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A review by jacqui_des
Granta 136: Legacies of Love by Sigrid Rausing
4.0
Granta 136: Legacies of Love was a very eclectic composition of works centred around the central theme. I particularly enjoyed 'Whatever Happened to Interracial Love?', 'Potted Meat' and 'The Tenant', but the overall standouts were 'Raqqa Road: A Syrian Escape' and 'Africa's Future Has No Space for Stupid Black Men', which were both so moving in uniquely different ways.
Memorable Quotes
Introduction - Sigrid Rausing
“Love and pain, love and loss: the two are twinned. To know love is to know (or to imagine) the loss of love.”
“Love is haunted by loss; generosity is haunted by guilt.”
Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? - Kathleen Collins
“Everyone who is anyone will find at least one ’negro’ to bring along home for dinner. It’s the year of ‘the human being’. It’s 1963: whatever happened to interracial love?”
“...to her the young freedom rider of her dreams is colorless (as indeed he is), that their feelings begin where color ends, (as indeed they must), that if only he could understand that race as an issue, race as a social factor, race as a political or economic stumbling block, race is part of the past. Can’t he see that love is color-free?”
“Negro’ sons went forth to the Woolworths and Grants and Grayhounds of America to prove to their fathers that they could eat and sit and ride as well in the front as in the back, as well seated as standing.”
“And what of love, instead of politics? What of that nubile fleeting sensation, when one is color-blind, religion-blind, name, age, aid, vital-statistics blind? What about the love of two ‘human beings’, who mate, in spite of or because of or instead of or after the fact of?”
The Tenant - Victor Lodato
“She didn’t read much anymore, but she kept the books on her shelves. Occasionally she took one down and picked out a sentence – speaking it out loud, then swallowing it like a vitamin.”
“Harland shook his head, amazed that she’d somehow done it – improved him. Hell, she’d nearly made him beautiful.”
First Love - Gwendoline Riley
“Oh well I’m not allowed an opinion you see, not having been to art school’, she said. ‘My opinion’s worthless apparently, so ... but I think they’re all crap, yes. Absolute crap, so ...”
The Price You See Reflects the Poor Quality of the Item and Your Lack of Desire for It – Melissa Lee-Houghton
“...now I need to always risk losing something to feel safe.”
Raqqa Road: A Syrian Escape - Claire Hajaj
“It’s a fatal human flaw; we burrow when we should flee, we cling to our homes until the last barrier is breached, until running is the only option left.”
Africa’s Future Has No Space for Stupid Black Men - Pwaangulongii Dauod
“Tears taste like salt. Our tears. We are salts. Africa’s salt. And we are here shedding tears because we are trampled upon on every side. But these men don’t know this: that the more they trample upon us, the tastier we become.”
Memorable Quotes
Introduction - Sigrid Rausing
“Love and pain, love and loss: the two are twinned. To know love is to know (or to imagine) the loss of love.”
“Love is haunted by loss; generosity is haunted by guilt.”
Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? - Kathleen Collins
“Everyone who is anyone will find at least one ’negro’ to bring along home for dinner. It’s the year of ‘the human being’. It’s 1963: whatever happened to interracial love?”
“...to her the young freedom rider of her dreams is colorless (as indeed he is), that their feelings begin where color ends, (as indeed they must), that if only he could understand that race as an issue, race as a social factor, race as a political or economic stumbling block, race is part of the past. Can’t he see that love is color-free?”
“Negro’ sons went forth to the Woolworths and Grants and Grayhounds of America to prove to their fathers that they could eat and sit and ride as well in the front as in the back, as well seated as standing.”
“And what of love, instead of politics? What of that nubile fleeting sensation, when one is color-blind, religion-blind, name, age, aid, vital-statistics blind? What about the love of two ‘human beings’, who mate, in spite of or because of or instead of or after the fact of?”
The Tenant - Victor Lodato
“She didn’t read much anymore, but she kept the books on her shelves. Occasionally she took one down and picked out a sentence – speaking it out loud, then swallowing it like a vitamin.”
“Harland shook his head, amazed that she’d somehow done it – improved him. Hell, she’d nearly made him beautiful.”
First Love - Gwendoline Riley
“Oh well I’m not allowed an opinion you see, not having been to art school’, she said. ‘My opinion’s worthless apparently, so ... but I think they’re all crap, yes. Absolute crap, so ...”
The Price You See Reflects the Poor Quality of the Item and Your Lack of Desire for It – Melissa Lee-Houghton
“...now I need to always risk losing something to feel safe.”
Raqqa Road: A Syrian Escape - Claire Hajaj
“It’s a fatal human flaw; we burrow when we should flee, we cling to our homes until the last barrier is breached, until running is the only option left.”
Africa’s Future Has No Space for Stupid Black Men - Pwaangulongii Dauod
“Tears taste like salt. Our tears. We are salts. Africa’s salt. And we are here shedding tears because we are trampled upon on every side. But these men don’t know this: that the more they trample upon us, the tastier we become.”