Review of Julie Mango
Julie Mango by N.D. Williams. Xlibris Corporation. 300pages. USA. 2000.
Reviewed by D. Gokarran Sukhdeo
(Winner, 1998 Guyana Prize for Literature.)
Born in Guyana, he was educated at the University of the West Indies and lived a good deal in the islands before migrating to the U.S. Hence, he writes about the West Indian experience �" poverty and astigmatic politics, the astonishing beauty of the Caribbean, and of the anguished peoples sequestered by the sea, their yearning to break out from the limits of their horizons, the opening up of the minds of those who succeed in breaking out, and the sad experiences of those returning to the Caribbean shores.
Good literature is about the purposeful presentation of the lives of people through a language style and structure that will open up the souls of the common man to the reader. It inexorably arouses not just the five senses, but also the deepest emotions, and consequently effects a change in the reader. The reader becomes more informed, more empathetic, more motivated, and more involved. When the good writer describes a desert, the reader must experience a thirst; when he speaks of love, the reader must be ecstatic. The reader must become the protagonist and cry when the hero (or heroine) suffers or triumphs. In the end there must be a lesson to be learned, an example to emulate, or an error to avoid. In effect, good literature, as against the tradition of western popular writings, satisfies a dual purpose �" it represents reality, and promotes morality; or simply put, it both informs and improves the reader. The writer therefore has a responsibility to the reader and to society. He must look beyond the mercenary, as one who is responsible for shaping the mind of his younger brother, one who does not merely strut and fret his hour upon the stage, but also one who must leave social and historical footprints. It is within these parameters that good literature such as Julie Mango is examined.
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