| Lancette Arts Journal Founded in 2000 |
Book Reviews From our Archives |
September 2004 |
By Alidė Kohlhaas
A long time ago, a friend and I had a conversation about whether or not there is such a thing as evil, a word we have become uneasy with in today's society. Being a psychiatrist, who has dealt with all sorts of human dysfunction, he had come to the conclusion that evil is, indeed, not just an abstract idea, but a tangible human trait. In his work he had come across individuals, who are without conscience when dealing with others, feel no regret for harm they have done, are filled with great hate and, very surprisingly, great self-pity. Whatever evil they do, is always the fault of the victim. Another thing he pointed out was that sometimes innocent people can be drawn into this evil, as if possessed by it, and that it takes great character strength to free itself from it.
That may seem a rather morbid introduction to a book that is not at all morbid. The Naked Islandhas been described on its cover as "A delicious Gothic travelogue," a quite succinct description of Bryna Wasserman's new, and first novel. While the book's real action takes place in the 1980s, the story has its beginnings in the late 1700s with the murder of a Javanese priest by the Dutch.
The gothic element of this tale arises out of the hate of a restless soul, out for revenge, that finds its way to the shores of Lake Erie and briefly inhabits the narrator of the tale. That malignant spirit then attempts to take over the mind of a young girl, Rachel, who lives on the farm near Dunnville that once belonged to the narrator, who becomes an unseen but felt protector of the girl. At the same time, the same evil essence who wants her, seeks to control a young boy, Kifli, who lives in Singapore. The travelogue part comes into play when Rachel, grown-up, in need of self-discovery, and also restless, travels around the world and one day meets the now grown-up Kifli at the old Raffles Hotel in Singapore.
What the cover blurb fails to tell, is that The Naked Island (the phrase Winston Churchill used to describe Singapore after it fell to the Japanese on February 15, 1942 during WW II) is also a passionate love story, with all its requisite ups and downs. More importantly, it is a tale of redemption in which evil is pushed aside, superstitions are conquered, and religious differences overcome, even if only for a brief moment. To tell more would be to give away the story.
Wasserman has been to all of the places mentioned in the book, and has done her homework well to let us feel the comforts and discomforts of each place. She captures the essence of each way station on Rachel's journey with a kind of terse prose poetry that also represents the breathless nature of that character.
Whether the writer has actually been to the old Raffles Hotel prior to its renovation is not clear, but she certainly describes the place well. It was named by its builders, the Sarkies brothers, for Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, who founded the city of Singapore in 1819. Raffles Hotel, famous for its Singapore sling (a cocktail), has more recently undergone renovations, which Rachel finds rather unnerving as the story propels her forward to 1997 and a return visit to the island state.
The Naked Island, although a novel, may also be called either a fairytale or a moral tale, in which reality and fantasy, good and evil, and love and hate coexist quite naturally. Like all good tales, it spell-binds, and propels the reader forward. Does it have a happy ending? That is up to the reader to decide. All one can give away is that it has an inevitable ending, told simply and quite beautifully.
[The Naked Island by
Bryna Wasserman, Key Porter Books, softcover, 239 pages, $24.95]
For an interview with Bryna Wasserman,
click here
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