Tale of a difficult childhood is part memoir, part redemption story

2 days ago 3

By Geoff Page

June 28, 2024 — 7.04pm

MEMOIR
Dark-Land: Memoir of a Secret Childhood
Kevin Hart, Paul Dry Books, $45.99

It is commonly argued that poets’ autobiographies are unnecessary since astir of the worldly already exists successful their poems. Such an assertion displays an understandable but mistaken presumption of poesy and its functions. Despite TS Eliot’s insistence connected the value of the “objective correlative”, poems bash thin to turn retired of the “personality” of the poet. For the astir part, however, they are overmuch much than an look of it.

Almost each readers of Kevin Hart’s memoir of childhood, Dark-Land, volition beryllium alert that helium is simply a highly regarded poet, world and theologian who established his estimation successful Melbourne and has present worked for a mates of decades successful the US. Not all, however, volition beryllium alert that helium grew up successful the moving people of London’s East End earlier moving with his parents to Brisbane erstwhile helium was 12. Dark-Land is simply a almighty relationship of those origins and the beginnings of the modulation to the writer and student helium has since become.

While determination are references to these experiences crossed Hart’s 11 poesy collections, the stories successful Dark-Land are by nary means superfluous. While the big writer and world is simply a precise antithetic idiosyncratic from the confused and befogged child, it’s telling that the writer has chosen to re-examine his puerility truthful closely.

It’s notable, too, that contempt the inherently “confessional” quality of memoir, Hart inactive seems to beryllium viewing his puerility aforesaid from a definite distance. He observes, for instance, towards the extremity of the book: “As I person been penning these pages, I person probed him to cognize the nonstop quality, the precise grade of fierceness of this emotion oregon that one, but each clip helium turns distant and volition not fto maine adjacent him.” He concedes that: “He has not fto maine archer the communicative of his interior beingness and his abiding silences, but erstwhile they person slipped retired by accident”.

the big writer is simply a precise antithetic idiosyncratic from the confused child.

Ironically, possibly this tin beryllium seen arsenic thing of a parallel to the household secrets that look astatine the extremity and supply the publication with its subtitle. Suffice it to accidental that they’re not atypical of their people and era, and they bash spell immoderate mode to explaining wherefore the poet’s relations with his parent were often fraught and those with his begetter much congenial. The secrets of the subtitle were kept from the writer until the deaths of their respective holders, and it’s not astonishing that Hart waited until good aft the decease of his parents and sister earlier penning his book.

To immoderate readers, the author’s reactions to immoderate of these revelations whitethorn consciousness excessive, specified arsenic erstwhile helium overhears his parent saying that his conception was an “accident”. Likewise, erstwhile helium wryly observes his parent being truthful overmuch much approving aft his abrupt betterment astatine schoolhouse than earlier it.

This second lawsuit is simply a important turning constituent successful the communicative – and not wholly casual to comprehend (especially for readers who ne'er rather gained the clarity with algebra that the writer abruptly acquires). Significantly, fixed Hart’s big conversion to Catholicism, this tin beryllium seen arsenic thing of an epiphany that leads to related understandings successful different areas and thence to his eventual occurrence arsenic a writer and theologian.

In this way, the memoir is thing of a “redemption” communicative successful which the narrator, connected whom, arsenic a child, astir radical had “given up”, turns retired to beryllium an astir prodigious teen and adult.

Fortunately, there’s nary consciousness of self-congratulation here. Despite his extended re-examination of it, Hart inactive seems genuinely puzzled by the “fog” of his childhood. He’s surely not successful a hurry to disown it. Nor is it to beryllium easy understood.

It needs to beryllium emphasised, too, that Dark-Land is nary workout successful alleged “misery lit”. There are galore episodes that are, astatine the least, sardonically observant and evocative and, astatine best, hilarious. It’s a balanced book, a thoughtful book, which volition bash overmuch much than simply pull much readers to Hart’s already good assemblage of enactment arsenic a poet.

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