Thursday, June 15, 2006

Sapodilla Terrace is my latest novel and I welcome your comments. I began writing Sapodilla about 10 years ago. Back then it was called Paul's Story, because I saw it as the second installment of a trilogy about an ordinary family living in the English-speaking Caribbean. Sapodilla is a sequel to my first novel, Bluejean. Bluejean is Carol's story. In Sapodilla, Paul, Carol's brother tells his tale. My plan is still to write the third part of the trilogy, the mother's story. The mother's name is Benita. Where is the father in all of this? Ask Paul ...

7 Comments:

At 11:41 PM, Blogger Dan said...

Hi Cynthia, I'm excited that you brought discussion on your book to a blog. I think that this will be a real benefit to your work. let me know how it works out.
Dan

 
At 8:19 PM, Blogger Cynthia James said...

Hi Dan! Good of you to leave a post on my blog. Thanks to you I'm up and running! Hope to see you here again.
Greatly appreciated!
Cynthia

 
At 9:47 AM, Blogger Cynthia James said...

Interesting that you should mention the challenges that teachers face, Sharon. To my mind their students faced far more challenges. Both groups spoke out against each other, but the children told me they were fighting for their life.

Relationships between fathers and sons were uppermost in my mind, too, in the writing of this novel. Many voices came to me but I chose to write from two angles. While I was writing about the outside child, however, I identified with him. He did not come across as a destructive element at all. I think he is the missing part of Paul. Perhaps Paul, the 'legitimate' son lacks an identity. Perhaps Duncan is at least grappling with finding his. I don't know ...

You raise another interesting point ... about Duncan not being embraced by Benita Alexander and her children. Is Benita the hypocrite that Duncan names her? I am now in the process of listening to Benita on her role in Duncan's destruction.

Thanks, Sharon

 
At 10:38 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I loved reading Sapodilla; it was one of the best written modern Caribbean books I have read (since reading BlueJean). I loved the scenes on the Carnival season and on Parang, it really promotes these festivals from an insider’s point of view.

As a teacher in a Secondary Comprehensive I greatly identified with the trials of teachers in the school as well as with the students, I have seen so many suffer because of uncaring teachers… the picture painted in Sapodilla was too true.

Call me Carol, so many of the things that Carol faced in BlueJean were too true to my life, and thus when I read Sapodilla I was disappointed to see the cold relationship between Carol and Cee… but reading of Paul’s relationship with Dominic, I wondered what relationship would Paul have with his own son if he had one…The book just glanced at the failed relationship between Paul and his wife… too many Caribbean males’ just can’t commit (even Philomen and Ayong- Singh), is it because (as the book suggests) of the relationships with their fathers… the book at times highlighted the worse of Caribbean men… and may serve as a warning to Non Caribbean women.

Too many of the women in the book are highlighted as weak, submissive and even stupid, when it came to their relationship with men … Benita, Philomen, the female teachers, even Jenna. I was greatly disappointed with Philomen (she could be seen as a modern day Benita or even a future Jenna), a strong Caribbean woman, who works hard to succeed… but when it came to her relationship with Ayong-Singh, she just crumbled…Are we Caribbean women so submissive when it comes to our relationship with men… no wonder the Ayong-Singhs exist.

 
At 11:12 AM, Blogger Cynthia James said...

Hi Kita
You certainly have gone into the really important issues of book!

As for Carnival and Parang, I felt I could not leave them out. I thought that they would provide Paul as a returnee, with great areas of contrast between what he knew as a boy and what he was seeing 18 years later. Transitions is a big theme I was aiming at throughout the novel.

Also, secondary school for Paul, Teacher 87, is a baptism of fire - both from teachers and students. Remember he used to be a college boy! Most teachers who have read Sapodilla tell me that they can identify with most of the scenes. It is so different for Paul who learnt 'amo, amas, amat' in his day and wore a tie. He is also unaccustomed to the volume. He is anonymous, yet he is marked out as an individual.

Most of all I appreciate your comments on the male relationships.

You ask: Is Sapodilla suggesting that Caribbean men don't have good relationships with women because of their failed relationships with their fathers? I don't know.... I suppose race comes into it? Is this an observation about Afro-Caribbean males as different from males of other races? This is a area to explore perhaps.

I agree with you, though. Paul cannot commit and some readers of Sapodilla have suggested to me that it is because there may be issues about his sexuality. I don't know. He is so overwhelmed by what his father thinks of him. It is as if there is a shadow sitting over his life? Is he really sure that he is the 'legitimate' son?

I ask because I get the impression that the father prefers Duncan somehow. Duncan is more of a man. I think Paul's father despises Paul. I think the answer lies in Benita.

I was most surprised, however, at your dislike of the women! You lump them all together as strong in their personal lives, but weak in their relationships with men. Perhaps ... Is it that they want to balance what society thinks (olden Caribbean values of what women must be) with the independence that their modern day education gives them?

I don't find Carol weak, by the way. I don't like her, but she is not weak. Perhaps that is the price a woman has to pay for chasing away a man whom she finds crippling. She is as hard as nails, but is that the price Caribbean women have to pay for deciding not to make compromises like Benita and Philomen?

I sometimes wonder what Cee is learning from all of this about what it means to be a Caribbean woman ... The bottom line is that I don't find the women submissive. I feel that they are weighing the cost-benefit of the relationships they are in. Carol's price is a hard one to pay.

Thanks for all that you have contributed, Kita. You have brought great insights to Sapodilla.

 
At 4:07 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree that Duncan could be regarded as having the character traits that Paul lacks. He exhibits more masculine elements and perhaps this is what Dominic admires in him. Certainly Paul seems weak and although the relationship with his wife is not explored, I feel that she was the dominant partner. His father's death and the new responsibilities he must face may very well facilitate his growth and manliness. This would possibly be enhanced with Philomen's influence.

Benita is in a difficult position. While she has no choice but to acknowledge Duncan's presence, she is not obligated to embrace him whether or not this is expected by society. Her refusal to embrace him is understandable.

 
At 3:57 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'd like the opportunity to talk with you about poetry and fiction from a transnational perspective.

 

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