interview with Mandy the bookworm
I had a chance to speak with Mandy of the mandy the book worm blog. Look for her review coming up soon but until then take a look at this interview.
U.L. Harper is the author of The Flesh Statue, a debut novel that will leave you with many discussion points bound to come up in conversation around the dinner table or what have you. Thanks must go out to U.L. for participating in this interview and providing answers that expand on some issues in The Flesh Statue, coupled with some personal questions to give us an insight into U.L. the author and U.L. the person.
I give you, ladies and gentlemen, U.L. Harper:
THE FLESH STATUE QUESTIONS
The title The Flesh Statue intrigues me. I understand it represents Langley’s grandfather and also to me flesh means alive, statue is a non-moving object, thus I think it also represents people standing still, not doing anything about their lives and/or not making a stand against authority/society. How I am going, on track? Can you explain the title a bit more for us?
Well, the flesh statue is simply what Langley thinks his grandfather looks like when he finds him dead. His grandfather is sitting there like a statue made of flesh. The flesh statue.
Which side of Langley do you like best, the aspiring poet, the 19/20-year-old trying to find his niche in the world, the grandson, the want-to-be-upriser or a side I haven’t mentioned?
When I think of Langley Jackson I think of the aspiring poet. It’s through his poetry that he grows as a person. He says one poem in the entire story and it’s really him reflecting on what he’s been through in his short time in Long Beach. At the same time, in that same poem, he talks about his dying grandfather and his grandmother. He talks about his empathy with the smaller people in the world. Langley as the aspiring poet relates to the world around him more than any other side of him.
Grandma defines freedom as “Having nothing to grasp on to, having no basis for anything, having no point and no reason”. Do you agree with Grandma’s opinion on freedom?
That’s an interesting question. Freedom to many people is simply the opposite of what binds you. Then when you aren’t bound to those things you say you have your freedom. Other people gauge freedom by the number of options they have. The more options the more freedom. With that being said, Grandma is in a situation where everything in her life has ended and she needs to start again to make living make sense. In this transition I’d say, yes, I agree with the quote, for better or for worse. One day we all may be staring at the bathroom mirror, looking freedom in the face, wondering what to do next.
Grandpa has Alzheimer’s and Grandma is left to take care of him, not wanting to ship him off to a home and in a sense ending a part of her life. Would you treat Grandpa the same way as Grandma did in the book, and if not what would you do different?
My great grandmother lived with my family when I was very young. She suffered through Alzheimer’s, as my mother and father watched helplessly. A very frustrating time. I can tell you that a number of instances that took place in the story actually happened, in regards to grandpa and his Alzheimer’s. In fact, after researching Alzheimer’s for this I realized that many things my family did to care for my great grandmother was just wrong. Simple as that. No, I would not treat grandpa as grandma did. He should just be in a home, as respect for his humanity. It’s one of the reasons Langley left his home to begin with–he couldn’t take watching his grandmother let his grandfather break down and slowly wither to death.
There are quite a few issues in The Flesh Statue; abortion, abuse, death, graffiti, neighbourhood watch groups, police, uprising of the people, just to name a few. These issues that you wrote about, did you have to do much research for or have you experienced or seen these issues in your own life? Big loaded question I know, answer as you please.
That is definitely a loaded question. So let me get this load off my back. In my social circles these issues are common place. I have a friend that makes graffiti documentaries and my old roommate and many of his friends were all about graffiti so I had that all in my head. Because of their political beliefs a lot of times they had political angle to what they did, even if indirectly. I’ve had my moments with police. I’ve been shot with rubber bullets, I’ve been herded by police horses as they swung billy-clubs at me. So, yeah, experience. And we’ve all dealt with death or have known someone who has. I did do research to help Bert know how to fix cars.
Get the full interview with the link below.
http://mandythebookworm.wordpress.com...
U.L. Harper is the author of The Flesh Statue, a debut novel that will leave you with many discussion points bound to come up in conversation around the dinner table or what have you. Thanks must go out to U.L. for participating in this interview and providing answers that expand on some issues in The Flesh Statue, coupled with some personal questions to give us an insight into U.L. the author and U.L. the person.
I give you, ladies and gentlemen, U.L. Harper:
THE FLESH STATUE QUESTIONS
The title The Flesh Statue intrigues me. I understand it represents Langley’s grandfather and also to me flesh means alive, statue is a non-moving object, thus I think it also represents people standing still, not doing anything about their lives and/or not making a stand against authority/society. How I am going, on track? Can you explain the title a bit more for us?
Well, the flesh statue is simply what Langley thinks his grandfather looks like when he finds him dead. His grandfather is sitting there like a statue made of flesh. The flesh statue.
Which side of Langley do you like best, the aspiring poet, the 19/20-year-old trying to find his niche in the world, the grandson, the want-to-be-upriser or a side I haven’t mentioned?
When I think of Langley Jackson I think of the aspiring poet. It’s through his poetry that he grows as a person. He says one poem in the entire story and it’s really him reflecting on what he’s been through in his short time in Long Beach. At the same time, in that same poem, he talks about his dying grandfather and his grandmother. He talks about his empathy with the smaller people in the world. Langley as the aspiring poet relates to the world around him more than any other side of him.
Grandma defines freedom as “Having nothing to grasp on to, having no basis for anything, having no point and no reason”. Do you agree with Grandma’s opinion on freedom?
That’s an interesting question. Freedom to many people is simply the opposite of what binds you. Then when you aren’t bound to those things you say you have your freedom. Other people gauge freedom by the number of options they have. The more options the more freedom. With that being said, Grandma is in a situation where everything in her life has ended and she needs to start again to make living make sense. In this transition I’d say, yes, I agree with the quote, for better or for worse. One day we all may be staring at the bathroom mirror, looking freedom in the face, wondering what to do next.
Grandpa has Alzheimer’s and Grandma is left to take care of him, not wanting to ship him off to a home and in a sense ending a part of her life. Would you treat Grandpa the same way as Grandma did in the book, and if not what would you do different?
My great grandmother lived with my family when I was very young. She suffered through Alzheimer’s, as my mother and father watched helplessly. A very frustrating time. I can tell you that a number of instances that took place in the story actually happened, in regards to grandpa and his Alzheimer’s. In fact, after researching Alzheimer’s for this I realized that many things my family did to care for my great grandmother was just wrong. Simple as that. No, I would not treat grandpa as grandma did. He should just be in a home, as respect for his humanity. It’s one of the reasons Langley left his home to begin with–he couldn’t take watching his grandmother let his grandfather break down and slowly wither to death.
There are quite a few issues in The Flesh Statue; abortion, abuse, death, graffiti, neighbourhood watch groups, police, uprising of the people, just to name a few. These issues that you wrote about, did you have to do much research for or have you experienced or seen these issues in your own life? Big loaded question I know, answer as you please.
That is definitely a loaded question. So let me get this load off my back. In my social circles these issues are common place. I have a friend that makes graffiti documentaries and my old roommate and many of his friends were all about graffiti so I had that all in my head. Because of their political beliefs a lot of times they had political angle to what they did, even if indirectly. I’ve had my moments with police. I’ve been shot with rubber bullets, I’ve been herded by police horses as they swung billy-clubs at me. So, yeah, experience. And we’ve all dealt with death or have known someone who has. I did do research to help Bert know how to fix cars.
Get the full interview with the link below.
http://mandythebookworm.wordpress.com...
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