Book Review: The Gravity of Existence by Christina Sng

The Gravity of Existence is a poetry collection by three-time Bram Stoker Award®-winning author Christina Sng.

The Gravity of Existence by Christina Sng with cover art by Ukrainian artist Anna Surgan

For the most part, I only really read poetry when required to do so for studying. This is not to say I don't like the literary form, just that I don't choose to read it for some reason. And then my favour seems to side with the romantics like Shelley, Baudelaire or Tennyson.

But this collection intrigued me with its strange mix of sci-fi, fairytales and horror. I was pleasantly surprised by these snapshot poems that feel humorous, honest, anxiety-inducing and beguiling all at the same time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Interstellar Flight Press for providing me with a copy for an honest review!

May and June Books

Silly me, I haven’t got a photo of for this post as I have passed on most of the books that I read to a charity shop before I finished writing this post!

Questions of Travel - Elizabeth Bishop

This May I had to hand in my last essay of the year (excluding that juicy 3hr exam in June) and after deliberating between writing about a play I thought was lacklustre but probably quite easy to write about and a collection of Bishop’s complex poetry that I rather enjoyed, I chose Bishop. It worked out I got a good grade and I rediscovered my love for reading and analysing modern poetry. This collection is thought provoking and lays Bishop’s soul bare. I really enjoyed it so it’s more than likely that I’ll be delving into more of her work in the future, or at the very least revisiting this collection. The book is not pictured as I was fortunate enough to have the collection provided by my university in an anthology.

Another Man’s City - Choi In-ho

Orwellian? Kafkaesque? Perhaps a dash of both but there is also a little The Matrix added in for good measure. Another Man’s City follows K (oh look a casual Kafka reference) as he tries to find out why his world suddenly feels like its populated with fake versions of the people around him, including his Wife and Daughter. Personally, I felt like the premise was interesting, but the execution felt a little underwhelming, and I found myself stopping and starting the book rather than getting hooked and devouring a short 190 page novel in one sitting.

The Duchess of Malfi - John Webster

A Renaissance Play that isn’t Shakespeare! Yes they do exist, and The Duchess of Malfi is a rather good one. As I had to read this play for uni I have of course analysed the play to the moon and back so I’ll keep it brief as I could quite easily write a rather long essay on it! The play is set in Italy and follows a Duchess who breaks societal expectations and decides to re-marry for love not status…of course being a tragedy expect death…lots of death.

When Adam Opens His Eyes - Jang Jung-il

This Korean novel was rather controversial on its publication back in the 90’s, but from a modern western perspective it’s not really that shocking which makes for an interesting read. Adam is on the cusp of adulthood and while he waits a year to retake a university entrance exam so that he can get into a top university he uses this time to find freedom and to learn about the world around him. When Adam Opens His Eyes is quite clearly a bildungsroman but it is also a story about a country on the edge. In the late 80’s Korea hosted the olympics and found itself struggling to uphold democracy while still reeling from the horrors of the Gwangju Massacre of 1980. In short it was a testing time and this is reflected in Adam’s navigation of his life and the encounters he finds himself in.

Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling

Not going to lie I didn’t read this book…Stephen Fry read it to me. Yes I have finally jumped on the Audible hype train. Previously I have always felt like I just didn’t have time to add audio books into my life but my morning makeup routine has become the perfect moment to delve into audiobooks as its a relaxing and therapeutic process that is also a productive use of time. Perfection! And I have already started listening to Chamber of Secrets!

All Things Come To Pass

One of the tasks for my Creative Writing course on my degree is to write a Haiku. Poetry is not really my forte and especially rather abstract ones such as the Haiku. If you’re not familiar with the haiku then let me briefly explain what it is a where it comes from. The Haiku (俳句) is a short Japanese poem, it literally is only 3 lines! The form of the Haiku is that lines 1 and 3 have 5 syllables and line 2 has 7.

examples include:

古池や蛙飛びこむ水の音 (furuike ya / kawazutobikomu / mizu no oto)

an ancient pond / a frog jumps in / the splash of water [Basho 1686]

いざさらば雪見にころぶ所迄 (izasaraba / yukimi ni korobu / tokoromade)

now then, let’s go out / to enjoy the snow … until / I slip and fall! [Basho 1688]

So seeing as some of the most famous examples of Haiku featured an abundance of nature I decided to make sure mine did too. I have long been interested in East Asian culture and in part that is because I am utterly fascinated with Buddhism especially the Japanese and Korean branches Zen and Seon Buddhism, which came to each country via China’s Chan Buddhism.

In Zen Buddhism you are encouraged to let go of ties to the material world, and it is often stressed that All Things Come to Pass, everything is impermanent. In Japanese that is called 無常 (mujō) and in Korean it is 무상 (Musang). What I found rather interesting about the Korean term 무상 is that it roughly translates into English as Free (or maybe thats just the Linguistics nerd within me?). And when you really think about it, if we release ourselves of obligation and stress and realise that everything is impermanent it gives us the freedom to chase life and embrace living in the present.

Okay, I will get to my Haiku in a moment, but first I need to turn to the Japanese custom of Flower Viewing to further explain the inspiration for my Haiku. Hanami (花見) is a tradition in which you observe the transient beauty of flowers, and in most cases that would be Cherry Blossoms as they only flower for a very short amount of time. So that links back quite nicely to the whole theme of All Things Come to Pass.

So here it is in all it’s 3 lined glory, I present to you my Haiku 

I don’t really know if this is any good but the inspiration behind this Haiku is rather interesting (well to me at least) so I thought I would share it with you.

And on a side note if you are fluent in Japanese please kindly translate my Haiku I would be interested to see what it looks like and sounds like in Japanese.