Maryln Snell Interview: Jamaica Kincaid Hates Happy Endings

This interview addresses the contentiousness that Kincaid seems to express in her writing. I like it because she is owning up to her anger directly, which by the way, is her style. The interview discusses going public about her brother's death, the frequently occurring theme in her work of powerful over the powerless, and her writing as a way of living/experiencing. This link adds a reader reaction post-a-comment section that is packed full of comments. One reader thinks that Kincaid needs to get over her anger, another complements her for the short story, "Girl" and says that while she was translating it into her own language (a group in India) she realized that her mother was hard on her sister in the same way as in the story. She understands that this was her mother's reaction to an oppressive society and that really it is a way of bonding with the elder sister. Then, she asks for Kincaid's email because she needs to ask permission for the translation. (Why doesn't she write the publisher for permission?) It also has one reader who I find delightful! She post a prayer of forgiveness for Kincaid-and it is long-to help Kincaid get over the anger she feels about her mother and her birth country! I guess this reader just glossed over the fact that Kincaid said she never wants to forget where she came from and what it tells her about how the world is organized; she doesn't want to be happy...or to forgive.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/qa/1997/09/snell.html