updates

#writing201 #fog #elegy #metaphor

/ Udita Banerjee / 17 Comments

Elegy for Edinburgh

On this night in February,
I watch pinprick starlight
faintly disturb darkness.
The moon, sublime,
not quite round yet,
not quite white, hangs low
and you weave your black magic
over me.
O city of sights
and gothic architecture!
O city of the 56th North!
You fill me with the memories
of days lost and lyrics
lying scattered
on the sidewalk…

When the haar* rolls in
from the Firth
and covers all of your
presence –
the stars, the moon –
all snuffed out candles,
I feel as though
a curtain has been pulled over
the eyes of my mind.
Rest now, good night.

*Scots word referring to a cold sea fog on the east coast of Scotland.

I Truly Lament … Author interview

/ Udita Banerjee / 1 Comment

UPDATED Lament Nurture tour banner

A few words from Matt Freese, whose book I enjoyed a lot. I’ve also enjoyed the banter I’ve shared about the holocaust, his writing, and various other things. Enjoy…

BM: The role of fantasy and fairy tale as a tool for the human mind to process trauma… is the mind trying to pass it off as unreal and distant?

MF: I imagine fantasy is useful for the reader in that it provides a psychological distancing, safer that way, more digestible. If I can have the reader grasp or understand the humorous and not so humorous workings of a golem, his concerns as the protector of Jews, of being a monster and a grim reaper as well, I then can have him mirror back all kinds of reflections (pun intended) about the people who have called upon him for help. In “The Disenchanted Golem” I raise more questions than I could ever answer, but it is in the questioning that I can deepen if not enrich the tale I am writing. When Kafka begins his short story with a young adult who turns into a bug, we are off and running. One of Freud’s great teachings is how the human mind makes use of fantasy for all kinds of conscious and unconscious purposes. I have no significant attachment to golems, but the concept intrigued me for the purposes of my own story telling, especially when one Jew finds that the golem is really useless and all that counts is his own existential self – as it should be.

The golem is a vast projection of a persecuted people, a people that historically have been quite rational in their approach to life and living and yet they, too, collapse into a mystical belief. An unremitting and historical condemnation will do that to you. The story goes of three men of differing religious backgrounds, one of whom is Jewish, who visit a doctor and each is told that his condition is terminal. One man breaks down and says he will go back to the old country to live out his last days. The second man leaves the office and runs purposefully in front of a bus and is killed. The Jew is left. And the Jew, hearing his fate, says “I’d like to see another doctor.” Alas, reason goes so far as some of my stories depict. I was intrigued as a writer in playing the role of the golem. It tested my imagination and my skills. When I write, I leave spoor and I leave it up to the reader to follow this or that trail. I am not that anal that I know exactly what each ”dropping” means. I like to leave the reader and myself guessing. I have found that this approach gives dividends to me as a story teller and perhaps to the reader who doesn’t need everything spelled out.

Consequently the golem is a projection and as we know we place all kinds of stuff on others as we project. On one level, all stories are Rorschach tests.

BM: A little bit of background to your life and inspiration for writing about the Holocaust.

MF: I am a product of lower middle class parents who just managed to get by; I lived in housing projects; I had toys and clean clothing and ate well. I didn’t know we were far from well-to-do. I was a reader as a child, passive, inert, non-assertive, introverted and shy. High school was a horror; I didn’t wake up until the age of 32. I had a few anti-Semitic experiences growing up and I had an acute awareness of being Jewish and very proud of the heritage. Like Freud, I am a godless Jew but fully aware that if you forget you are a Jew, the world will quickly remind you of that. Reading about the Holocaust and Jewish history in general made me ask questions. It was decades later I sat down and began to write what it must have been like in one of the camps. It took decades for the book to write itself and so when I began to write I did not have to stop. It was channeled. Imagination, fantasy, anger, rage and resentment flowed. I counted on my unconscious to guide me, it always does.

BM: Do you research using conventional ways? Past records of events etc., or do you pick an incident and revolve the fiction around it?

MF: I look up words or terms as I go by. I stay away from non-fiction accounts because I have imbibed enough to know what I want to portray in fictional terms. If I want to know what a blochfuher is, that’s readily available. To the point, I research me. I am the source.

BM: Folklore and the Holocaust? Where did that come from?

MF: I happened upon it, it is in my background. I did not read extensively about golems, for that is not my way. I dip my writer’s pen into the inkwell and then go on. After all, there are only three golem stories in the book and their purposes vary. The Disenchanted Golem, an editor has said, really sums up the entire book. You look at that, make of it what you will.

BM: What are you hoping readers will take away from this book?

MF: I haven’t the slightest idea. It is true that after you write a book it is no longer yours and that goes a long way to say that is why there are hundreds of acting interpretations of Hamlet. Sam Goldwyn had a telling line when asked about his most recent movie’s theme: “If you want a message, send for Western Union.” After all, what we take away from a book may be fleeting, passing or a sensibility. I am not teaching. I am exploring. Come excavate with me, if you choose.

BM: What further writing projects are you working on or planning to work on?

MF: I am working on a memoir of two summers, 68 and 69, I spent in Woodstock and the long range impact it has had on me to this day.

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Other blogs participating:

Jan. 16 – Mathias @ Mathias B. Freese: A Writer’s Blog

Jan. 20 – Fran @ Just Reviews

Jan. 21 – Bobbie @ Nurture Your BOOKS™

Jan. 23 – Mathias @ Mathias B. Freese: A Writer’s Blog

Feb. 3 – Rachel @ Leather Bound Pounds

I’m sure they will all be good reads.

Link to the Author’s website: http://www.mathiasbfreese.com/

See you around! And here’s a gorgeous picture from just now

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Excellence in IT … a review

/ Udita Banerjee / Leave a comment

Not my usual kind of book… but since I began a new job in IT a few months ago and I just had my first performance appraisal for it last week, I thought this book just came along at a good time. Surprisingly, I enjoyed it very much. The author makes some compelling points that are not very obvious. However, I got told the same things at work as well so I was quite impressed. It is a must read if you’re in IT. If you’re not, then you might want to dip in and out, reading the bits that are relevant to your line of work.

Along with championing the good habits, the author also sets out the most common bad habits. I have had five years of technical education, two years of semi-technical work experience, and only four months in my latest IT role. However, I could easily see examples of the pitfall kind of people in my head. They are easy to spot, and knowing what you’re seeing makes it easier to work with them or work around them. It also makes it easier, as an employee, to recognise early signs of behaviours in oneself and sidestep them. We all like to think that we are doing the very best we can in our day jobs. But sometimes, in fact, most of the time, it is not about what we do; it is about how we do it. More and more organisations are hiring based on people standards rather than technical skills and this is why.

 Some other stellar advice – don’t stop learning, don’t be too cocky, never experiment on production systems, be the good man in a storm, keep your chin up. There is even an entire chapter on Stress Management, and that is probably as relevant in any industry, in any workplace. The book wraps up with how to remain critical and relevant in such a fast-changing environment and what separates a good techie from a bad one.

 The final thing that made me really respect the author – the discussion about the importance of documentation. I refuse to buy the bullshit that techies are bad at it. Some very very lazy techie came up with that. I have met some of the foremost researchers in the world in certain fields (and that includes people like Peter Higgs) and if you do not document, you are plain lazy.

Most useful lines ‘Always remember that competency is your responsibility. Moving forward without competency is, in all fairness, your fault and no one else’s’.

I Truly Lament … Blog Tour

/ Udita Banerjee / Leave a comment

I am going to be participating in a blog tour and hosting a few things this upcoming week. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I hope to see you readers around this space. Other bloggers are participating as well, and if you are interested, here is a list:

Jan. 12 – Bobbie @ Nurture Your BOOKS™

Jan. 13 – A.E. @ A.E. Albert: A Writer’s Blog

Jan. 14 – Jaidis @ Juniper Grove

Jan. 16 – Mathias @ Mathias B. Freese: A Writer’s Blog

Jan. 20 – Fran @ Just Reviews

Jan. 21 – Bobbie @ Nurture Your BOOKS™

Jan. 23 – Mathias @ Mathias B. Freese: A Writer’s Blog

Feb. 3 – Rachel @ Leather Bound Pounds

I’m sure they will all be good reads.

Link to the Author’s website: http://www.mathiasbfreese.com/

See you around! And here’s a gorgeous picture from just now

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Updates on Life and Times

/ Udita Banerjee / Leave a comment

I know I have fallen back on blog posts. Life has been getting in the way an so has various other forms of writing. But I have been reading quite a bit on the side as well. So book reviews that are pending are

  • The Lewis Man (Lewis Trilogy, #2)
  • Keep Your Friends Close
  • The Blackhouse (Lewis Trilogy, #1)
  • The Guga Hunters
  • Smokeheads

They will be up soon, I promise. One has got to make time to write, no excuse there.

I notice some new followers, so I have renewed enthusiasm and eternal gratitude. Thank you all.

Back in Brilliant-ness!

/ Udita Banerjee / 4 Comments

I am back!
Thank you for hanging around (once again!) and waiting for me to sort of my life (once again!). It is much appreciated and I am very grateful for the pieces of my life, like this online bit of mine, that doesn’t change. Those of you that have read this blog for long enough or know me personally, will know that I have moved around one time too many and it is not always easy. However, as I have always said, home is where my library card is addressed at!

Anyway, new place (new country, new continent), new job, new role, new office, new flat, new flatmate! Phew! Can you imagine everything changing at the same time? Don’t even get me started on bank accounts, income tax, doctors, public transport etc. Suffice it to say that my absence was, well, completely unintentional. If you’re worried, don’t be. I’m all right, most of the time. And hopefully, you’ll all come back and read along as I write about reading. Here’s to that! To wrap up, I’ll leave you with this photo of a space that I created to preserve my sanity. Heck, I have a cat, I’ll survive!

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