WWC2019: The Round of 16

Posted on June 22, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

{ I’m writing this immediately after the Germany-Nigeria game–travel and work got in the way of getting it done before that. }

Nothing too surprising coming out of the groups–sure, exactly how Scotland/ Argentina/ Nigeria/ Chile/ China would end up was a jumble, but there was always going to be some churn in the final slots.

OVERALL NOTES

More and more, this seems to be a World Cup of transition. That makes the media information especially misleading: traditionally strong teams (China, Japan, Brazil, Sweden) just aren’t all that great right now, but you’ll hear them talked about as if they are.

It’s simply lazy, but, sadly, it’s to be expected.

There is also some transition at the top: Canada and Australia especially can make an argument to be included in the elite teams.

GERMANY – NIGERA

Already played, so no prediction, and more analysis than on the other games.

This Nigeria team was a disappointment for me–not in losing to Germany, which was clearly expected, but in their overall performance. It was nice to Rasheedat Ajibade get a few minutes, and I would think we will hear from her at the 2023 version of this extravaganza.

I don’t know what to make of Germany right now. In Sara Däbritz, Lina Magull, and Melanie Leupolz there is a great young trio of talent, and Giulia Gwinn seems (surprisingly to me) to have totally adapted to a fullback/wingback type role. In doing so, she’s keeping one of the most impressive attacking fullbacks in 2015, Leonie Maier, on the bench. Add in the possible return of Dzsenifer Marozsán and the overrated-but-still-quite-good Alexandra Popp, and this team is loaded. But, but, but … I just remain unconvinced.

There are 2 narratives competing here: one is they did just enough to win against China and Spain and are now rounding into form; the other is that they were pushed to the limit against the better teams they have played, making the wins against South Africa and Nigeria less impressive.

Their next game–against Sweden or Canada–should be excellent.

NORWAY – AUSTRALIA

I think this is potentially the best game of the Round of 16, and I think there will be goals. Neither team has impressed terribly on defense, and each has a world class attacker in Norway’s Caroline Graham Hansen and Australia’s Sam Kerr.

I do think that, in the end, Norway misses Ada Hegerberg, so I’ll go with Australia, 3-2, with Kerr taking over the Golden Boot race from Alex Morgan.

ENGLAND – CAMEROON

They aren’t called indomitable for nothing … that said, Cameroon has been less impressive this time around. They’ve done just enough, and in Ajara Nchout Njoya seem to have found a capable complement to Gabrielle Onguéné and Gaëlle Enganamouit (who has yet to really make her mark here in 2019).

I still think Raissa Feudjio is a great talent, although she seems to be being called upon to play more of a wide role, which I don’t think is her strength.

All that said, this England squad is loaded, and should get through Cameroon’s somewhat suspect back line often enough to cause a lot of trouble. Ellen White has been especially impressive, and is probably the key player for their high press to be effective, and the squad is a bit spoiled for choice (the proof of this is that a player like Rachel Daly can’t crack the starting lineup, and understandably so), with both Bethany Mead and Georgia Stanway pushing for more time despite both being under 25.

England, 3-1.

FRANCE – BRAZIL

France remains one of the class sides of the field for me, especially if you figure Wendie Renard is unlikely to continue to be their opponent’s leading scorer. They’re simply more talented than Brazil, end to end, and while it’s not clear she’ll get time on the wing, I do think Delphine Cascarino could have a breakout game here: I don’t see any part of Brazil’s back line that is set to cope with her pace on the ball.

Even if Cascarino doesn’t play, I would look for Amadine Henry and Eugénie Le Sommer to dominate play (and get kicked in the ankles an awful lot–this one could be quite chippy).

France 2-1.

SPAIN – USA

I do love me this Spain team, but I think it’s just too soon for them. For all the jingoism that surrounds the USA team, the truth is they are pretty magnificent. Four years ago, there were doubts that either Tobin Heath or Megan Rapinoe would make this team; watching them crown their careers by performing at the top of their game is pretty sweet.

Jennifer Hermoso is getting a lot of attention for Spain, but for me their most dangerous attacker has been 20 year old Lucía García.

I’m going to let my heart dominate the prediction: 1-1 with the USA proceeding on PK’s.

SWEDEN – CANADA

I just remain entirely unconvinced by Sweden. And this Canada team is knocking on the door of the top rank. As Jessie Fleming has grown, she seems really comfortable playing further up the pitch, and Christine Sinclair is still great in spots. Canada’s defensive line rivals France in their ability to both defend and attack–perhaps no team can match Canada’s options at fullback, with Allysha Chapman, Jayde Riviere, and Ashley Lawrence all providing excellent options.

Nichelle Prince has looked very dangerous all tournament–and I don’t think that’s just the Houston Dash fan in me speaking up.

Sweden just looks very … staid and unremarkable. So I think this goes one of two ways. Either Canada in a rout, 4-1, or 0-0 with Sweden getting through on PKs. I’ll be rooting for the former.

ITALY – CHINA

How did we get here?

Italy has been the surprise of the tournament, and are really hard to judge: their victories have been opportunistic, and tactically very smart. The latter will remain present, but the former has lot of luck involved.

Still, their ability to get goals from a variety of sources is clearly impressive, and that defense has been pretty stout.

Given that China has been pretty miserable, I think the Italians success lasts one more game.

Italy, 2-0.

NETHERLANDS – JAPAN

This Dutch squad is going to be hard to beat. The key to how far they’ll go, I think, is whether they can find a way for Lieke Martens to get going. I am a huge Vivianne Miedema fan, and the attack on the wing with Shanice van de Sanden for most of the game, replaced by Lineth Beerensteyn at the end has been fantastically effective.

Combine that with a strong defense and with Japan’s general ineffectiveness, and this should swing solidly towards the team in orange.

Netherlands, 3-0.

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WWC2019: The Second Games

Posted on June 16, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

A note on VAR to open. I’m a fan, for sure–getting calls right strikes me as generally important–but there are two points that, I think, need to be addressed:

  • First, if you look for a penalty, you will usually find one. It’s a little like holding in American football. So there needs to be some way of allowing the system to adjust for real-time perception for referees, especially on handballs. It may be just that we need to get through a year of an obscenely high number of penalties while defenders adjust.
  • Second, the rule on GK’s coming off the line needs some work. Every GK ever does it, and in fact is trained to do it (you’re taught to explode off the line at an angle, not directly sideways). When it’s egregious, it’s a clear issue; things like Sydney Schneider‘s save really should, imo, stand.

Anyhow, onto the games themselves.

#GROUP A

Nothing surprising here. France is clearly the best team, Norway has the inside track on 2nd place. Nigeria needs a tie against France to have a decent shot at progressing, which puts my prediction of them making it through at risk, although it’s possible 3 points would be enough if they only lose by a single goal.

An upset win over Norway by South Korea would really complicate things, so part of me will be rooting for that.

#GROUP B

Spain – China should be a very good game: China has been better than I thought they would be, but I’m still backing Spain to win that game, and perhaps win comfortably. The gap between Spain and Germany is closer than many had anticipated, but it’s still there.

If Spain does win, China’s progression gets very perilous, as they will have 3 points and a negative goal differential.

I’ll stick with Germany and Spain getting through.

#GROUP C

Wheeeee! Italy‘s win over Australia was the shock of the 1st round, Brazil‘s giving Australia all they could handle for a half was one of the surprises of the 2nd (remarkable how, if you take Marta and Formiga off–even at their combined age of several centuries–the team gets weaker).

Australia needs to pour it on against Jamaica, which is certainly quite a possibility. At the same time, while Alanna Kennedy remains magnificent, Bunny Shaw could easily find space behind the Aussie defense, keeping that game close. Still, if Australia wins, period, they should be through (and, in fact, a tie against Jamaica could see them squeak through as well).

Brazil – Italy is a total crap shoot: does Italy rest their best players? Who shows up for Brazil? Does Andressinha finally get let out of the doghouse? There is a chance for 3 teams to finish with 6 points each in this group, which is quite rare.

#GROUP D

Scotland is the disappointment of the tournament for me. Turns out, you need more than Erin Cuthbert and an aging Kim Little at this level …

Argentina–who have not impressed me terribly despite some stout defending and GK work–have an outside shot at progressing. If they beat Scotland, they should make it to the round of 16.

The Japan – England game should be most interesting solely for who plays: looking forward to England resting some players, allowing us to enjoy us some Rachel Daly.

#GROUP E

I think it was important for the Dutch to show up strong against Cameroon, and they–and especially Vivianne Miedema–certainly did. Miedema is a bit of a favorite, not least of all for the goofiness that lets a pale imitation of 7 year old’s somersault be her goal celebration. It’s easy to forget that she’s only 22, and already has 60 goals (in 77 appearances) for the national team: if anyone is shaping up to challenge Abby Wambach‘s (and soon to be Christine Sinclair‘s) record, it’s her.

It’s going to be hard for either Cameroon or New Zealand to progress: they will need both a win and a few goals to boot.

#GROUP F

One of my favorite moments so far? The Thailand coach struggling not to cry when her team scored against Sweden.

I really think this group does no favors for the USA: they won’t play a difficult, meaningful match until the round of 16, where they seem likely (if I am reading the permutations correctly) to hit Spain.

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Reading Well: Infinite Detail by Tim Maughan

Posted on June 13, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Infinite Detail (2019) is the debut novel from Tim Maughan, a journalist of some note.

It’s a good read, focusing on the relatively cataclysmic aftermath of an extended Internet outage. The setting is the near future, a world just slightly further along in its interconnectedness than our own. Wearable, Internet-connected glasses are a thing, and the economic dependence on international communication systems is even more ingrained. When those systems break down, so does global trade as transit and transport systems are crippled, and communication and economic systems quickly follow. The core notion is it doesn’t take many weeks of no shipping or air transport for the UK to struggle to feed itself.

The book alternates between chapters marked before and after, slowly building a vision both of what happened and what the impacts are. The best parts of the book draw on Maughan’s sophisticated understanding of the perils of an over-connected world, including impacts that are rarely highlighted, and his clear love for contemporary urban music, which fills one of the narrative threads.

Maughan’s journalistic background comes through, making it a very direct read: other than some details that are withheld as key plot points, little is left to inference. This works well, as the novel exists partially as fiction and partially as a warning essay about the perils of our current technological arcs. If that holds some interest, it’s well recommended.

#WhatIWishICouldDo

There is an authenticity to Maughan’s language, especially the dialogue, that is quite impressive. This is hard to do in alternate settings–either past or future–as it requires a keen ear for current slang, and then the creativity to adjust from there.

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WWC2019: The First Round of Games

Posted on June 11, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Notes and thoughts on the first games in each group.

GENERAL NOTES

I really want to highlight the difference between Argentina, Italy, and Brazil on one hand and Spain on the other. Twenty years ago, none of these countries cared about women’s soccer. Ten year’s ago, none of them cared. Then Spain began to care: they invested in the game, they began to hold coaches accountable, they began to develop players at an alarming rate.

But the other 3 are still very lackadaisical in their commitment. Instead, they skate by on a massively skilled talent base and very sparse support. And, in the case of Brazil, wheeling Marta out as if she were still 27. It’s a bit of a disgrace: with a little work, those 3 countries could have superior programs.

Meanwhile, Spain will be World Cup contenders in 4 years and, I would suspect, thereafter.

GROUP A

Just about the only sad note about France‘s demolishing of South Korea was Griedge Mbock Bathy‘s sumptous bicycle kick being called back (correctly) for offsides. Mbock Bathy is one of my favorite younger players–although at 24, she may be edging out of that category. She, Wendie Renard and Amel Majri are the core of easily the best defensive line in the world.

The Norway – Nigeria game was far more interesting, in that it was far, far closer than the 3-0 scoreline. Nigeria’s over-reliance on Francisca Ordega as an outlet is an interesting thing to watch: first, they may not do that against other opponents; second, Ordega can be a beast if she finds space; but third, perhaps that could be shut down tactically?

GROUP B

Germany is taking a lot of guff for the laborious nature of their victory over China. It’s a little unfair: Germany dominated the game. That said, the loss of Dzsenifer Marozsán for the rest of the group phase will be felt: she may be the single player the Germans will struggle most to replace. Also, yes, Giulia Gwinn!

I still like both Spain and South Africa, and again the scoreline flattered the Spaniards a bit. I would expect South Africa to beat China with a similar performance.

GROUP C

Don’t fret too much about Australia. Yeah, they lost; and yeah, it might get into their heads. But they were the better team, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them still emerge with 6 points atop the group.

And, don’t get too high on Brazil: this was more a case of Jamaica being outclassed than Brazil showing up well. Jamaica – Italy should be interesting: Jamaica has the pace to get behind the Italians back line who–other than Sara Gama–looked a little weak back there, but Italy’s midfield could totally dominate the game.

GROUP D

England – Scotland was a great game, which bodes well for the Scots; especially with Japan looking fairly toothless.

Argentina‘s #10–Estefanía Banini–had a showcase game, but she needs better options to supply for Argentina to do more.

GROUP E

The surprise here was that New Zealand was able to hang with Holland until the end. I do love me some Jill Roord, but this was not the prettiest of goals.

Cameroon – Canada was a little like Norway – Nigeria in that the scoreline flattered the Canadians. Still, #WeTheNorth and all that.

This still feels like the tightest group, especially if Holland is unable to get out of 3rd gear.

GROUP F

Sweden and Chile were a little hard to judge, given the deluge they had to endure. Still, while I still think Sweden is overrated, Chile is happy to be in France at all, so the result felt right.

There was another game in this group? Wait, what?

WHERE YOU AT DEPARTMENT

Andressinha, Rachel Daly, and Patricia Guijarro, I’m looking at you (Patri was, it should be said, injured before the tournament …). My suspicion is, of that trio, we see a fair bit of Daly, Guijarro is health-dependent, and Andressinha–although it pains me to write this–has fallen out of favor with the coaching staff.

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WWC2019: Predictions & What-Not

Posted on June 6, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Scrambling to get these out there before kickoff tomorrow.

Remember, the top 2 teams from each group, plus the next 4, make the knockout rounds.

It’s hard for the key match to not just always be the clash between the team I see finishing 2nd and the team I see finishing 3rd, but it seemed worthwhile to highlight some individual games.

#GROUP A

France, Nigeria, Norway, South Korea.

France should win the group, but 2nd place could be quite a fight. Nigeria are a bit enigmatic, but I think 2nd place comes down to the battle between them and Norway.

Qualifying: France, Norway, Nigeria
Key Match: Norway v Nigeria on 6/8. The winner will have the inside track on 2nd position, but I believe the loser still has a good chance to qualify.

#GROUP B

China, Germany, South Africa, Spain.

Anyone but Germany would be a shock; the question is whether Spain are actually as good as I think they are.

Qualifying: Germany, Spain
Key Match: Spain v South Africa on 6/8. If Spain stumbles, the group opens up dramatically.

#GROUP C

Australia, Brazil, Italy, Jamaica

This is a rough group to figure out. Australia is clearly the class of the four, but Italy and Brazil are both teams full of talent located in countries where support for the women’s game is sketchy at best. That situation can lead to poor preparation, poor coaching, and poor performances. Or it can lead to a team bonding together and taking off. And then there’s narrative darling Jamaica.

Qualifying: Australia, Brazil, Jamaica
Key Match: Brazil v Jamaica on 6/9. I believe this game will provide the most information on how the group will shake out.

#GROUP D

Argentina, England, Japan, Scotland.

The question here is if Scotland can do enough to make the knockout round. I think they will.

Qualifying: England, Japan, Scotland
Key Match: Japan v Scotland on 6/14. Scotland should lose to England and beat Argentina: a win against Japan probably sees them through to the next round.

#GROUP E

Cameroon, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand.

This is the strongest group in my opinion, and should produce the best 3rd place team.

Qualifying: Netherlands, Canada, Cameroon
Key Match: Cameroon v New Zealand on 6/20. The final game of the group should decide 3rd place.

#GROUP F

Chile, Sweden, Thailand, USA.

Not much to say here: the USA is unlikely to be tested until the next round–against Spain if I’m correct above–at the earliest (I know, Sweden is good, but if they get a point against the USA, it will be a surprise).

Qualifying: USA, Sweden.
Key Match: Chile v Sweden on 6/11. If Chile has a shot at qualifying, they need to win their opening game.

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WWC2019: It’s Almost Time

Posted on June 3, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Gosh, it feels like 1200 days since we were here last …

I’m not sure what I plan to write about the World Cup about to kick off in France, but I’m sure I’ll probably match my output for WWC2015.

Somewhat random notes:

  • My player of the tournament from 2015, Norway’s Ada Hegerberg–who is probably the best player in the women’s game right now–will not be in France this summer due to an ongoing conflict with her country’s federation. I’ve heard two versions of the story, one where Hegerberg is making a principled stand about equality in Norway (a view that is complicated by the fact that it is one of the few countries where male and female players are paid equally); and the other where she is being selfish due to personal disagreements with the current coaching staff. Whatever the case, the tournament will be poorer for her absence.
    • A plug here for the team previews over at All White Kit, who note that Hegerberg’s absence is unlikely to really damage Norway, as their problems are more defensive than offensive. That said, I will miss seeing her run rampant.
  • My Under 23 Team from 2015 looks pretty good if I do say so myself. Of the countries that made it back to the 2019 tournament, every player I named made the squad, other than China’s Tang Jiali. From that group, I would look to Japan’s Mana Iwabuchi, Australia’s Samantha Kerr, and Canada’s Kadeisha Buchanan to star this year. Those three names are pretty obvious, though, so it’s not like that’s the product of shocking insight in any way.

If you read this last time around, you know I focus a lot on the talent that is moving into the full national team from the youth ranks. If you’re looking for under 23 talent likely to star this summer, I would look to

  • France’s Delphine Cascarino and Grace Geyoro. I expect Cascarino to see more of the field, but I love Geyoro as a midfield engine for France over the next dacade.
  • Nigeria has its usual parade of teenagers, but I would especially look for Rasheedat Ajibade to see time and find some success up front.
  • Norway’s Frida Maanum is an impressive midfield talent, and seems to have earned some trust from the national team, with 20 caps, meaning she has more caps than birthdays.
  • If I had to pick one youth player to breakout in France, it would be Germany’s Giulia Gwinn, who has dominated the youth competitions over the past few years. That said, Germany is–as always–stacked with talent, so I don’t know how much time Gwinn or fellow teens Lena Oberdorf and Klara Bühl will see.
  • South Africa’s Linda Motlhalo is still only 20. Yowzah.
  • Emerging from decades of neglect, the Spanish national team leans toward the younger side. I’ve always been a huge fan of Patricia Guijarro, Aitana Bonmati, and Nahikari Garcia, but 2023 may be their year to shine.
  • Mary Fowler will get a ton of press-and at 16, she should–but Ellie Carpenter, at all of 19, is more likely to make an impact. I am not the only player surprised at the exclusion of Alex Chidiac from the Australia squad.
  • Jamaica is a very hip pick this summer, and they will be led up front by Jody Brown (17) and Bunny Shaw, a veteran at the ripe old age of 22.
  • England has a very strong team, with its core firmly in their prime. This may limit the amount of time Georgia Stanway sees, but she will be around for a long time at this level.
  • 20 year old Erin Cuthbert is probably the key player for Scotland, and it’s exciting to see the national team willing to build around her.
  • Cameroon’s Raïssa Feudjio is still only 23, and a true force in midfield.
  • Canada continues to hand opportunities to youth, with the most exciting of them being Deanne Rose and Jordyn Huitema up front and Jessie Fleming in midfield.
  • Vivianne Miedema has 75 caps at 22 years of age, and she should pair with Jill Roord for Holland for a long, long time.

There are lots of other under-23 players on the rosters, with the usual dearth of information, especially on the non-European sides, and I would expect (like Jiali did in 2015) at least a few of those to impress, as well as a few of these to not see the field and/or be overmatched.

As an example, I am a big fan of Motlhalo from her season with the Dash, but she remains so much slighter of build than most players she faces, and sometimes her skill cannot overcome that difference. I can’t see her, for example, winning many balls from Lindsey Horan.

That feels like plenty for now! Group predictions coming up on Thursday!

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Reading Graphically: Five Graphic Novels & One Comic

Posted on May 31, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Another interlude between the novels …

Paul Kirchner‘s Hieronymus & Bosch is an amusing distraction, detailing the torments of a medieval ne’er do well (Hieronymus) and his toy duck (Bosch). While some of the inspiration is obvious from the names, there is significant comic inventiveness throughout. This is more a series of comics than it is a novel. Fun.

Renée Nault‘s adaptation of Margaret Atwood‘s The Handmaid’s Tale is gorgeous, and highly successful. The former is a testament to the richness of the painted tableaus and the use of color throughout. The latter speaks to a level of fidelity to the source material that is highly effective: it does–as it must–deviate from Atwood’s novel, but never by so much as to question its status. That is, this is not really an original work, it’s one artist’s translation of a great work into another medium. Still, it’s lovely and a shorter trip than re-reading the original novel.

Tillie Walden is one of the emerging stars of the form, and the attention paid to Spinning and The End of Summer is well deserved. This review covers two of her smaller works: i love this part (2015) and A City Inside (2016). Both are “one-shots:” thin explorations of a single theme or moment. While A City Inside is a strong exploration of the relationship we have to specific places, i love this part is amazing, a poignant and telling story of young love and discovery.

Every few years, a wordless story about dinosaurs emerges. Tadd Galusha‘s Cretaceous (2019) is the latest entry in the genre. It’s solid, and as they all are, well-researched and clearly also intended to increase our understanding of what these creatures were, according to best current research. So, feathers!

Finally, a recommendation for an ongoing comic: Garth Ennis‘ A Walk Through Hell is easily the best new comic I’ve come across in a long, long time. Terrifying, nightmarish, humanly compelling … it is a gripping and emotional roller coaster, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. The first five issues are available in a collection.

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Reading Well: Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday

Posted on May 25, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Lisa Halliday‘s Asymmetry arrived to much acclaim in 2018. It’s a novel in three parts, really two parts and a coda. The first part details a relationship between a young woman who works at a publishing house and an older writer of great significance; the second focuses on an Iraqi-American who is detained upon entry to England; and the third is a short interview with the author from the first part.

Much of the response to the novel has focused on the degree to which the first section is a thinly veiled retelling of Halliday’s own affair with Philip Roth, and then on the revelations–both explicit and more hinted at–in the final short coda.

That’s interesting to me, as it immediately forces consideration of the novel to expand beyond the words on the page: to what degree is the enjoyment of the opening, novella length chapter–and it is mightily enjoyable–due to the salacious sense of peering in on a (not so?) hidden side of a great American writing icon? To what degree are our reactions to the novel modified (enhanced or degraded) by our belief in its reality? And what does that mean for the other parts of the book?

At its core, Asymmetry is about, well, asymmetry: imbalances of power and attention in many contexts. The spring/winter love affair has some obvious dimensions (the economic differences, the differences in social and political power between them), but the young woman’s perspective holds the center as well: her agency is never, at least from her view, compromised in the relationship. As importantly, the writing–throughout, but especially in this first section–is delightful, lyrical, and surprising.

In the second section, the massive control of the immigration system overwhelms the individual being detained. But this part is as much about the detainee’s history–the moments in his life where he did and did not have agency, the choices that led him to leave one career for another, the seemingly random chance that determined life and death in Baghdad during wartime–as it is about his resignation to his lack of control over his fate at the airport.

If you follow the popular interpretation of the final section–which I’m trying hard not to spoil here–then the novel expands to also encompass questions of asymmetry between author and reader, and the work and its readers and critics.

An intriguing, engaging, and deeply nuanced novel. Strongly recommended.

#WhatIWishICouldDo

The thematic echoes are never, ever “on the nose” in Asymmetry, yet they are present, and survive deeper exploration and thought. To the degree that is intentional, it is brilliant; to the degree it is innate, it reveals a wellspring of talent. Either is enviable.

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Reading Well: The Power by Naomi Alderman

Posted on May 17, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Published in 2016, Naomi Alderman‘s The Power attempts to answer a fundamental what-if: what if something happened to give women a physical advantage over men?

In this case, it’s a chemical added to the water supply in WWII that, over a generation or so, creates power in women similar to that in electric eels: the ability to generate an electric charge at will.

There is a framing device of a future several thousand years down the road, where an inverted society has evolved–one where women’s role in the birth process is a rationale for the increased violence and aggression of women over men, while men’s comparative weakness (turns out shooting lightning from your hands trumps brawn every time) makes them natural nurturers.

But the core of the novel covers the time from the first emergence of the ability through its impacts, focused on three primary characters: a young girl who emerges as the prophet of the movement, another whose abilities are stronger than anyone else’s, and a male journalist who covers the global events spawned by these abilities.

These characters–and others–are well constructed, and their fates matter, making the book successful as a page-turner. There are some issues with simplicity–for example, a women’s revolution in an Arab state is conceivable, but certainly neither simple nor inevitable, given the book’s assumptions–and the envisioned future could be more nuanced.

Perhaps the most creative details involve how the archaeology of the future misinterprets the relics of the past: the novel does a great job at underscoring how arbitrary our assumptions around sex and gender are and how easy a different frame leads to a different interpretation.

It’s all very neatly done, and given the attention the book got, probably in pre-production as a major motion picture as well.

#WhatIWishICouldDo

Alderman does a really good job simplifying a narrative that is explicitly global to a story told through the eyes of small handful of characters. That’s necessary if you don’t want to write many thousand pages, labyrinthine fiction and, even if–as I do–you lean that way, remembering that there are more direct, concise alternatives is quite important.

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Reading Well: Silence is My Mother Tongue by Sulaiman Addonia

Posted on May 9, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

{This post published early by mistake, so some of you may have seen it before. Apologies for the misclick.}

Sulaiman Addonia‘s Silence is My Mother Tongue (2018) tells the story of Eritrean refugees displaced into a camp in the Sudan. The novel is hard to categorize: it’s not a love story, despite it being a story of several loves, and its focus is far more on how life evolves in the refugee camp than on any part of the conflict that brought people there.

There is a lot of misdirection in the narrative: it opens with a chapter focused on what turns out to be a minor character, but one who observes life in the camp as if it were a movie being projected on a white sheet behind his hut, which is a pretty inventive and neat image/framing device. The true focus of the story are two siblings who have, in essence, traded their culturally approved gender roles. The sister is brilliant, strong-willed, and–before being sent to the camp–on her way to a level of academic success pointing towards medical school, an almost unheard of height for young Eritrean girls, even in the capital city of Asmara. Her brother is mute, delicate, and happiest in the strongly coded feminine cultural roles.

The success of this reverse mirroring is highest when Addonia is writing about the young woman, capturing at different points of the narrative, her insight, intelligence, and motivations with a clarity that is compelling and impressive. It is, predictably perhaps, at its weakest when he calls outright attention to their roles, sliding too far towards the tell side of the classic show, don’t tell dictum.

The gendered critique of the social order of the camp, and Eritrean/Ethiopian culture in general, is pointed and biting: the struggle of the sister to be more than an object of exchange, a thing to be moved around between men, dictates most of the major plot points. Her future is mirrored between the comparative behavior of a conservative midwife (conservative in the sense of traditional, seeking to preserve cultural traditions–including a thwarted attempt at genital cutting) and a prostitute in the camp are, which drift, again, perhaps towards being a bit too “on the nose.”

Still, there are images in Silence is My Mother Tongue that will stay with the reader for quite some time, and the voice of the young woman refuses to be silenced. Additionally, the sketch of the refugee camp, as a place of normalcy, of social structure, of conflicts that are solved through established community processes, is very much worth the read, especially as a counterweight to the usual media presentation of such spaces.

#WhatIWishICouldDo

I love the sister’s voice, and think Addonia’s ability to inhabit a precocious teenage perspective is quite compelling. She is never trivialized or dumbed-down, while still retaining some of the age-appropriate impulsive recklessness.

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