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이우애, 이반인 이벙인 이방인)
Nothing is above me and no one is below me.
Reviews
"이우애’s poems are readable."
"The introduction to 이우애’s Fringe and Frivolity is nicely-written, and it gets the point across, but it’s may not strike you as necessary reading. In it Ai explains the nature of this collection and of dividing the pieces across three distinct sections (“Fringe: Adoptee Universe”, “Fringe” and “Frivolity”). It may not seem as critical as the poems themselves, but it’s interesting reading nonetheless. It serves as a strong, valuable introduction to the ambitious intentions of poems like “Equal Rights for Children”, “Gossip” or “Society Is Best as Chewing Tobacco.”
There is urgency in that introduction, not necessarily any type of unpleasant desperation, and it carries into the poems collected here. The core of Fringe and Frivolity revolves around 이우애’s “coming out” (as she regards it) and dissection of her history and experiences as a foreign adoptee. Her opinions on the subject can be found throughout. She makes no suggestions that the opinions are her own, and they can be taken with a grain of salt. Agreeing with them is your call, but what may prove more compelling is the emotional journey she relates. One of the themes of Fringe and Frivolity is perhaps that there are no accidents. Everything happens for a reason. It’s an expression with so many connotations and suggestions that it’s lost meaning for many of us, but the idea is suggested in Fringe and Frivolity with such frankness and sincerity that one may find themselves willing to look at the concept again. Examine their idea of the phrase, relate it to the ideas in this book and see if anything changes as a result. It might, it might not. What gives Fringe and Frivolity its moral victory (as well as an artistic one, because the poems are quite good) is that you turn over old ideas and beliefs. Finding something new in doing so is nice, but sometimes, just being willing to do this can be just as rewarding.
Fringe and Frivolity uses that title in more ways than one. The poems are about more than just 이우애’s journey of putting her past in order. The title is a starting point. A way in which 이우애 examines not only her own life, but the creative efforts that have come out of that work, what those words mean to the aspects of society she is striving to better understand and much more. This is created and built upon with each piece in the book. The multi-layered, immensely enjoyable collection offers work rich in style and language. That is the start of what Fringe and Frivolity uses to be taken seriously and enjoyed."
Gabriel Ricard, Unlikely Stories, 12/21/2011
"Everything happens for a reason."
""What Is This, Art Exhibitionistella?" is another great collection of verse. The verses are packed with a ridiculous amount of lyrical beauty and style over substance. I would definitely recommend this collection (and others by the author) to anyone looking to dig on some fantastic poetry."
"The voice of this writer is one who could seemingly exist in any era. There's something timeless and profound about the works collected here, and they also benefit from a great sense of voice and a variety of poetic styles. Highly recommended to anyone looking for poetry written by someone who still believes in the medium's ability to reach and strike at people. Fantastic work all around."
Gabriel Ricard, Bloodzone Media , 11/11/2011
"I read a young lady’s poetry book, Love, Not Love, with a great interest or curiosity. Love poems by a young lady can be intriguing to any poetry lover, but the poems in this poetry book are different from the so-called traditional love poems I read. Expressions are honest with layman’s common languages. Metaphors are not the heart of this volume."
I read a young lady’s poetry book, Love, Not Love, with great interest and curiosity. Love poems by a young lady can be intriguing to any poetry lover, but the poems in this poetry book are different from the traditional love poems I read. Expressions are honest with a layman’s common language. Metaphors are not at the heart of this volume. I am an old poet, so I feel a generation gap with the author. As a matter of fact, there is more than one generation gap between the author and this reviewer. Poems in this book are separated into two categories: what is love and what is not love. Simply put, what is lust and what is love. I can understand this separation. However, I don’t fully understand the point of dividing the book into two parts. In this commentary, I can select three poems and can categorize them into what lust is and what love is. The most significant statement from the author is: This book is dedicated to God, the one who created us to be loved, and who can guide us to understand the meaning of love. That puzzles me, though. This dedication has nothing to do with the poems in this volume. A young lady’s maturity to distinguish love from lust seemingly produced this kind of poetry book. She was eventually free from lust. When I was young, I was able to distinguish one from the other without any experimentations with girls or women. There was a different concept of “girlfriend” then. I could read many romantic stories relating tragedies of mistaken love or lust, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter (1850) and Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina (1873-1877). In the 21st century, young ladies need more experiences with “boyfriends” not just one boyfriend in order to find love. I don’t know. Boyfriend/girl friend relationships have allowed for intimate sexual relationships or more. I like her simple erotic poem, “Let Me” in the section titled “To Ex-Boy Friends.” Let me taste the color of your skin Let me feel the fragrance of your hair Let me, if you dare, to let me in (p.32) I cannot distinguish lust from love in the above poem. Because this poem is a product of a young innocent love before lust turns into love or before love gives way to lust. I like another poem which illustrates a traditional daughter-mother love relationship from “For Mom” in the section titled “To Others.” Truly the heavens created thee, Happily the mountains would move For the love we share between the two of us. I say no one could be so many things as You are all at once A mentor, a counselor, an encouraging coach, A friend, a sympathetic sister, A beautiful smile, an encouraging word, an arrow To point out the path that is prepared for my footsteps, A listening ear, my love, no teacher ever has taught As skillfully as thee Or given your loving soul so freely, Asking nothing in return. I humble myself before You. If I could be myself within your love i Would so eternally Never have I known two people As intertwined, as whole (the root of holy is “Whole”). There is no love as beautiful, No sweet love so sweet smelling or soft singing No tender love as tenderly pure and encompassing. My happiness is spoken all days without a sound. Nothing else brings me Comfort, Nothing else gives me Joy. I cherish your heart, it is A heart as strong and pure as the gold of the sun. Truly are You my Comfort and Joy. There is nothing more to say (pp. 43-44) I can see some conflicts between the daughter and her mother in some other poems. But this particular poem can be appreciated universally by all daughters and mothers. Following is the last stanza of “Sad Persecution” in the section titled, “No Love to My Ex-Boyfriends.” I can see it as not being love, but lust. Why do you tear me up? Why do I feel so uneasy? Our bodies are in love. Our bodies make up easily. Our bodies rule our heads Because the sex….. mmm yeah the sex… mmm yeah the desire for sex Is separate from the head, The only time we love each other Is when we are in bed. The only time we feel love And feel loved is when we are in bed. (pp.58-59) Sex is part of love, it consummates the love. Judging from the poems, the young poet took quite a long time to distinguish lust from love. In reality, the two are not separable as theory would have it. The author is a young woman when she published this poetry book. At the end, she finds 1Corinthians and proclaims that she has found love from her long experimentation with lust and love. However, no one can separate the two, passion and love in exact terms. Is Ame Ai trying to say this in this poetry book? I am not sure. From this book, I have discovered poetry by a young woman in the modern age. I feel “enlightened”. Love, Not Love reminds me of Erica Jong’s first novel, Fear of Flying (1973) which I read when I was a young college professor. Jong created in it a sensation with her frank treatment of a woman’s sexual desires."
Yearn Hong Choi, KOREAMonitor , 12/26/2008
"She seems to me a honest or candid poetess to sex."
"Expressions are honest with layman’s common languages."
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