciful.
How has your study of politics shaped the way you see the world?
Everything I have studied or read has shaped the way I see the world and it is a continuous process. If what you study or read does not shape your views then it probably wasn’t worth studying, reading or publishing.
Oxford is a far cry from Wolverhampton not only in distance but socioeconomic diversity. What were the most striking differences and were you shocked by anything you experienced?
I can’t answer this without being horribly reductive of Wolverhampton, Oxford and perhaps more relevantly northern Italy, where I had spent the best part of my adult life before coming to the Black Country. However, the lack of aspiration and hope, the appalling levels of illiteracy amongst the ‘socially disadvantaged’ are failures of our society, and not the fault of the people affected by it.
Has your perception of the world changed since working with the long term unemployed and those who through circumstances are disadvantaged?
My perception of the world has not changed but I am better informed about it. I have seen first-hand the terrible damage that a combination of forces has wreaked on that section of society which most needed its protection and encouragement. The failures of the ‘progressive’ education system and the dismantling of the manufacturing base of the economy have led to the abandonment of those most in need.
Given your father, David Selbourne, reputation as a political philosopher and social commentator, as well as a highly regarded author, Beauty is to my mind very much a social commentary. Although the characters are fictitious, the story is one which could be played out in any community. In what way do you think he has influenced your writing?
I was fortunate enough to have had the intellectual influence of both my parents throughout my life. Without it I would not be the person I am, nor would I have been presented with the literature which contributed from an early age to my intellectual formation. To be able to discuss my father’s work with him has allowed me a far greater understanding of the way we live today and of my own experiences. Surely all influences and experiences inform the writer’s view.
About Beauty
Where did Beauty come from?
The real world and my imagination.
Many things about Beauty have a profound impact on the reader. If only to gain an insight into a world very few of us would experience otherwise. Given the confronting nature of so much of Beauty’s story what was your driving force to put it on paper?
My driving force was exactly that confrontation (and clash sometimes) between peoples and belief systems, between the generations and the sexes; as well as to tell a story.
The life Beauty runs away from is violent and the book is painful at times to read. But you must; it drives you to continue. However the things learnt about western life are just as painful to her. Things we take for granted, the nursing home, the Club night, the things we see as basics freedoms she has never experienced and doesn’t want to. As you wrote Beauty how hard was it not to fall into a more judgemental view point?
We live in non-judgmental times. Even the words ‘judgement’ and ‘moral’ are uttered by some (arguably in positions of immense influence on our lives) with distaste. Any novelist who feels the same way about those words will never write anything worthwhile. That’s a moral judgement.
"What about taking some jewellery? They'll kill you. And stealing's a zinna. That stuff's mine. They was wedding gifts. I can sell them."
That said, however, no one wants to read a moral, political or social tract dressed up as fiction, and a writer has an obligation to search for the truth and keep an open mind.
Beauty's violent and yet sheltered life gives way to the harsh reality of western culture a throwaway society where even our parents are expendable. Her shock and horror in finding out these people have family’s who threw them away shows a moral and ethical strength of character which is refreshing and unexpected given her background. Where do you think her strength and courage comes from?
Her strength comes from her own sense of right and wrong, informed and influenced by her experiences, her faith in God and His laws as she understands them. She has a very strong sense of what ‘the family’ should be and the roles of all the members. Despite having suffered herself from the Asian or Muslim excesses of ‘a strong sense of family’ she is determined not to abandon, or be abandoned by, her own. Her own sense of freedom must be balanced with her sense of duty. These were once universal values.
"They aynt gonna go down there. There's too many white people. They can't drag me off the street. Can't they?"
Your telling of Beauty’s story is tender and confronting, compassionate and empowering. The contrast between the main characters couldn’t be starker. Your portrayal of the three main players gives the reader a powerful insight into the lives of seemingly normal average people. Where did you find them? And do you think they give a fair cross section of the general population?
Again, I found them in the real world. Without models there is no art. They will seem representative only to the academic obsessed by ‘gender, race and class’, who rarely leaves her ivory tower.
"There was only one God! Al-lah. The One. What did this bloke believe in? He can't be worser than a Hindu."
Something which I found interesting was Beauty's family and Beauty’s thoughts on other Asians and religious groups. How other nationalities are seen and Beauty’s coming to terms with the various lifestyles choices she experiences. This to me was an integral part of the telling but how hard was it to research and write such views and were you tempted to tone down some of the more racially confronting aspects or was it as important to keep it socially and ethnically accurate?
We live in a multi-cultural society. There are surely many successes and good intentions to be celebrated. But this doesn’t mean that all peoples mix freely with each other, or have anything more than a superficial knowledge about the different cultures which make up the whole. In fact, there is in some a shocking level of ignorance and mistrust of their neighbours. Perhaps it can only be overcome when the powers-that-be oblige us to ‘celebrate’ the values we have in common, and not the ‘diversity’ which separates us.
As for reflecting these aspects of the way we live today through fiction, the writer has a duty to be as accurate as possible, neither alarmist nor complacent about issues which affect the way we live.
"Don't never talk about your family to no one."
Do you believe Beauty's new found or awakened inner strength and courage an asset or detrimental to her?
She takes from ‘white’ society that which does not offend her most strongly held values, and rejects what does. She strives throughout her journey to find the balance between her own freedom and the duties that we all have. From her experiences ‘on the outside’ she is emboldened by her new found sense of self and entitlement (with regard to her family), and by the rejection of the unfettered freedom to do as one pleases which she witnesses.
As far as you see it, is there any solution to the issues you raised in Beauty, the growing divide throughout many countries between socially disadvantaged and Ethnic Groups and the rest of the population?
I don’t claim to have any solutions although I think it is time for new and old ones to be considered. If what I wrote encourages the reader to consider these matters and to question themselves and others, then I have achieved part of what I set out to do, and, I hope, fulfilled one of the purposes of literature.
What do you hope the reader will take away from Beauty?
A sense of having witnessed something they may not otherwise have seen and of having been on a journey; questions, laughter, understanding, sympathy for the seemingly unsympathetic.
"Al-lah help me, whatever happens. Give them Rahmut Let them understand."
Being an author
What makes an author?
Experience, imagination, sensitivity, a sense of humour, a keen eye and ear. And a publisher.
Your thoughts on winning the Costa?
It is encouraging to be recognised in such a manner, and clearly helps get the book noticed by the reading public, especially coming from a small publisher. However, the awarding of prizes seems sometimes very arbitrary and it is perhaps unfortunate that it is such an important part in the ‘marketing’ of literature.
What advice can you give to anyone starting the journey of becoming an author?
Try and make sense of the world around you, for yourself and others. Leave history to the historians and to those who wrote about their times. Writing should be an escape for the reader, not for the author. And there is more to be gained from reading the classics of world literature - those that have stood the test of that arch critic, time – an English grammar book and life experiences, than there is from an MA in Creative Writing.
Thanks Raphael it's been fascinating talking to you.
Beauty is published by Tindal Street Press. Visit their website and order the book here.
In an attempt to retreat from the morning’s ghosts, Bede allowed himself to knife an extra slice of butter onto his mashed potatoes, pushing it down with the tip of the rounded blade into the center of steaming whiteness. He had burnt the sausages a bit, so there’d be the taint of charring. Countered maybe, bythe peas glistening greenly in the rising vapor of the potatoes, but it was difficult for Bede to rouse his appetite as he tried not to notice the sealed envelope, still partly folded, on the checkered tablecloth by his plate.
In the warmth of the kitchen he sawmist rising from his trousers, the shower that had spattered him in the graveyard earlier. The wind had come up suddenly while the priest blessed the coffin, and it had swept a hard, spraying rain against the mourners, sufficient to soakall of them as they angled their bodiesaway from it.
“As if one was not enough,” he muttered, reaching for his fork.
Jameson, the copper-coated terrier lifted his head from the mat in front of the turf fire, eyes checking to see if he was being spoken to. Then the dog tapped his tail twice in slow rhythm and dropped chin to mat once more. Bede waved his knifeover the plate, as thoughconjuring hunger, listening all the while to the increasing swell of elements against the windows.
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Feedback site for new writers. Random House, publisher of authors such as Bill Bryson and John Grisham, provide feedback on the YouWriteOn Top Ten new writers each month.
View their comments on the YouWriteOn.com homepage and upload your opening chapters or short story for feedback.
Affiliated agents who consider highly rated chapters include The Christopher Little Literary Agency and Curtis Brown.
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