American History - Grade: A PDF

Preview

Summary

History paper...

Description

Running Head: MILK AND HONEY

1

Book Review: Milk and Honey

Name

Institution Affiliation

MILK AND HONEY

2

Milk and honey is a compilation of poetry and prose written by Rupi Kapur and published by Andrews McMeel Publishing in November 2014. The book is deeply rooted around survival. It highlights loss, love, abuse, violence and femininity. Her book has four different chapters with all the chapters delivering a distinct purpose as intended by Rupi Kapur. The four chapters underline pain, heartache and so on. The book also represents very distinct points in Rupi Kapur’s life experiences. The points include; The Hurting, The Healing, The Breaking, and The loving. Poets address a wide range of issues (Keenan: In Renaissance Literature). Furthermore, her book Milk and Honey, Rupi Kapur revolves around events that underline bitter and painful moments. Though, from a different perspective, the book makes it clear there is happiness in bitterness, with happiness only materializing when it is sought for. Rupi Kapur’s book received good reception and appreciation from its readers. The social media did go ballistic with readers posting excerpts of the book and emphasizing on the inspiration and influence the book has on them. In her book, Milk and Honey, emotions and personal experience take center stage. Loneliness is a definite sign of realization that a person interest needs to be prioritized (Rupi Kapur: Milk and Honey). In this monograph, Rupi Kapur defines gender identity as masculinity and femininity. She also gives her audience the opportunity to know of the gender impartiality in South Asia. She opens regarding her womanhood, the sexual violence propagated against women in Asia and expounded on her feminist ideas. The collection of poems in her book expounds more on the issue of gender. The poems critically examine the construction of masculinity and femininity. The poetry is complemented by themes revolving around sexual abuse coupled up by harmful relationships. She highlights the life of a young girl with a childhood characterized with rape and hopelessness.

MILK AND HONEY

3

The life of the young girl is destroyed extensively. Milk and Honey act as a channel where Rupi Kapur exposes her inner feelings in regards to gender freely. She talks of the perceived superiority men have over women in Asia. She emphasizes on how men take advantage of the women by abusing them both physically and emotionally. The physical pain that women go through, therefore, makes them vulnerable with their purity shattered. Women, therefore, end up losing dignity in the face of men. They lack the opportunity to speak up, as their grievances go unaddressed. On the other hand, Rupi Kapur incorporates a different twist in her work; she talks of how masculinity and femininity can complement each other under her points of ‘The Loving’. She details sensuality and intimacy supplemented by the feeling of love felt by men towards women and vice versa. Rupi Kapur ideas regarding feminity are raw and genuine. The truth and reliability lead to Milk and Honey being appreciated widely across quarters from far and wide. The collection of poems manages to force the audience into having a total rethink regarding the notion of how the authenticity of women is regarded. Milk and Honey takes an exception by emphasizing the need for women to be independent and possess and identity. Rupi Kapur through her poems gives women the reason to appreciate themselves and stop depending on the world and others in order to be authenticated. According to Rui Kapur (2014), you need to have a personal understanding of yourself. This is a great exposure of the greatness that lies inside women. This idea has attracted criticism from some quarters, with the idea being referred to as cliché. Consequently, Rupi Kaur expounds on women independence with a lot of honesty, thus throwing a new shift in the mix. She further urges women to stand up for themselves and prove their worth. Milk and Honey underlines and acknowledges the strength

MILK AND HONEY possessed by women. She states that even though women are treated unfairly in the society they still have the strength and room to love again. In conclusion, on the theme of gender, Milk and Honey is adequate in terms of coverage and inclusivity. Rupi Kapur highlights everything that women in Asia undergo through the life that includes sexual violence and abuse. The poetry is complemented by themes revolving around sexual abuse coupled up by harmful relationships. She expounds on the gender issues women face in South Asia. On the other hand, she also takes the time to cover the issue of growth of both masculinity and femininity. She highlights the life of a young girl with a childhood characterized with rape and hopelessness. Poetry is more than what we experience (Strachan & Terrty, 2011). Therefore, the poem did not leave any perspectives missing. Rupi Kapur manages to relay a lot of information to her audience through the different themes in the book. The book has distinct points in Rupi Kapur’s life experiences. The points include; The Hurting, The Healing, The Breaking and The loving. Therefore, I would recommend this compilation of poems written by Rui Kapur to anyone with life experiences that are relatable to hers or to anyone with little or no interest in poetry as the book is worth it.

References Kapur, R., (2014). Milk and Honey (1 st Ed.). Toronto: Andrews McMeel Publishing.

4

MILK AND HONEY Keenan, S. (2008). Prose. In Renaissance Literature. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Strachan, J., & Terry, R. (2011). The shape of poetry. In Poetry. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

5...