A Small Place
Jamaica Kincaid
1988
81 pages
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FTC disclosure: I bought this one from Powells. I lurve Powells. Except maybe you could talk to them about their slow shipping? It’s agony waiting for an order!
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The Antigua that I knew, the Antigua in which I grew up, is not the Antigua you, a tourist, would see now. That Antigua no longer exists. That Antigua no longer exists partly for the usual reason, the passing of time, and partly because the bad-minded people who used to rule over it, the English, no longer do so. p. 23
I’m not quite sure what to make of this book, which is a collection of essays about the post-colonial state of Antigua. Kincaid is angry, rightly so, but she also seems to take it a little far, stereotyping all English as “bad-minded” and “pitiful” and “miserable.” She is also critical of the post-colonial Antiguan government, with its inefficiency and corruptness.
There’s an interesting Mother Jones interview with Kincaid, in which she talks about how she seeks the truth over positivity. She says “I think life is difficult and that is that” and that she is not interested in the pursuit of happiness. Which I find incredibly depressing. But then at the end of the article she admits to being very lucky, so now I don’t know how to reconcile that with all the anger and negativity in both her book and the interview. And with the fact that she was sent to New York to be an au pair and send money back home, but once in New York she cut off ties with her family, didn’t send money home, and pursued her own life. Which is totally her right, but also sounds a bit like the pursuit of happiness to me.
Anyways, I’m not saying that we should all keep our head in the sand and ignore the bad things. I don’t think that at all. And I know that not everyone has the luxury to pursue happiness. But I just get the impression she completely poo-poo’s it, along with American attitudes, and I just can’t go that far. Either that, or she’s just feeding us a line. What do you think?
I haven’t read the book, but from your review, I’d have to agree with you. It’s never okay to make a broad statement about a group of people like that.
I never understand why there should be a contradiction between the idea that life is difficult, and the idea that it’s worthwhile to try to be happy. I figure, life is hard! There will be enough sad times! It is best to be as happy as you can be when good things occur.
(Of course I may have been brainwashed by relentless American positivism, so who knows?)
.-= Jenny´s last blog ..Stomping around my bedroom late at night =-.
I haven’t read the book so my response might have no bearing but I’m going to try to nuance my response in light of what I have been studying this year, which is a lot of really great social justice stuff about multicultural women. I think that when you see injustice that makes you angry, the first thing you want to do is find someone to blame. It’s happened in America and it will continue to happen here and elsewhere. As far as what she does with her life, I think that people are constantly changing their minds on what they want to find in their lives. New circumstances lead to new decisions and sometimes they are easy to justify and explain and other times, not so much.
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..Review: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James =-.
H m m m, I find it hard to read books that are so, so, so opinionated without giving the other side of things– I think I would get a bad case of agida while reading this. I also found the article to be a bit angering. Truth and positivity don’t have to be mutually exclusive; you can have both. In the same vein, truth and negativity don’t have to go together. I don’t think I’d want to sit down to dinner with her, mm-mm. They say people who have a positive outlook on life live longer. Just sayin’.
.-= She´s last blog ..Shiver – Maggie Stiefvater =-.
I agree with Jenny’s comment – one doesn’t necessarily exclude the other. The people I admire the most tend to be people who are aware of just how hard life can be, and yet try to make the best of things regardless. I understand her anger, but I think that in any issue, dehumanising the other side does more harm than good.
.-= Nymeth´s last blog ..Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers =-.
I agree with Jenny’s comment, too. Why does one have to preclude the other? I’ve been thinking about reading Barbara Ehrenreich’s book Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America, because I agree that mindless positivism may not be a good thing. However, I do think that there is also something to say for trying to make the best of bad situations, and I tend to live my life that way…
.-= gentle reader´s last blog ..Booking Through Thursday–Illustrious =-.