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Glimpses by shahula
Review by: mephis1
Anne Sexton’s poem All My Pretty Ones has always intrigued me. Much of Sexton’s poetry is autobiographical and concentrates on deeply personal emotions, especially anguish and loss and her life-long battle with a variety of emotional states. Yet, it would do a great disservice to her poems if one were to reductively describe them as ‘confessional poetry’. To be blunt, it’s a category critics often invent so as not to talk about poetry as poetry. Instead, it would be more accurate to suggest that Sexton’s poems capture the sense of personal urgency; they are positively full of extraordinary observations of people and places remembered, of familiar patterns of emotional states and people recalled in stanzas of captivating lyricism. In short, Sexton’s poems are not, to use that ludicrous term, ‘confessional poetry’. Rather, they depict recurrent symbolic themes using poetic techniques and colourful imagery. They capture universal themes which make them so readily accessible to readers.
All the above was a prelude to saying that Sexton captures both the reader’s and writer’s imagination; her poems provide the threshold to the human imagination, allowing re-imaginations of her poetry within one’s own terms. Glimpses by shahula is an example of a writer who takes an extract (‘These are the snapshots of marriage, stopped in places’) from Anne Sexton’s All My Pretty Ones and re-envisions it within the context of a Twilight fanfiction oneshot.
Glimpses was a Fanfiction Quote Me Contest submission. It won the 1st Place Judge’s Choice and I have the great pleasure to review it. An AH E&B oneshot, Glimpses re-interprets the Twilight canon and spans the lives of Edward and Bella as they meet, fall in love, marry, start a family and grow old together. It’s a story of love told in sentences constructed with confidence, culminating in scenes rendered with such lyrical grace.
In short, this is what drew me to this story: the gentle, lyrical cadence of this story is one I don’t often encounter in fanfiction. One could even suggest that this stately gentility is what makes this oneshot special as we move along with Edward and Bella as they meet and fall in love, eventually marrying. But life isn’t a bed of roses for Edward and Bella. And I think this is what makes Glimpses all the more human and believable because we see that Edward and Bella are oh so fallible. They are capable of mistakes but it is their undying love and devotion to each other that they are able to forgive, understand and move past these hurdles that often bring down couples with less sturdy relationships. In their marriage, we catch a glimpse of this fallibility in the following scene:
“Bella. You know how important being a doctor to me is. I can’t help it if your work programs conflict with that. It’s not as if writing is-” his stops himself before he can get too far.
He can’t say what he wants to. Even if it is just in the heat of the moment, it will hurt her. And he knows it.
He may be angry at her reaction but he wouldn’t hurt her on purpose like that.
“Oh! You’ve got to be kidding me!” She is screaming now. “Go ahead, Edward. Say it. Say what you’re thinking. My writing isn’t what? Not as important as YOUR WORK?”
His thinly held control snaps.
“Goddamn it!” Edward booms into the space between them, throwing a glass across the room. It breaks against the far wall, pieces cascade down in splintered rain. She has pushed him too far.
“I save lives, Bella. Every. Fucking. Day. And I can’t help it if that interferes with your work! It’s not like I planned a five car pileup on the freeway just so I wouldn’t have to attend the fucking gala!”
His is towering over her now. Her back pressed firmly into the cabinets and counter top behind her.
She isn’t frightened he will hurt her.
She knows he never would. He may be outraged but he would never harm her.
His face, while still beyond beautiful even in all his fury, is inches from her own. Green eyes blazing into the deep cinnamon of hers. She glares back.
She hates that he is right.
She hate nights like the one before when he should have been with her. He should have been dancing with her across a twinkling white lit floor.
They should have laughed and teased
Reading moments like these in Glimpses captivated me; they demonstrate a writer who is not afraid to tackle anguish. She doesn’t shy away from writing difficult emotional states. Moreover, when she does write moments of devotion, love and forgiveness, those scenes also come to live. Her writings bring a level of emotional realism which is also not often encountered in fanfiction. The above extract also demonstrates a writer who is capable of writing a difficult emotional scene without resorting to melodramatic hyperbole or gesturing to the usual stereotypes that one so frequently encounters in fanfiction. She writes that scene confidently and uses it to great effect to show and not tell, a mantra that writers are often told to repeat to themselves as they write.
This Edward and Bella love story is depicted with such moving poetic lyricism that it makes it a joy to read and re-read. Their journey through life which takes us to inevitable heartaches, joys, loss, forgiveness bereavements is written with such emotional credibility and heartfelt sentences that is makes it a joy to read. And it was indeed my pleasure to read this oneshot.
Review by mephis1
Banner by Ro Nordman
To read the other entries in the contest, please click on this link: Quote Me Contest
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Glimpses by shahula
Review by: Rose Masen Cullen
There are stories that make you laugh.
There are stories that make you cry.
There are stories that you read, like, forget and move on to the next one.
There are stories that you may have read months ago, but one fine day you stumble on it again, and it makes you smile.
Then, once in a long, long time…along comes a story like ‘Glimpses’.
It makes you smile. It makes you cry. It sticks with you till it becomes a part of you. And five months later when you read it again, you will be just as moved.
“These are the snapshots of marriage, stopped in places.” ~ Anne Sexton
That was the prompt on which this one shot was based. But you know what makes this story so special?
The fact that it’s not only about the snapshots of marriage…but about life itself.
It’s not only about the magic of falling in love. It’s also about feeling.
It’s not only about the complications that two people face when they enter matrimony. It’s also about the simplicity with which human relations can touch your heart.
It’s about feeling love, anger, sadness, forgiveness…all at once. It’s about seeing Edward and Bella’s relation grow, blossom, prosper…among the conflicts, hurt and even loss.
It’s about Edward finding Bella just as flawless years after marriage, as he found her the day he met her.
It’s about reading a story that is not bound in the constraints of fanfiction, but that is universal in its wonder.
When I read this story as part of the Quote Me Contest (I was a judge), I already had my winner. I was so in love with this story that I read it multiple times, and knew in my heart that no other entry would be able to top it.
I’m glad to say I was right. This story, to me, was a standout. Be it the whole journey through different stages of life, or the poetic language, or the emotions that it evoked within me…I found it perfect then, and I will continue to find it just as perfect even if I read it years from now.
Some writings are just that – Immortal.
I don’t know what else to say to convince you how brilliant and quietly beautiful this story is, so I’ll just leave you with a glimpse into the world of ‘Glimpses’.
Lying there, moonlight bathing the floor, the bed and their bodies, she knows it’s true. The stars can see it, the moon can feel it and the ocean outside reaches for it.
His voice breaks the stillness of the air. A gentle whisper floats between his softly parted, cherry blossom lips to caress her soul.
It’s his night song. The one he sings each night.
With her snuggled tightly against him, he sings his song. Just for her. Only for her. Always.
It’s her name.
Knowing his heart beats beneath her ear gives her peace. She is comforted by the heat of their skin as it touches. His arms pulling her closer, even as he slumbers, fills her with contentment. His breath exhaled is the only oxygen she needs to sustain her own life.
Her eyes close. She can rest.
She can sing her night song now. To him. For him. Always him.
Their song is the same.
It is their heart, their life.
Their love.
It is everything they will ever need. Ever want.
She is his Bella.
He is her Edward.
Please go read, and leave the author much deserved love.
To read the other entries in this contest, please click on this link: Quote Me contest
From the Red Room 