Friday Letters: fiction letters from fiction characters

I have been reading the book Griffin and Sabine lately, and once again I am captivated by its timeless ingenuity in marrying the art of letter writing/postcard and art of keeping a diary/sketchbook, in a narrative fiction that centers on love and self-discovery. But what absorbs me more is the underlying concept of a single person being complete unto self, that there is no other to complement us, the dissolution of idea of the other and I, as two different bodies because we are all complete as it is, both energies reside in us, but we only learn of it by going through the difficult process of knowing ourselves. These are the bold ideas that Nick Bantock, the author, wants his readers to deeply understand.

If we survey the theories created out by fans around the world on how to make sense of the story, the most interesting one would be that Griffin and Sabine are existing in different time planes, because in the second book installment, Griffin and Sabine ultimately shared a common space, Griffin’s apartment, but we found out in a post card left by Sabine that she was waiting for Griffin, but he never arrived. Although in Griffin’s reality, Sabine must still be in the apartment when he opened the door, as indicated in the date on the postcard. It is not unlike the Korean movie Il Mare which was adopted by Hollywood, The Lake House.

Therefore, we have time here as the main driving force in the plot of the story. It’s like time has become another character in the narrative. And sometimes we have to suspend rationality when we enter these kinds of stories. Anyways, what’s really interesting is how Bantock explained his own take in his story, that Griffin has been writing all these postcards and letters by himself. Trying to express himself in two different pulses. The feminine and the masculine, maybe an exercise to voice the often times differing ideas of the two, making it tangible as we visually can differentiate the styles of feminine art strokes from the masculine ones. Visual creations can make it easier for someone to filter the two, to set aside the two opposing forces, even the font styles can give a clue which one is the feminine and which is the masculine. Maybe that’s it, Bantock wants to detail, to profile, to make a clear distinction between the two before molding them again into one. Marrying the two forces can be potent, as Bantock said, it can be eventually about higher spiritual awakening or an exercise on awareness where the artist as a creator must know both forces intimately.

I don’t know if I am making any sense.

The basic plot of three-installment book is that Griffin was desperately praying for a muse, and as with the unknown mysteries of life, his wish came true, in the personality of Sabine. But the astonished Griffin couldn’t really believe that a muse really exists and on top of it, she is writing him letters and postcards! So, in his great terror, he fled his house as Sabine resolved to visit him. He couldn’t face the reality that he is going to be face to face with the muse he’s been dreaming of, that’s why he immediately decided to make a pilgrimage to far flung countries, to find himself and to find the strength to finally meet her.

In one of his letters to Sabine, Griffin said:

I’m running from you, but I’m also searching for a way to accept my fate, which I know to be bound to yours.

This sentence sounds very romantic but also it can be a desperate plea to be free from the fate which can take over him completely. In a way, he will be bound, so his freedom will be limited.

Anyways, my mind is a bit muddled now, must be the full moon. Leaving you guys now, don’t forget to look at the majestic moon tonight.