North London Review of Books - Transition and Transformation

This Edition of the North London Review of Books contains an assortment of creative writing and book reviews, all focused around this summer’s theme of Transition and Transformation. We hope you enjoy.

Maddie and Ai Yi --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contents

Searching for meaning in JaneEyre

Lost in the Stories

Transition and Transformation in Transcendent Kingdom

Can love transform people?

The Pictures of Dorian Grey

A review of CharlotteSometimes

Transformation in Cosmicomics,TheMetamorphosis and TheMasterandMargarita --------------------------------------------------------------------------

ManythankstoArynforthecoverart

Searching for meaning in JaneEyre

JaneEyre , by the Victorian novelist Charlotte Brontë, follows the protagonist Jane from a tough childhood through to adulthood and depicts her developing a passionate love for her employer Mr Rochester. Although on the surface it seems to be a simple romance novel, reading the book leads you to sympathise with the narrator and make you begin to wonder whether this tale may be more of a tragedy than a romance.

In fact, I resent it being labelled as a romance novel, because the narrative seeks to promote feminist ideas and question the reader’s desire for a neat ending. The most intriguing aspect of this book is Bertha: Mr Rochester’s wife, whom he has deemed deranged and kept locked up in his attic for many years. Her character has come to represent the repression of women’s emotions and embody of female rage, as the scholars Gilbert and Gubar discuss in their famous book TheMadwomanInTheAttic . The way Bertha is stripped of agency and locked in the attic reflects the containment of female expression. This is exemplified through the physical characteristics of the attic, which is high up and isolated.

Furthermore, both Jane and Rochester ultimately accept they belong together, which contradicts the book’s feminist messaging. However, one must remember that Brontë wrote the novel under the male pseudonym of Currer Bell, simply because women were stigmatised for writing books. Therefore, for the book to be successful, she had to appeal to male publishers who likely would not have been interested in a non-traditional ending. The fact that she had to publish under a male name emphasises the vast amount of sexism at the time, which is greatly reflected in the book.

For many readers, the sense of narrative finality at the novel’s ending provides a sense of comfort. However, we must question why and how Brontë crafted the story so that the reader is satisfied with Jane ending up with a man who consistently lies and manipulates her; this holds up a mirror to the reader, who is often satisfied with the narrative of two lovers ending up together. The one who always suffers from this, however, is the woman. In JaneEyre , then, there is no single antagonist, but instead multiple characters who are products of a destructive and misogynistic society.

Throughout the book, Jane was mistreated and undermined by the people around her – until she met Rochester, with whom she felt an instant connection and understanding. They shared a longing for freedom from society and found comfort in each other’s unconventionality. However, Rochester betrayed Jane completely by keeping Bertha a secret from her up to their wedding day, and the reason for her forgiveness of him remains unclear. Perhaps this was the only choice for women like Jane: without Rochester, she would be financially, socially, and emotionally alone.

By Anya P, Year 8

Lost in the Stories

“And those were the last words, find the corner of the circle.”

A cliff-hanger with no real ending, a loose thread floating out into oblivion. Authors think they are so clever by making us wait for the next book.

“Iris, bedtime.” My mum calls.

I stumble into bed and add the finished book to the skyscraper of books that have accumulated on my bedside. My bookshelves are filled to the brim: one more book and they would burst, a mess of words and pictures.

“Iris, those books will fall on you.”

“Where else am I supposed to put them, every nook and cranny is full?” I reply, scanning the room.

“Don’t blame me if you wake up with a very sore bump on your head.”

Just as I drift into sleep, I feel a rush of air. My eyes squint open. Books are tumbling on top of me. Ow, Harry Potter, ow, Percy Jackson, ow, The Hunger Games. I feel myself drowning in a sea of books. I close my eyes, gritting my teeth.

As I open them, light blinds me, and I can see a building peering out from the foggy mist, which is wrapping the turrets in its cotton fingertips. Something flies in the sky, coming right at me, at the speed of light. It catapults in twists and turns. I quickly dodge out of the way onto the soft snow surrounding the path. A boy gets up; I run to him. “Are you okay?” I ask, breathing heavily.

“Yup,” he says, “happens all the time. Harry, Harry Potter by the way.”

My mouth freezes shut, and I let out a small, “and this is…”

“Hogwarts.”

I squeak. Cautiously, I follow him into the school. I see the place I have created inside my head. I sit next to him and settle in this fantasy world I’ve spent so many years imagining. Glasses clink: Dumbledore’s going to speak.

My heart pounds.

The doors crash open. A boy and girl run in, one with goat legs. Everybody turns to stare at the newcomers. The girl says,

“I’m guessing we’re not in Camp Half-Blood anymore.”

Harry Potter gets up.

“Who are you?”

The boy opens his mouth to answer but the girl interrupts him:

“First tell us who you are, and where we are,” she says with a determined glare.

“Harry Potter…”

The faces in the room stare at them expectantly, but the newcomers show no expression.

“You know, the boy who lived.” Harry adds.

Their faces remain blank.

“Percy Jackson” pipes up the boy.

“PERCY JACKSON!” I accidentally shout.

The faces in the room turn towards me, and I suddenly flush red with embarrassment.

“You’re Annabeth Chase, aren’t you? And Grover Underwood? You’re a long way from home.”

Annabeth scowls at me: “How do you know my name?”

She’s interrupted by the doors crashing open again.

“Put your hands up,” the girl who just ran in shouts.

The wizards stand to attention pulling out their wands while Percy pulls out his sword. The girl is accompanied by a boy who is also holding up a… gun. They’re a little older than me. The girl has a wound on her head dripping blood. She walks toward us like a predator cornering its prey.

“Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark,” she says, “winners of the 74th Annual Hunger Games.” Her expressionless façade is weakening at the edge. Sprinkles of fear, strength, and pain melt into the darkness of her eyes.

Percy, of course, never having heard of the Hunger Games excitedly says, “That sounds fun, is it a competition of who can eat the most… I’m hungry.”

He walks towards the Slytherin table and begins stuffing chicken into his mouth.

Katniss storms towards Percy. I can practically see the steam coming out of her ears. She grabs his collar and hisses through her teeth, “No, it’s when you force 24 innocent children into an arena and make them fight to the death for the entertainment of the Capitol.”

Percy gulps. “Oh.”

Katniss, furious, storms out of the Great Hall. Following her, I find myself standing in a forest. The realisation causes my whole body to sink into panic. I am in the Hunger Games. This place of my nightmares is vividly real. I hear screams far away in the distance, and I can smell the grass mixed with sweat and blood. In the hall I felt almost comfortable, but here I feel as if there are insects in my stomach trying to force themselves out of my mouth. Two people emerge from the space where I entered this hellish dimension. At first my brain feels like it’s going to explode; I wonder if they have come to kill me. But the man looks a little too old to take part in the game, and they are not wearing the same outfit as Katniss. The girl stares at me.

“Who are you?” she asks with curious eyes.

“Iris,” I reply, “who are you?”

“Tris, and this is Four.”

Divergent, I think to myself – yet another book. Why have all these book characters been sucked into this world of madness and mayhem? Suddenly, more characters surround me. Everywhere I look, more appear. An older man reaches his hand out to mine to shake it.

“Sherlock Holmes.”

I almost choke.

“Iris,” I reply.

More names fly in the air. Sophie and Agatha, School for Good and Evil. Edward and Bella, Twilight. Hiccup, How to Train Your Dragon. They all start shouting my name.

“Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris,” they shout. My eyes force themselves shut, and I sink to the floor. Slowly, the yelling fuses into just one voice. My mother’s voice.

“I heard a bang – your books fell on your head, just as I said they would.” I look around at all the books I had in my dream, and almost laugh.

“Can I have a new bookshelf?” I ask.

“Of course,” she laughs, “I thought you would never ask.”

By Giorgietta U, Year 7

Transition and Transformation in TranscendentKingdom

In 2021, Yaa Gyasi’s second book, TranscendentKingdom,was shortlisted for the Woman’s Prize for Fiction. The novel focuses on Gifty, the protagonist, and her navigation of life before and after the death of her brother, Nana, who died when she was a child. TranscendentKingdomexpertly explores addiction and the conflict between religion and science, whilst also portraying the long and arduous process of moving on from grief, as shown through the dual timeline.

Gifty, a PhD candidate, is studying addiction and reward-seeking behaviour in mice, when her mother falls into her second depressive episode and comes to stay with her. After Nana’s death, a deeper rift had formed between the two, and while her mother turned to the church for solace, Gifty turned away from religion. Though Gifty has somewhat moved on from her brother’s death, her mother is incapable of making this same transition, and thus falls into a state of depression for the second time in Gifty’s life.

The family’s emigration from Ghana to Alabama results in Gifty’s family of four shrinking into a family of two. Through this change in location, Gyasi examines the struggles Black families face in America; the inability of Gifty’s father to adapt to the American lifestyle, coupled with the racism he faces, culminates in his abandonment of the family. This leads Gifty to form a closer bond with her brother. As a result, when Nana dies due to an opioid addiction, which stems from a prescription meant to treat a sports injury, his death weighs heavily on Gifty. Her grief subconsciously pushes her into studying neuroscience. While Gifty views Nana’s death as an accident, other churchgoers seem to conclude that it was inevitable because ‘their kind’ had a predisposition towards drugs and crime. Gyasi portrays this as Gifty’s defining moment, after which she turns away from religion and finds a new source of comfort in science.

The behaviour she witnesses among the mice she studies mirrors that of her brother, which helps Gifty navigate her and her mother’s grief. Though their relationship has never been as close as Nana’s had been with their mother, Gifty realises that they have both been searching for purpose in a seemingly meaningless world and both have ultimately been unsuccessful.

Throughout the novel, Gyasi shows how the enduring presence of grief can completely change people, such as Gifty’s mother, who becomes hollow. This is illustrated through her lack of narrative when she visits Gifty. In the end, Gyasi concludes that to move on from grief, one must accept it fully and in all aspects. Gifty eventually returns to church and comes to terms with the God at whom she has been so angry; this allows her to finally move on from her brother’s death.

By Ai Yi W, Year 12

Can Love Transform People?

One of the most renowned love stories of all times, Pride and Prejudice, opens with the definitive statement: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Throughout the novel, however, we see our two main characters, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy, not only challenge this view, but also have their views challenged, resulting in significant changes to their own characters and their perceptions of each other.

Pride and Prejudice was written by Jane Austen, and published in 1813. She decided to have the novel published anonymously, signing off simply as, ‘By the Author of Sense and Sensibility’. In this novel, Austen depicts the negative, yet sometimes comical effects of the complex social customs in 19th century England. As the title suggests, we witness immense amounts of both pride and prejudice throughout the novel, the first of these being the assumption that a single rich man must need a wife. Elizabeth’s mother is especially keen on this social norm. While this plan seems to work smoothly with Mr Bingley, a newcomer who takes an interest in Elizabeth’s oldest sister Jane, it falls flat with Mr Darcy, a friend of Bingley’s.

Darcy is our first introduction to pride. When asked whether he wishes to dance with Elizabeth, he declares that “She is tolerable: but not handsome enough to tempt me”. This haughty comment is made within earshot of Elizabeth herself. At this point, she makes her judgement of Darcy: an arrogant, rude man who mistreats others. It takes a long time, and huge amount of effort from Darcy, for Elizabeth to begin to change her mind about this opinion.

As the story progresses, Darcy begins to find himself attracted to Elizabeth, though he cannot allow himself to admit anything yet. It is chiefly his pride that gets in his way, because he considers Elizabeth to be below him in the social hierarchy. Bingley’s sisters, who are staying with him alongside Darcy, also try to call attention to these differences in status, due to their jealousy. As Elizabeth and Darcy spend more time together, Darcy finds himself beguiled by her wit, falling in love with her even more. Despite this, he still fixates on their social differences, musing that, “were it not for the inferiority of her connections, he should be in some danger”. This illustrates how, even when he clearly loves her for her character and mind, he cannot perceive marriage as something to which love, instead of mutual benefit from social standing, should lead.

Soon, Elizabeth meets Mr Wickham, who provides her with even more reason to despise Darcy. Without thinking to listen to Darcy’s side of the story, Elizabeth wholeheartedly trusts Wickham. Elizabeth Bennet is one of, if not the shrewdest of Austen’s heroines. However, prejudice clouds her mind, barring her from being as analytical as she usually would be. Though she is smart, Elizabeth maintains a prominent flaw throughout: her inability to move on from first impressions. This leads to her missing all the signs of Darcy’s feelings and being susceptible to other characters’ deception. In fact, Elizabeth is warned to be wary of certain characters, but entirely ignores this because she deems the sources of this information to be unreliable.

All of this builds up to the climax of the story, whereupon Darcy professes his love for Elizabeth. However, he is met with harsh rejection. Darcy’s proposal once again highlights how much attention he places on the social hierarchy, as a lot of the speech is focused on how inferior Elizabeth is in comparison to him. His pride prevents him from ignoring this. Elizabeth, however, also holds onto her pride, and she does not take kindly to Darcy’s speech at all. Alongside her prejudice against Darcy, based on their first meetings and his beliefs about her family, she searingly rejects him, forcing him into a grim retreat.

It is this proposal, and subsequent rejection, that begins both characters’ metamorphosis. Elizabeth’s rejection is a blow to Darcy’s pride, especially due to her supposed “inferiority”. This forces him to respond to her accusations, which he does through a letter. From this letter, both Elizabeth and the reader learn the truth behind another character’s deception. This newfound knowledge, in turn, leads to Elizabeth questioning her judgement of Darcy, which allows her to change her mind.

As Elizabeth opens herself up to learning more about Darcy, her opinions shift and alter. He is no longer the single story she had of him in the beginning, and this causes a change within herself. She becomes less hasty to jump to conclusions about the people’s characters. Darcy’s love, on the other hand, remains as passionate as his first confession. However, he clearly matures; this allows him to rise above hierarchical ideas, as well as the pressure exerted by people from his own circle, such as Miss Bingley.

Austen depicts a timeless love story between two flawed characters who better themselves for one other. Had Darcy never met Elizabeth, he would have remained under the influence of social pressure and status. Elizabeth allows him to break away from these constraints and to temper his pride. In turn, Darcy’s foibles open Elizabeth’s eyes to her own prejudice and enable her to become a more understanding person. Love transforms them into better people, who are better suited to each other.

By Rali V, Year 12

The Pictures of Dorian Grey

ThePictureofDorianGrayis a classic. Not a ‘modern classic’, a seeming buzzword in book reviews, but simply a classic: novels which often find themselves subject to the unrelenting analysis of an English student. Written in 1891, it shares its 19th-century (and of course, gothic) status with many of the books we study in class – JaneEyre,PrideandPrejudice , and GreatExpectationsto name a few. These are all titles by seasoned novelists, which is where Oscar Wilde’s ThePictureofDorianGraydiffers, as it is the only published book by a renowned poet. In its early years, the novel did not seem to be the makings of a classic due to its scandalous reputation. At first, it was picked up by an American literary magazine as a novella, where the editors cut 500 words without Wilde’s knowledge, declaring the original text ‘indecent’. These details were mostly homoerotic references: an underlying theme which was restored in later versions and to which particular attention is paid by modern reviewers.

Dorian Gray is the youthful, handsome, and idyllic muse of painter Basil Hallward. The opening scene describes Dorian sitting for a portrait Basil paints of him. Lord Henry, a friend of Basil’s, has been intrigued by the pure and beautiful character of Dorian Gray and comes along to watch. During the chapter, Henry speaks of his own hedonistic worldview, which prompts Dorian to reflect on the importance of beauty. This causes him to wish for his picture to age instead of himself. In true literary style, the wish comes true, and the picture's aging parallels Dorian’s descent into corruption and immorality.

ThePictureofDorianGraycan be described as a moral tale, exploring themes such as the timeless fear of old age, the superficial nature of society, and the negative consequences of influence. Another discussion that runs through the book is that of the aestheticism artistic movement. This movement espouses ‘art for art’s sake’, claiming that the purpose of art is to have no purpose; instead, it should be ‘unconscious, ideal, and remote’. This differed from contemporary Victorian views, which were that art could be used for social education and moral enlightenment.

The Guardian describes the novel as ‘allusive’, which one could say is a great part of the pleasure of reading it, as one is freer to interpret the book’s imagery and plot for oneself whilst trying to pick apart the writing’s suggestions. This has also allowed academics to continue debating various interpretations, marking the novel out as a constantly evolving part of the literary canon.

Considering that Oscar Wilde was also a poet, it’s of no surprise that the language used is rich and piquant. The extensive descriptions of late 19th-century London are sure to be fascinating for urban dwellers.

There are two well-known parts of the book: the preface and the ending (don’t worry, the middle bit’s good too). The preface was added in revisions by Wilde, who was a famous defence of the ‘art for art’s sake’ movement. It is written in an experimental form similar to verse, and is quite insightful to read, ending with the line ‘all art is quite useless’. The novel’s ending is exhilarating and resolves the moral tale so poignantly that it’s hard to imagine it being done in any other way.

Overall, ThePictureofDorianGraykeeps you on your toes and never fails to be engaging. A wide range of audiences would find it an enjoyable read, and if you have made it this far, I would definitely recommend the novel to you.

By Heer B, Year 8

A Review of CharlotteSometimes

CharlotteSometimesis a classic novel which was written in the 1960s. It revolves around the transition between time periods and identity. Charlotte Makepeace is at the centre of this novel, and we see inside her troubled mind as she battles the unexplainable changes that force her to live two chaotic lives at once. These lives involve her having to deal with two different sisters and two different groups of people.

It all starts with a normal girl joining an ordinary boarding school. However, what happens to her afterwards is far from usual. The night after Charlotte arrives, she wakes up in her new room but something feels something off. She become even more confused when she realises it is 1918 and everyone appears to think her name is Clare. She soon discovers that not only has she been transported 40 years back in time, she seems to have a different identity altogether. She tries to keep her real identity hidden for as long as she can while being forced to live the life of another girl.

Each night she alternates between these identities and must learn how to live two different lives. She also manages to communicate with the girl whose life she was living by using her diary. This informs her that the mysterious girl named Clare is living Charlotte's life while Charlotte lives Clare’s.

The supernatural transition between the two characters is intriguing as it is never explained yet unreservedly accepted and barely questioned throughout the novel. It seems peculiar that the two girls never attempt to address the issue of their nightly identity swap. However, they do attempt to fix the many problems that arise as a result of this switch.

One issue creates immense tension throughout the novel: Charlotte discovers from the diary that Clare will be moving in with the Chisel-Brown family so will no longer be able to switch identities with her using the magical bed. When Charlotte wakes up as Clare and is taken to the Chisel-Browns’ in her stead, she must make her final attempt to escape the past and return to the present. But can she do it?

This is a gripping novel filled with suspense and pressure. The switches between time periods made it fantastical, but there was also an element of realism created by the mundane lives of the girls. I thoroughly enjoyed reading CharlotteSometimesand found seeing how the characters reacted to the unusual changes profoundly interesting. The ending was brilliant, and the building tension throughout the book led up to it perfectly. Furthermore, description is used intelligently throughout, which serves to create an incredibly vivid picture of what is happening. I would highly recommend reading this novel if you are a fan of a mysterious read.

By Martha M, Year 7

Transformation in Cosmicomics,TheMetamorphosisand TheMaster andMargarita

The origin of the Universe is a story that has been countlessly retold, but the whimsical and absurd take on the narrative in Calvino’s Cosmicomicsmay just be my favourite. Each of the twelve short stories in the original collection takes inspiration from a supposed scientific ‘fact’, building around it to create a hilarious tale of love and fantasy. The binding feature of these stories is the common narrator, Qfwfq, an eternal being who transforms from a humanoid moon-milk gatherer to a Mesozoic lizard to all manner of other creatures that have (or may have) existed across time and space. No matter which form he takes, the witty and romantic narrator retains a markedly human characteristic: their distinct identity. Calvino, a master of changing and adapting his writing style to match the character and atmosphere he attempts to convey to the reader, maintains a continuity of style and pace in this collection, which gives the changeable Qfwfq a sense of individuality. In other words, the essence of the character’s personality remains constant as his external form changes. This take on metamorphosis shows a particular regard for the character’s identity, suggesting that one’s character is unaffected by their physical exterior.

Kafka’s Metamorphosistakes a starkly contrasting take on metamorphosis, whereby Gregor Samsa, the novella’s protagonist, undergoes a fundamental change in personality when he transforms from a man to a horrific insect-like creature. This change in his physical appearance brings about a shift in the character’s personality, notably in his treatment of his family. Gregor goes from being a well-respected and loved salesman, with the greatest affection for his parents and his younger sister Grete, to being a lazy slob incapable of overcoming his physical impediment to support his family. Though he remains a sentient, thoughtful creature even in his affected state, he is no longer the same man he was before his sudden transformation, and the story follows the devastating impact this change has on those around him. Kafka’s vastly different perception of physical metamorphosis may reflect the human tendency to hold the human figure in high esteem and place more emphasis on it than on one’s character or inner identity. If this was the case, Calvino’s presentation of metamorphosis would be explained by the fact that Qfwfq – although certainly humane – is never described as specifically human, so all the forms he takes on are equal in the eyes of the author and the reader.

Transfiguration as a form of magic is typically associated with witchcraft and other magical dark arts. In The MasterandMargarita , a novel rife with witchcraft and satanic magic, Bulgakov explores both voluntary and involuntary transfiguration and their consequences. Nikolai Ivanovich is transformed from a human to a hideous hog by a magical balm that Natasha discreetly applies to his skin. Here, the physical transformation is a curse which is inflicted upon the man, like Gregor’s, and in both instances this transformation affects the victim’s interpersonal relationships. Nikolai becomes submissive to Natasha: she and Margarita abuse him in his docile and supposedly inferior form of a hog. The other character of note that undergoes transformation in the novel is none other than Satan himself, who remains, for most of the narrative, a sly cat. However, for him, his animal form gives him certain liberties that he would be denied in a humanoid form and conceals his identity rather tactfully. The element of agency in transfiguration, even within the realm of dark magic, is thus clearly significant to Bulgakov.

By Solène G, Year 12