Recommended Reading: Saudade: The Possibilities of Place by Anik See
Saudade: The Possibilities of Place by Anik See
ndeckha writes...
In keeping with the spirit of this blog and Anik See's book, this is not a formal review, but a series of meditations on the themes of Saudade.
Ostensibly a travel book, Saudade is less about the exotica of faraway locales, cultural customs and people than it is about the aura of place. See is a seer of places that most of us don't travel to or may not even consider travel-worthy: a newly constructed Amsterdam that is eerily devoid of much activity, populated only by buildings; a side trip to an ugly Outback town; an Arctic community; a fishing village in Sri Lanka. While her descriptive powers are lush and evocative, they focus on situating this aura, of seizing and reveling in their specific characteristics. These include their slowness, out-of-the-way-ness, lack of refinement and sophistication, the vastness and quiet of rural spaces. The aura she tries to seek and capture relates to her effort to not construct a history of these places, but ponder about memory. These places allow See to be transported back to her treasure trove of experiences; the out-of-the-way-ness of the places and her out-of-place-ness seek in many ways to retrieve and reassess her own memories, of her childhood, of a favourite grandmother, of friendships and failed loves.
