Sunday, May 15, 2011

Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid

It was interesting to see the reactions of the bookclub on this book, Lina liked it as it used the protagonist's experimentation of sex without attachment as a way of expressing her freedom from her mother's influence and discovering herself. I adopted a more Old-Fashioned attitude, finding it unlikely for a girl brought up in that era and even going so far as to muse whether the the author was pandering to her publisher's fantasy of a young woman's exploration of her sexuality.  It was interesting that the protagonist viewed sex in an unromantic fashion and in fact, derived 'the upper-hand' by not getting attached to the men-- but then I just wondered why she 'did it' as she was so mentally 'screwed-up' she didn't seem to enjoy the 'screwing-up'- should be interesting to compare with one of next month's books- where another woman has/enjoys sex without the sentimentality attached -The Reader.
As with the previous book written by the same author- My Brother- I wonder if this is a kind of therapy as I found it very hard to empathise with her-- she seemed to be angry with everyone and displayed a level of cynicism quite alarming for someone so young and for no apparent reason other than that she was born into a family without the means to send her for further education-- get over it Babe-- many students will be finding themselves in THAT position in the years to come!
The book was suggested to the Bookclub as a post-colonial read but it was a very self-centred read and apart from mocking Mariah's comfortable middle-classed values and assumptions that her way was 'right' - the character showed her mercenary side by abandoning Mariah when she most needed the emotional support-- yes I can just see why the US would deport all these whiners as soon as they can-- so screwed up they are unable to contribute to any society they would be in!

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