Merlinda Bobis
Autor von Banana Heart Summer
Über den Autor
Werke von Merlinda Bobis
Zugehörige Werke
Babaylan: An Anthology of Filipina and Filipina American Writers (2000) — Mitwirkender — 48 Exemplare
Returning a Borrowed Tongue: An Anthology of Filipino and Filipino American Poetry (1995) — Mitwirkender — 29 Exemplare
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Wissenswertes
- Gebräuchlichste Namensform
- Bobis, Merlinda
- Rechtmäßiger Name
- Bobis, Merlinda Carullo
- Geschlecht
- female
- Nationalität
- Philippines (birth)
Australia - Wohnorte
- Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia - Ausbildung
- University of Wollongong (PhD)
University of Santo Tomas (MA - Literature)
Aquinas University (BA) - Berufe
- poet
lecturer - Organisationen
- University of Wollongong
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Statistikseite
- Werke
- 14
- Auch von
- 2
- Mitglieder
- 175
- Beliebtheit
- #122,547
- Bewertung
- 3.4
- Rezensionen
- 12
- ISBNs
- 36
- Sprachen
- 1
Banana Heart Summer is the story of 12 year old Nenita growing up in the lush, colourful surrounds, but also poverty and hardship, of Remedios Street. The narrator is Nenita’s older self recollecting this life. The writing is lyrical and extravagant and focuses on describing the mouthwatering cuisine all the way through. Nenita grows up hungry, both physically-with her 5 siblings and parents struggling to survive-but also emotionally. She spends her life trying to please and placate her angry, discontented mother and to win the crumbs of her affection. Nenita leaves school at twelve, and takes a job cooking and cleaning for the neighbours to help feed her hungry siblings. She pours herself into cooking, creating exquisite dishes. She sees food as a parallel for human emotions and behaviours. She intertwines food, local culture and myth to understand and make sense of the world around her, including the antics of her neighbours, their joys and their heartbreaks. Nana Dora shares her secrets with Nenita, especially the legend of the banana heart. "Close to midnight, when the heart bows from its stem, wait for its first dew. It will drop like a gem. Catch it with your tongue. When you eat the heart of the matter, you'll never grow hungry again."
As Nenita prepares her glorious dishes she learns about life. That, “pride is a sin, but dignity is a saviour,” that “desire is bigger than anything that can fill it. Desire is a house with infinite extensions.” And that, “Love on the rebound is always suspect. Perhaps because, on the rebound, passion may not have the projectile capacity of the first bounce.” We gain an insight into the foibles of her neighbours and a picture of the area, “we lived between the volcano and the church, between two gods. The smoking peak and the soaring cross faced each other in a perpetual stand-off, as if blocked for a duel.”
This is an exquisitely written book that is both visual and gustatory. There is not a great deal of plot or action but the insights into folktales, culture, cuisine and the complexity of human desires, more than makes up for this. I would highly recommend this book, but maybe don’t read on an empty stomach.… (mehr)