Reading India: "The God of Small Things" in Kerala

For those of you who don't know me (those who do are probably already tiring of the barrage of excitable Facebook posts) I'm currently in Asia. And not just on a quick holiday. Two weeks ago I embarked on one of those life-changing trips I hope to be talking about for years to come, hauling myself across India, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and China on one gigantic four month long adventure.

If you want to hear the ins and outs of my travels, you can check out the blog of my lovely companion Beth at http://theworldisfullofbeautifulthings.blogspot.in/?m=1

However, rather than regaling you with tales of zooming around foreign lands on mopeds, arduous train rides and beautiful beaches, I've decided to go down a slightly more sedate route.

Searching for some serenity within the wild first week of our trip, I stumbled into a quaint bookshop in the beautiful Keralan seaside town of Fort Kochin. With a fairly limited knowledge of Indian literature, I browsed the "Kerala authors" section with a casual interest in the vaguely existentialist titles, settling for "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy. Beth had noted the setting the day before on a tranquil canoe cruise of Cochin's winding backwaters, and I warmed to the almost whimsical name.

Settling in a cafe with a cold drink whilst Beth blogged in an internet cafe across the road I started reading. Hearing Roy's words emerge in the powerful culture and beautiful scenery was an incredible experience. Scenes that would have seemed wildly exotic from the comfort of my own home were suddenly intensely evocative, sensuously familiar. I felt compelled to share this wonderful book with the world from its stunning setting.

Winner of the Man Booker Prize, "The God of Small Things" is not exactly short on publicity. It's an undeniably powerful read, a stirring exploration of India's rigid class system through the eyes of a well-off Christian family living Ayemenem. Both poignantly and disturbingly, Roy explores social divisions through the so called Love Laws-- where "who should be loved. And how. And how much" governs the relationships of the characters, from the strangely psychic bond between the young twins who dominate the tale's narrative attention, to the erotic love between their mother and her forbidden lover.

It's a story of love and its ever present literary counterpart of loss in the most tragic and twisted sense, each converse and counterpointed perspective of the families various generations forming a strongly woven story. This story was deepened through the stunning scenery of Kerala. The river between the family and the darkened "History House" where one of the most haunting scenes of the novel is set is easy to imagine in the winding Keralan backwaters, where isolated villages line quiet canals. The noise and frustration of the novel's central themes parallel the sheer craziness and unsettling aspects of India, yet are beautifully offset against the innocence of the unspoiled landscape, the dialogue of childhood, Kerala's ungainly serenity.

"The God of Small Things" is a novel which is as dark and disturbing as it is humorous and beautifully crafted, and I could not imagine a better setting. Kerala-- "God's own country" as it is locally known is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to, yet it is marred by problems that pervade Indian culture-- sexual, economical and prejudicial. Easy as it would be to ignore these, fall easy victim to the gorgeous mountainous landscapes, seaside scenes, wandering elephants and monkeys, Roy refuses. She confronts the India she knows, that paradoxical coinciding of beauty and corruption, to create as truly valuable global work of literature.

Even if you can't read "The God of Small Things" in Kerala-- admittedly it might not be quite as simple as it was for me-- it's still a truly wonderful and worthwhile read. Sit back and indulge in Roy's rich summoning of a world tangled in past and present, nature and commercialism, valid love and forbidden love. From such a gifted writer, it's not necessary to be here to be able to imagine.

Review: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Having recently graduated from university with an English Literature degree, the last three years of my life have been dedicated to wading through Wordsworth, deciphering DeLillo and labouring over Lawrence. Only now have the second hand collections of Dickens been neatly filed onto heaving bookshelves in my wardrobe, the Bronte sisters resigned to the university library, have I made an avid return to the chart fiction which first sparked my love of literature.

My first port of call was a book which dominated last year's commendable parade of popular fiction. Rachel Joyce's quirky debut novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry bagged its author the UK National Book Award for New Writer of the Year whilst also scooping a top 12 place at the Man Booker Awards.

Whilst wildly speculating about the deep and meaningful purpose of disembodied clothing in Woolf succinctly crammed into 3000 words prevented me from venturing into Joyce's novel at the time, post-graduation boredom quickly directed me towards this charming novel.

Opening with the staid retired life of an aging Devonshire couple, The Unlikely Pilgrimage kicks off with a letter. News that an old friend is dying in the distant North, causes Harold Fry's initial stroll to the post office to evolve into an epic trek across the length of Britain, a staggering feat of faith and optimism in the belief that his efforts will save cancer-stricken Queenie.

"Unlikely" is certainly the right word here-- verging on implausible the novel offsets the dubious image of an aging hero armed only with his faithful yachting shoes with the pure charm of his journey as Harold potters between familiar and quintessentially English landscapes. Perhaps more important than the journey is the rich cast of characters Harold meets, their often tragic and heartfelt stories creating a poignant tension between what could otherwise be a sickly-sweet tale of tooth-ache worthy proportions; the most valuable element of Joyce's writing talent clearly lies in this wryly observed cast.

Although the archaic nature of Harold's modern "pilgrimage" -- delightfully complimented by the old-fangled style map at the start of the book-- could easily lay the way for a rambling fairy tale, Joyce beautifully weights the journey with Harold's old memories, unravelling a far deeper side to the snippet of middle-aged life we spotted at the Fry's breakfast table. Marriage, parenting and rejection all play a key part to the steady development of character tantalisingly and richly revealed throughout Harold's travels. Just avoiding what could have been a tired metaphor, Harold's spiritual journey is perfectly and insightfully unpacked alongside his physical travels.

The true wonder of Joyce's impactful novel is the fine line she walks between the quaintness and sheer optimism of the novel, and her absolute honestly when facing up to the realities which lie behind Harold's walk. Evasion becomes a poignant theme as we realise that even the most heroic of actions can be a method of avoiding the baser and truer facts of life.

However, it's not all doom and gloom; Joyce also does a relatively good job of lightly mocking the twenty-first century cult of celebrity culture, focusing the latter part of the novel on Harold's colourful followers. Unfortunately, these chapters do feel somewhat rushed, as Harold spends over half the novel laboriously struggling across Devon, yet leaps through most of the Midlands in a single sentence. Resultantly, these characters emerge significantly more two-dimensional than they could have been. Whilst this manages to pass off suitably well as reflecting Harold's own increasing distance from anything but his own journey, a little more development could have deepened a rather staid section of the novel which is almost skimmable.

Nevertheless, the overriding tension of what lies at the end of Harold's journey manages to keep the story flowing despite a fairly significant pre-finale dip. Thankfully, Joyce does not disappoint, delivering an excellent conclusion weighted with all the poignancy and heart needed from a novel of such unfathomable optimism and whimsical charm.

Escapism with an edge, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is sweet and touching light reading. More gritty than your average summer read and with just enough lightness of heart to bring a smile to the darkest moments Harold Fry is a highly recommended read.

Porn vs Reality or why "Hustler" Should Never Have Messed With "Girls."

Lena Dunham as Hannah with on/off onscreen partner Adam

News this week emerged that one of my favorite TV programmes, HBO's "Girls" is soon to be adapted into the raunchy porn film "This Ain't Girls XXX."

Word reached me via Girl's creator Lena Dunham's indignant tweet this morning.

"Okay, I wracked my brain to articulate why I can't just laugh off a porn parody of Girls and here are 3 reasons:" stated Dunham "1. Because Girls is, at its core, a feminist action while Hustler is a company that markets and monetizes a male's idea of female sexuality. 2. Because a big reason I engage in (simulated) onscreen sex is to counteract a skewed idea of that act created by the proliferation of porn. 3. Because it grosses me out. It's important to me to be honest about the complexities of having that out in the world. Love, Lena (porn name: Murray Broadway)"

Having already briefly discussed my views on porn here, the idea of what I consider to be a highly feminist and brilliant programme got me thinking. Admittedly, "Girls" showcases more than its fair share of risque scenes. In fact, in true porn style, a recent scene depicted one minor character being ordered to crawl around on the floor by her partner before showing a cringingly vivid cum-shot. It's perhaps this kind of action which caused "This Ain't Girls XXX" creators Hustler to comment that the often sexualised basis for the show made it easy to adapt into a porn film with apparently minimal changes.

But here's where the problem lies; adapting a mainstream TV show into a porn film involves one fairly major change: the eradication of "Girls"' feminist voice. Sex in "Girls" is as complicated as it is frequently filthy. The show's characters both assert control over their bodies and occasionally lose it, as they use sex to make sense of the confusing world of mid-twenties womanhood. In one episode, the increasingly purposeless central character Hannah engages in a twenty-four hour fling with a married doctor in a poignant parody of the stable life she craves as she descends into OCD. In another, best friend Marnie clearly doesn't enjoy her vividly depicted sex scene with an artist. Sex in the show is a complex female centered vision, sometimes engaged in with gusto by the show's women, and other times awkward, emotional or strikingly highlighting sexual imbalances.

For "Girls," graphic depiction of sex is a vision of female bodily control and reclamation. It dispels romanticised images of sex so frequently marketed by TV in favour of realism in all forms; brilliant and horrific.

Although I've stated many times in this blog that I don't have a problem with porn as a concept, I can't imagine Hustler's X-rated adaption holding anywhere near the same difficult intensity with which Girl's engages with sex. Converse to Dunham's starkly honest depiction of sex, porn canvases a vision of sex based purely on fantasy. And not just fantasy; this is an illusion rooted in magnified imaginations of male-centric power structures. A total opposition to the female empowered sex of "Girls," porn objectifies women using degrading images to create a microcosmic picture of the patriarchal thought that inherently pervades Western culture. Although shows like "Girls" show that feminism has come a long way, desires which emerge in pornography depict how deeply misogyny is embedded.

I don't necessarily think that the images and themes emerging in porn have to be problematic, and of course, I would never suggest that anyone who wants to should stop watching it. As far as I'm concerned, as long as everyone involved is a consenting adult, you have the freedom to completely make your own choices concerning what you do or watch. Furthermore, I'm fully aware that there's lots of porn out there that doesn't buy into this patriarchal imagination. However, what's important is that we recognise the damaging implications of many pornographic concepts, understand it as a lingering remnant of a misogynistic culture, and be sure to separate it from our real lives. After all, everyone's entitled to their own fantasy. It's just a case of knowing where that fantasy comes from, and when to stop.

However, the real problem here is the assumption of a show which is empowering for women, distorting it into a male-centric vision of control. As summarised by Hustler, the plot of "This Ain't Girls XXX" follows Hannah as she "decides to forsake men and boyfriend Adam (Richie Calhoun) to experiment with lesbianism. After a few satisfying jaunts she returns to Adam -- and mankind. Adam accepts her back into the fold, but, true to the original show, adds a dominant and quirky dimension to the scene."

Image from Hustler

Of course Hustler would totally reverse the idea of Adam and Hannah's strange dominance/submission style relationship. Whilst in the show, Hannah finds Adam's demands equally amusing and kinky, she submerges herself in the exercise as an exploration of her own sexual preferences, eventually turning the tables by assuming a mildly dominatrix position herself in a bizarre but fun scene.

Conversely it seems that Hustler has taken this kooky relationship to allow Adam to 'accept' Hannah as she returns to 'mankind.' Because of course, it's the role of all-powerful men to decide whether a woman is allowed to choose heterosexuality. In a world where even female homosexuality is based around male pleasure, it is clear that the apparent degradation of a woman leaving a man must be counteracted with the sexual assertion of male dominance, putting the indomitable Hannah back in her place. It's a microcosmic image of the fear of female power and independence which hampered feminism for thousands of years. It's perhaps this which provoked Hustler to convert "Girls," a show focused on female agency and autonomy, into pornography; perhaps the only way they can react to strong women is to reduce them to two-dimensional paragons of male fantasy.

As far as I'm concerned, female objectification will continue to exist in pornography. However, Hustler should never have messed with "Girls." Women have had a rough time with feminism over the last century. We deserve to keep one of the few shows that buck the trend.

Five of the Best: Feel Good Songs

With summer upon us, and deadline day looming, I've been feeling inspired. Partially seeking uplifting motivation after days of library drudgery, and partially preparing my playlists for post-hand in sun drenched days, my iPod has been subject to a reshuffling of feel-good tunes. Whether you need a pick-me-up from revision, or a soundtrack for your summer, here's some of my personal favourites.


Rusted Root: Send me on my Way

Ultimately uplifting, this cheery hippy-esque tune is not only amazingly feel-good, it's also loaded with childhood memories for any self-respecting nineties kid. After all, who could forget Matilda flipping pancakes to the cheery tones of Rusted Root in that classic Roald Dahl film?

Blink 182: All the Small Things

A reminder of the care free days of late 90's pop-punk, the bouncy energy and irreverent humour of Blink 182 is a sure-fire mood lifter. A simple reminder of of the 'small things' in life, jumping around to the whiny vocals of Tom DeLonge is the perfect way of working out stress.

Antsy Pants: Tree Hugger

With a voice as warm and comforting at hot buttered toast on a rainy day, Kimya Dawson uses her typical style of cutesy randomness in this sweet and cheery song. Straight out of a children's story book, turtles who want to fly, and snakes that want to hug cactus' are just some of the folksy musings of this meandering Antsy Pants tune.

Gorillaz: 19/2000 (Soulchild Remix)

Another feat of randomness, this remix of a Gorillaz hit takes a fairly staid song, and brings it up to its quirky and upbeat scratch. Why are they singing about shoes? Is there some kind of message? Who cares; fun and bizarre, this song is the epitome of mindless chirpy tunes.

Smashmouth: All Star

Reminiscent of the cheery escapism of Shrek, this feel good classic is the perfect song for lightening any mood. Sing-along 90's fun, belting out "Hey now! You're a rock star!" is compulsory.

Five of the Best: Bars in York

Everything they tell you about student life is lies. At least towards the end of third year anyway. The booze filled nights of dancing until the sun dawns, the debauchery of house parties that would put Skins to shame, the bar crawls that would leave you struggling to stand by 7pm... all a distant memory. The closest I've managed to get in the last few weeks has been scraping one night out at the local condemned-Chinese-restaurant-cum-disco (surprisingly better than it sounds) and sharing a bottle of wine with my boyfriend whilst watching Britain's Got Talent. More get-slightly-tipsy-and-have-an-early-night than your typical go-hard-or-go-home student life.

So, in the spirit of my recent dry spell, I've decided to reminisce about the glory days of university; those care free nights of freshers year spent sampling the night-life, and the happy evenings as a more seasoned second year reciting local drinks deals like the alphabet.

So for tourists, students and locals alike, here's my go-to guide for the best bars in York. Whether you're looking for a quirky hang out, or picking your watering hole based on the all important Shots of Vodka to Reasonable Price ratio, I present to you five of the best bars in York.

5. THE LOWTHER

Best. Wallpaper. EVER.

The ultimate student hang out, and the prime place for drinks deals, The Lowther has introduced many a Southerner to the up-North love of treble-for-singles. Perhaps not the choice for a quiet drink, The Lowther is the perfect place for large groups of friends to head before hitting the town (although all the body-popping laydeez should note there is no dance floor. However this often won't deter the odd club-eager lass after one too many vodka Vimtos) Recently renovated, the Lowther's dog-breed print wallpaper is an endless source of fascination if the company's not great, whilst the large tables and spacious layout is perfect if it is.

4. TIGER 10
Formerly known as 'The Parish,' this sufficiently snazzy bar is set in a beautifully converted church. Adding a touch of historical class to your evening in an ancient city, you can sip on the cocktail drink deals or the one pound a pop Jagerbombs feeling significantly more classy than your beverage implies. Alternately, slightly more expensive but not unreasonable drinks are on offer for you to enjoy as you take in this unusual modern renovation.

3. STONE ROSES
Themed around indie and alternative music, The Stone Roses is York's definite rock bar. One of the few city establishments to feature live bands, this off-beat venue balances quirky decor, cheapish drinks and a buzzing atmosphere. Another popular student pub, The Stone Roses is also frequented by tourists and locals alike, and is splurged with painted lyrics, pop art prints, and TV's offering mildly amusing musical facts.  (Led Zeppelin, R.E.M and Depeche Mode have not had a number one single between them, while Rihanna has had 10, in case anyone's interested.)

2. THE GOLDEN FLEECE
Featured on 'Most Haunted,' as the sign outside proudly and permanently proclaims, the Golden Fleece is something of a York tourist attraction. Better suited to a daytime drink due to its early closing hours, this historic pub holds host to a range of ghoulish goings on. Most famously haunted by a Canadian airman and a ghostly aristocrat, The Golden Fleece is a little more expensive in terms of drinks, but is worth it for the spooky atmosphere.


1. EVIL EYE LOUNGE
Popular for its classy but cool edge, this quirky bar is entered through its own shop selling all manner of quirky alcohols. This perfectly sets the scene for entering the mystic themed Evil Eye Lounge, a bar set in the centre of York boasting the city's most comprehensive drinks menu. Famous for their fantastic bespoke cocktails, Evil Eye is bizarrely Brazil, Haiti, and Moroccon themed, and mixes incredible and original drinks. At minimum of £5 a drink, it doesn't come cheap, but their cocktails are beautifully adventurous, immensely strong, and served in brilliant surroundings.

Why Curvy Girls Can Wear... Prints

Firstly, apologies for the long absence! Dissertations, essays, and general final-term-of-university stress has got the better of me recently, leaving me with very little blogging time.

Lack of writing hasn't been the only consequence of third year woes-- my bank-balance has also been reeling from the sporadic bursts of retail therapy motivating me through hours in the library. A spate of summer outfits have steadily streaming my wardrobe in anticipation of mythical, post-hand in sun drenched days.

With the greyness of both the university study spaces and the current weather weighing on my mood, my reaction has been to invest in cheering, increasingly gaudy prints. Splurged with colour, my new staple outfits are a rainbow of cartoons and printed cupcakes. As a lover of stand-out pieces, the creativity of prints currently available is perfect for stamping individuality, especially with the quirky cartoon prints of spring setting a trend for stylishly brazen outfits.

However, as every curvy girl will know, prints can be a worse enemy. A veritable minefield, patterns have the unfortunate effect of distorting the figure, the effect of your curves on the design highlighting every lump and bump. With the age-old ferocious warning against stripes ringing in every curvy girl's ears, the motto 'black is slimming' has sent me scurrying for a nice plain dress on many an occasion.

However, the thinking curvy girl can be worry free with jumping on the print-painted bandwagon. The simple tip for achieving a beautiful, flattering look is to avoid all over, busy prints. Teaming a patterned skirt or leggings with a plain top is a perfect way to get in on the trend, making sure any 'worry areas' are covered my a plain item of clothing, offsetting the busy-ness of the print, and solving the problem of nightmarish stretched prints over curves.

I recently purchased these pop-art print leggings from ebay. Garish and over-the-top, they require teaming with a plain top. I chose a long, black vest top to cover up the print around my mid section.

My other great print purchase lately has been this gorgeous skirt from Cameo Rose at New Look. Having lusted after its bodycon counterpart, regretfully acknowledging that I simply can't carry off tight prints, I was delighted to discover a skater skirt version. Flared out, the effect of prints on my shape isn't a problem, and it's nipped in waist is ultimately flattering. Furthermore, the skirt is truly gorgeous, and incredibly elaborate.

So here's a few of my recommendations for carrying off a curvy print look:

1. For an all-over print, go for one that is simple, sparse and non-geometric; busy prints will show off any lumps and bumps A black background is perfect to create a more streamlined shape. This Boohoo cartoon print dress, worn with spanx, would be perfect.

April cartoon print bodycon dress, £12, Boohoo

2. Geometric prints are ultimately unflattering, but you can still get in on the monochrome trend for checks and stripes. Choose a skater skirt which will flare out over your curves, or accentuate the curves you want to show off with a crop top and plain, high waisted skirt (don't forget to check out my earlier blog for more crop-top advice! http://what-katieb-did.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/why-curvy-girls-can-wear-crop-tops.html )

Geometric Print Skater Skirt, £28, River Island

Ellin vertical stripe monochrome crop top, ASOS, £8.99

3. For the more adventurous fashionista, wide-leg trousers are a good way to get on board with the craze for global prints. Hiding a multitude of sins, these should be worn with a plain, fairly tight top to avoid looking frumpy.

Eastern Print wide-leg trousers, Topshop, £48

Things I Learned from being a Book Geek

Having spent countless hours engulfed in well-leafed paperbacks, from the very first garishly shaded Ladybird Classics, to the American teenage dramatics of Sweet Valley High and the more mature reads of adult life, it’s fair to say that my perception has always been somewhat skewed by the ever-climatic experiences of a book geek.

For a teenager more familiar with the man-chasing antics of Austen’s Mrs Bennett than actual boys, or a ten year old with aspirations for a jolly-hockeysticks Mallory Towers-esque education rather than the local comprehensive, life for me was always going to be one wistfully guided by the books  that surrounded it. Life lessons aplenty poured forth from the novels that navigated my growing pains, first love and transitions into adulthood. Unfortunately for me, most of them turned out to be wildly inaccurate, and even bordering on the bizarre.

And so, in an elaborate attempt to procrastinate in the midst of dissertation writing, I’ve compiled a list of the things my (almost) 21 years as a self-confessed book geek have taught me. Some accurate life-lessons, some plain ridiculous twaddle, but all rewarding and entertaining in their own imperfect way.

What not to expect

The big loves are the best (but they don’t always work out)
Romeo and Juliet, Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler, Cathy and Heathcliff. The very best knee-trembling, tear-jerking, hear-pounded loves in fiction come complete with passion, bodice ripping and proclamations of undying love. The great lovers of literature are destined to be together, bound by some instant and unrelenting force set to send the reader taking a sidelong glance at the less than romantic back-of-a-crowded-bar introduction with their own boyfriend with a little less gusto than before.

However, the real crux to these all-consuming roller-coaster rides of relationships is that they never really hold up. The dizzying highs are always countered by devastating lows, and the couples’ love lives are more tumultuous than Taylor Swift’s dating catalogue. With the majority of these affairs ending up in abandonment, misery, and- more often than not- death, Ben and Jerry’s and a nice rom-com with the boyfriend isn’t looking quite so staid now, is it?

It’s OK to have a few angsty teenage years...

Me, reliving my teenage Goth years...

 As any good lit geek or emo will tell you, the book business is not one for shirking around teenage angst. Giving generations of angry adolescents firing power for the hormone soaked years between 13 and 19, classic “The Catcher in the Rye” told us that it’s OK to mope around a bit in those tricky secondary school days. With “Perks of Being a Wallflower” taking a more modern slant, we all now know that finding yourself, sulking, and existential wonderings are an integral part of our teenage years, and should be treated as such.

...Or live the all-American teenage dream

...and pretending to be All-American.
Fancy-dress is a wonderful thing.

Spending my early teenage years engrossed by the go-get-‘em Babysitters Club, the summer camp adventures of Marcy Lewis, and the Princess Diaries’ dream of my Dad turning out to be the king of a small European country, the light literature of American teen fiction taught me that life was going to be a happy parade of s’mores, friendly communities, and the light tribulations of whether to let your boyfriend go to second-base (without having any idea what ‘second-base’ actually entailed.)

Although sadly inaccurate, it’s still nice to occasionally sink back into the delusional promises of the US teen scene, and pretend that my looming final hand-in is no more pressing than what I would wear if I had a Homecoming Dance.

 “Don’t have sex, because you will get pregnant and die”
Since sex sells, it’s always been a bit of a contention in literature. Whilst Chaucer indulged his bizarre tendency to turn sex into a never-ending opportunity to create apparently hilarious pranks, the Victorians warned us of the terrible consequences of enjoying a bit of rough and tumble. (Pretty much always resulting in death, if you’re interested.) And now with 50 Shades of Grey advocating a spanking paddle as the real key to all-over life fulfilment, and the ever-growing trend for giving classics saucy “mummy porn” make-overs, literature just can’t seem to make its mind up.

Something which books do never-endingly tell us, however, is that sex is a BIG DEAL, a veritable life-changer, and must be treated as such. Another valiant, and not entirely accurate, word from the world of books which has probably left many a teenager pretty terrified. Now where’s my copy of “Jane Eyre gets bare”?

Not everyone gets a happy ending
I’ll still never forget the sheer horror with which I laid down Birdsong the first time I read it aged 11. Deaths of wonderful characters, dizzying romances sunk into banality, and unexpected reconciliations, Faulk’s most famed novel is beautiful, yet uncompromising. And it certainly wasn’t the first I was to come across. The painful injustice in To Kill a Mockingbird, the bruising finality of Atonement, Dumbledore dying in Harry Potter...

Literature has an incredible power to reveal that the truth about life is that there really is no truth. It is characterised by stories without morals, questions without answers, and endings that are not happy. But it also teaches us about the beauty that lies behind it all, and that glinting possibility, that just perhaps, ours might be the happy ending that comes out of it.