Review - James N Powell

March 6, 2011

A Hatful of Cherries

Tenderly rendered, haunting, compassionate tales from a new voice down under. Haunting, because like the best of Spanish writers, Felix's work embodies duende, or what I call aesthetic darkness. Lorca wrote that "duende, then, is a power, not a work. It is a struggle, not a thought. I have heard an old maestro of the guitar say, 'The duende is not in the throat; the duende climbs up inside you, from the soles of the feet.' Meaning this: it is not a question of ability, but of true, living s...more

In the native tongue of Tahiti, Ponui means "the immense night." Although Po is darkness and night, this darkness is not evil, but good and nurturing, as are the earth and the womb. Po is the creative world of night, the magical, immense and dark womb from whence our dreaming, our lovemaking, and our visions of spirits blossom forth.

Haunting the soul of much Spanish literature dwells Po by another name: duende, 'aesthetic darkness.' Lorca wrote that "duende, then, is a power, not a work. It is a struggle, not a thought. I have heard an old maestro of the guitar say, 'The duende is not in the throat; the duende climbs up inside you, from the soles of the feet.' Meaning this: it is not a question of ability, but of true, living style, of blood, of the most ancient culture, of spontaneous creation." He suggests, "everything that has black sounds in it, has duende, i.e., emotional 'darkness.'

Immense, sense-consuming darkness, proclaims Indian's great scripture of Tantra yoga, The Vijnana Bhairava Sutras simply does not support the quotidian, day-to-day thoughts that plague the mind of an aspiring yogi. So that on a moonless monsoon night, when one cannot see the even nose of one's lover, the mind may find itself transcending into the great mystery beyond thought.

And this is what is miraculous about work of Felix Calvino, a Spanish-Australian writer of great depth. His tenderly rendered, haunting, compassionate tales, like those of the best Spanish writers, are often tinted with the indwelling, dark allure of duende. Yet, duende is felt in Felix's prose through his characters' day-to-day struggles with such fundamental givens as identity. And one senses in one's gut that with Felix it is not a question of ability, but of true living style, of blood, of the most ancient culture, of the writer's dark nostalgia for the millenia-old mysterious ways of Spanish village life.

I invite you to acquaint yourself with this gifted writer. You will discover a deeply authentic voice. It may continue to haunt you long after you have read the last word.

J.

www.goodreads.com/author/show/6758.James_N_Powell