Dusk

Ozerkhalid

Though ``dusk`` is flawless I notice an integrity issues with you: a contradiction in your work. In a previous article entitled ``UK General Elections 2005`` you praise tony blair on his triumph at 10 downing street yet in ``dusk`` you note:

She” listens to Blair holler, bark, entranced by his showmanship, craftsmanship and delivery: reminiscent of bowlers during the Ashes. “She” absorbs the ‘All hail’ speech, breathing in his words like Himalayan air-

Seems like you are criticising him here ? What is your stance on blair ? do you support him or not ? stop sitting on the fence ? what happened to journalistic integrity ?

Re: # 11

moazammudasar you cliam that ``Terrorism stokes the flames if anything. The dictats of propoganda-based Madrassas``

cool down the hyper-bole not every malady in society can be pegged down to the ``madrassas``

Re: # 14 husna your logic

``it is needed from a girl who is obviously buying time and leaving everything to fate``

does not hold water.

i do not think ``the girl`` in dusk is leaving things to fate, like Mohsin hamid`s mumtaz she is craftily weaving a plot, witness how Ozer writes:

“She” absorbs the ‘All hail’ speech, breathing in his words like Himalayan air- She`s no Palin mountain-climber. Purposely pretending to be distracted?

her purpose-laden pretending to be distracted is a sign of ulterior motives

Re: # 15
kulsumbeig

interesting to note that p almodovar also espouses a similar tarantino-esque genre to his film-making

ozerkhalid

prolific piece ! dusk draws gravitas from the fact that it exudes contemporary lingo such as
“Usher-ishly caught up” ``playas pimp chrome hydraulics`` and ``A Nokia is answered. A Louis Vuitton is shouldered`` these are all accompaniments of a J-LO P/dIDDY heralded ``blingocracy``, and by using such catchphrases you are appealing to a younger, wider and broader audience with an underlying serious message/s

these contemporary catch-phrases may sound urban, jazzy and sexy but the message is so buried under them that a distracted reader may start glamorizing the very lingo you are using sarcastically

The author leaves an audience opaquely captivated: is ``Dusk`` about an intriguing love affair about to explode into oblivion ? Or a society mandated with norms that ostracize morality. my opinion would incline: Ozerkhalid is interestingly trying to herald both dimensions into one caption: a micro element (entanglement with the lady) and macro element ( affliction with environment).

the constant flux between micro and macro is like a Tarantino plot, forwarding and rewinding. heralding both dimensions brilliantly is this piece`s chief signature.almost cinematic !

Re: # 2
cipram you mention ``cayenne is right you writing depicts depression.change of place is must. London it self is depressing ,huge building and narrow streets.``

this ``change`` is not needed from the city of london, it is needed from society as a whole. it is needed from a girl who is obviously buying time and leaving everything to fate. it is needed from the capitalist econo-political imposed superstructure. it is needed from the ``chattering`` classes of society who say one thing and do another.

Re: # 6 good point kulsum ! interesting observation...

Re: # 9 moazammudasar

``Though this piece is dark and obscurantist, it is more Sartre than Kafka.``

Moazammudasar notice certain bits of this paper like ``Their Polaroid anorexic snapshot existences will click away without a flash`` or ``Oh babe the system swallows you like a Tsunami as though you are its natural victim`` or most gruellingly ``My blood-red patience wears thinner than a bulimia-laden epidemic``.

If this does not sound like Kafka in its tone, then what does ??

Re: # 7
Kulsumbeig

But surely modernity is not under fire in this article ? Rather it is stoking the flames... Is it not ? Analyze global events around you from 9/11, to Abu Ghreib, from the bombings in Madrid, Istanbul, Bali and Tel Aviv. Are these not signs of modernity being under fire !

Stoking the flames ? What are you on about. Terrorism stokes the flames if anything. The dictats of propoganda-based Madrassas are responsible for that, along with Western display of muscle in foreign policy. Why would modernity ever stoke its own fire ?

Re: # 1
Cayenne you suggest that the author needs to ``get out of that dark and dingy city named London``. Though this writing and its symbolisms, the Big Ben, cobbled streets, red buses clearly describe London with a Dickensian touch (notice the comments on the beggar), I think the author is referring to urban decay of a moral fabric in general and not ``London`` in particular. He only uses London as an epitomy of degradation.

Re: # 5
Husnaangelique

Though this piece is dark and obscurantist, it is more Sartre than Kafka. Witness how the narrator is consumed by the sheer superficial veneer of society and the entourage rather than victimizing and wallwowing in Kafka-styel self-pity.

Ozer

Your piece reeks of Albert Camus-type existentialism. It seems that the narrator is caught by the surroundings. Is it auto-biographical or pure fiction ?

Husna you say ``It reveals a soul trapped in the confines of modernity trying to emerge out of its flames``. But surely modernity is not under fire in this article ? Rather it is stoking the flames... Is it not ?

ozerkhalid a very profound and polished piece, yet there is one discrepancy:

``You are earnestly drinking and fair-mindedly chewing on Davidoffs. Spraining to invoke the illusion of permanence. There is NONE. ``

Above you revoke the presence of ``permanence`` like an article of faith. Yet in another sentence your article reads `` You long for some certainty yet remain consumed by the transient``.

Here you critique the ``transient``.

So by revoking ``permanence`` on the one hand and ``transience`` on the other what do you believe in ? Is this not a contradiction ?

Ozerkhalid

This is an incredible piece of poetry ! It reveals a soul trapped in the confines of modernity trying to emerge out of its flames. It has a leftist/Marxist undertone with a nihilistic/Kafkaesque view toward society.

One of the best pieces I have read in a long time !