SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2009
Have just finished reading Erica Emdon’s ‘Jelly Dog Days’. Wow. This excellent piece of fiction is simply unputdownable. This is definitely one of the best novels I have read this year- Erica Emdon really comes out with a high flier- the novel is vicious, gripping, domineering. Unputdownable.
‘Jelly Dog Days’ is told in first person. The protagonist, ‘Theresa Stephanie Victoria Mary Ryman’, fondly ‘Terry’, gets under your skin right from page one. We go with her through her violent and dysfunctional childhood, with an alcoholic mother and a wickedly dangerous stepfather, and the many responsibilities she has to bear as the first of five siblings. The story is set in Johannesburg in the 1970s, with powerful and relevant links to the events of that time, such as the Soweto students uprising. One of its many strengths is its expert build up of a brutal reality- the pieces are not too neat, as tales usually are, but jagged and chipped, as life really is, and I think this is one of the many brilliant aspects of the novel, one of the reasons why the book is so unputdownable, why there is a surprise in every corner. The way the tale unravels is unpredictable, and this holds one suspended, hooked to the dangling morsel moving along the pages.
Excellent character build up, you get to really appreciate the characters as being so ‘real’ because of the way they are so ‘pregnant’. What I loved most about the characters is how they don’t act as they should- this makes the tale all the more real. Often we have this view of how peopleshould be, what they should do, how they should act. This tale is all the more harrowing because it teaches us that even the people who shouldlove us right and should get their lives right for our sake- for example Terry’s mother- sometimes simply can’t and simply don’t. There are these glimmers of hope in the story, where Terry’s mother seems to be cleaning up her act, and they make the tale all the more heart wrenching. There are things that happen to Terry which shouldn’t, and when they do they should get justice, but don’t. We never stop learning about the characters, just the way we never stop learning about people in real life; as each situation comes up we get a deeper understanding of Terry’s grandma, her stepfather Piet, their friends. People aren’t always as they seem. The complexities and many trip ups in this story lend it a very real quality that you find you can ‘taste’.
The theme of this tale borders around family, and I think it makes one of the most excellent representations of the complexities of the family set up, be it an Afrikaans family or any family at that. The very fact that family fails to intervene in the case of Terry, who is a mere child, the manner in which many ills are ‘covered up’, is so typical of the family set up. We have Ulrike, Terry’s aunt, who although is well meaning and cares for Terry, is not really effective in helping Terry. Many times in the book, Terry has hopes of perhaps going to live with Ulrike, and, ironically, this invitation from Ulrike comes rather late in the book, when really, it is too late. The irony of the letter is in itself disappointing and frustrating, Ulrike says she has ‘heard a bit about what has happened’ to Terry (and what has happened is definitely more than ‘a bit’), and invites Terry to come and live with her ‘for a while’. Ulrike represents those people in our lives who, although well- meaning, never really stand up to do anything to ‘help’. Another character you would just love to smack is Terry’s grandma. Her failure to act as an adult in the face of overwhelming evidence of Terry’s dark situation is maddening. By far the most interesting, disturbing, and in my opinion rather ‘psychotic’ character is Terry’s mother. This woman is just incredible. Just when you believe she can’t shock you, she does. Just when you think she will get it right, she doesn’t. She’s incredible.
This touching piece of work resonates on many levels. I think one of its many beauties is its universal tones, its ability to conquer the racial and cultural boundaries. This is one of those books for everyone, that everyone can read and relate to at some level, because it really has a lot of threads, in my opinion, about 'human-ness', and 'human-ness' is something about every one of us. It also goes against the stereotypes one may have of the white race in South Africa, there are many ‘assumptions’ I had to revise, great stuff. You move from standing on the outside to getting on the inside of things. One of the best ways to learn, really, about a culture or a race, is through fiction. Absolutely. This is a tale of a dysfunctional childhood in a white family in apartheid South Africa, and yet it is more than that. The author’s language and wonderful description of childhood and memory, the way the voice is so efficient in its change from that of a child to that of a teenager, thus changing gears in the mood and perspective, builds up a little web that seems to link up to so many aspects of this journey we call life. I am a black Zimbabwean (not yet born in the years in which this book is set), reading this story by a white South African writer, and yet her descriptions coax memories of Zim as it was when I was growing up. I find myself reading a description of the fruit trees in Terry’s family’s garden and suddenly I am remembering the fruit trees at my grandfather’s house. I am reading about Terry and her dolls and her childhood friends and teenage spats and suddenly I am remembering something of my own childhood- a sweet nostalgia is creeping up on me.
One thing I think the story may have been able to do without (and this is merely my humble opinion) is the epilogue. I loved the lack of ‘finality’ in the page before the epilogue (just a personal taste of mine- it does not speak of the merits of the epilogue, as we all know that tastes differ). It was a dangling morsel with a shadow of finality but no appearance of the finality itself.
Works such as ‘Jelly Dog Days’ leaves one asking, Where has such wonderful fiction been all along, where has this writer been all along?,glad that this gifted writer has found her voice, eager for her next work. If this, her debut novel, is so rich and so ‘wow’, then there is expectation of even greater things to come. A well researched, ‘real’, beautifully written, excellently paced piece of fiction. I recommend every lover of fiction to get a copy of this novel (published by Penguin SA, 2009)- it really is one of the best works I’ve read, well written, excellent pacing, I cannot say this enough! (always get excited when discover great author, needless to say will now hound Erica Emdon’s works!:-)