Beatriz’s poetry has been published in literary journals such as Southerly and Australian Women’s Book Review and in many feminist publications. The author’s poetry books are: Women Souls and Shadows, Meditations At the Edge of a Dream, Flowering Roots, Under the Gums Long Shade, and Lo Irrevocable del Halcon (In Spanish). It has an intriguing story, cleverly written, moving from the tender to cruel.Ībout the Reviewer: Dr Beatriz Copello is a former member of NSW Writers Centre Management Committee, she writes poetry, reviews, fiction and plays. Although, like the author says: “Nobody will ever read Lucy’s autobiography.” We only can imagine her pleasures and her pain.Īirplane Baby Banana Blanket is a book that you will want to read in one go. I agree with the poet when he says in the Afterword that, after reading Airplane Baby Banana Blanket, readers may be inspired to read the book by Dr Maurice Temerlin Lucy: Growing Up Human. Does Lucy think she is a human being? Does seeing someone of her own species makes her realise that she is not human? The poet in the poem “One – Off” confronts the reader with thoughts and emotions: One critical moment in the life of Lucy is when she is introduced to a male chimpanzee. It’s very obvious that Lucy has emotions. In the final pages of this absorbing book the reader is confronted with the failure of the experiment and the sad emotions that may have plagued Lucy. In the following poem the poet’s skill is evident, as words are used in ways that are visually striking: Maurice is not surprisedĭodds says a lot with just a few words. To be enveloped in return, craves boundary’sĪttentive embrace. Dodds hints at this in the following excerpt from “The First Bite”:įor a stinging fistful of Jane’s long braid Their nature will come out, as any domesticated animal. Throughout the book I keep thinking about the ethics of the experiment, and how no matter how a chimpanzee is trained they are still an animal. In the following poem “Heights” Steve teaches Lucy how to climb a tree: From the funny to the serious we read about Lucy’s experiences, her relationship with the world, and her human family. Page by page we find out about Lucy and the Temerlins, their daily routine and the way they taught the chimpanzee, from learning how to use a toilet to learning to how to sign in sign language. The airplane flight and the act of taking Lucy away from her mother had been for Jane the symbolic equivalent of the act of giving birth. Some of the poems are prefaced by actual quotations from the people involved in the experiment, like in the following poem titled “This Woman’s Work”: His words flow with musicality and stories that are fascinating. In narrative poetry form, with creative talent and imagination, the author recount events in in the life of Lucy. In the Afterword of the book Dodds explains the following: “Though Airplane Baby Banana Blanket is inspired by and closely based upon actual individuals and events, all thoughts, feelings and positions conveyed by these poems come entirely from my own mind.” From the first poem in this compelling book, the reader will experience a variety of emotions as well as thoughts questioning the ethics of the experiment. In poetry form Dodds tells the story of Lucy, a chimpanzee who was raised as a human being and treated as a member of the family by Dr Maurice Temerlin, a researcher psychologist, his wife Jane a social worker and their son Steven. With curiosity I read the back cover with the praises for the book then the title made sense to me. The first thing that surprised me about Airplane Baby Banana Blanket by Benjamin Dodds was its title and the sign language pictures that illustrated the cover.
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