LIFE=S
VAGARIES AND WOUNDS
VIGA BOLAND
=====================================================================
*Appeared in Medium
11, Vol. 2 # 19,
According to a well-known radio commentator, writing best sellers today
is a bit like making a salad: shred some famous figure (politician, actress,
etc.) into a bowl of corruption, toss with plenty of sex and violence, and
dress with high-class surroundings
(talent may be added if desired) and
finally, serve it inside a cover displaying a naked woman in some erotic
pose, and readers will be screaming for a second helping.
Well it appears that Stephen Gill, editor, publisher, poet, will never
make the best sellers' lists with Life=s Vagaries or Wounds because
he just hasn't followed the recipe. The plain covers will probably not catch the reader's eye; a
wealth of feelings has been substituted for corruption, sex and violence; and
the characters are unfamous but familiar people.
Life=s Vagaries is a collection of
fourteen short stories about ordinary people in simple surroundings. Their encounters are everyday thingsCchance meetings of
lovers in libraries, long chats over cups of teaCtheir
conflicts the usual
onesC forsaken love,
unemployment, sick parents, loneliness and death. But these stories as
unadorned as they are, have a beauty and relevance that surpass most
of the slick,
polished pap that is
being produced today. These are stories
about real people with real problems, the
kind that most
of us can
identify with.
Mr. Gill's
style too, is simple.
Some may not
like his tendency
to narrate; conversation is
limited; details of violence are omitted.
When he relates
the sad tale of Sita (unloved
by her husband because
she isn't pretty) or
of Neela (who believes
she is an
evil omen having
lost two husbands through
drowning), the entire tone is
low-key, but so completely appropriate. The beauty rests in this simplicity. Those
who read Life=s Vagaries will
learn something of the Indian
culture alsoC so different from
oursCsteeped in mysticism, and
in some respects,
crippled by religious superstition and controlled by
family expectations.
Wounds , a collection
of poetry, is also a quiet
set of statements about life. Mr. Gill's concern is for peace and love, hope and harmony.
In one poem he states "the
world is a
clumsy bar" from which
we all drink. And so
we are all drunks, some on money, some on worries, some on wisdom, and
some on violence. But the poet wishes "for
the wine / brewed in springs / in
eyes and
lips. Perhaps for some, an old-fashioned idealismCbut his message is
not lost on those who seek more
from life than material acquisition.
And so, perhaps, Life=s Vagaries and Wounds will
never be best sellers
on today's markets,
but the beauty and truth in their
pages can and will be enjoyed again and again
while others gather dust on the
shelves.
======================================================================