Review - brb(be right back) by Maree Dawes.
The phrase ‘nowords space’ has definitely been entered into
my long term memory since reading Maree Dawes’ verse novel brb ( be
right back). I will see images of it everywhere, images that I will try not to
capture with the written word.
Dawes’ novel explores the whole idea of the world of
fantasy, available to us in cyber space, versus the tactile, olfactory, messy
world outside of the computer screen. It is this dilemma that germinates and generates
action in Dawes’ writing. brb got me in on the first reading but having
never used a chat room and having only limited experience of cybersex, it was
the re-reading that made me appreciate the subtle seduction Dawes works. A
clever writer, Dawes slowly lets her reader, even the Luddite, become
comfortable with the chat room scenario.
The verse novel format is a perfect idiom as the line breaks
involved are just like those on a computer social media page. For those
unfamiliar with computer talk and fashion of the day, this piece of writing
might be off putting. However, I would invite you to persist and re-read. It is
well worth the effort.
Dawes masterfully takes us from her concrete world
my neck sinks forward/and I am full/of the scent of us/together.
to the chat room world where ‘Boadicea’ experiences the
intimacy possible between strangers
I want to hear your day in words/then I know
you and the day.
Dawes’ novel is more than just a means to get you ‘hot and
bothered’. It plays with the whole question of the imaginary world versus the
world of sensory reality. Boadicea goes through all the euphoria and
exhilaration of infatuation to the soul searching, self-justification of her actions.
Finally, of course, there is the addiction to this new personal life created, a
life where one can be the ‘hidden’ person that friends and spouse will not let
you be, do not want you to be. The part of you squashed out by life, its
obligations and roles.
Dawes switches between the worlds. The descriptions of life
are in fact more powerful then the erotic writing, like her description of the
music teacher playing violin
It is hard to watch his joy/such a private thing/he
closes his eyes to feel it/ I close my eyes so that I do not
or her description of the teahouse
I am in Indiana’s teahouse/worlds are
spreading out/I can see the ocean/and swimmers/ dimensions cascade/from my
table/to the horizon.
But rest assured her cyber space eroticism is up to par.
Even between her two men this polarity is explored. With one
she can feel that burl in the smooth flow
of flesh while with her cyber man, his
voice his words/somewhere we are together. With one, it is all words on a computer and
the power of those words to excite and stimulate. Whereas in her other life she
gets to experience nowords space.
Will she give up her cyber lover? The title
suggests not, but the postscript will definitely leave the reader guessing.
Janette Dadd is a NSW south coast writer. She has two books
of poetry published with Ginninderra Press, Eve’s
Tears (2000) and Early Frosts (2013).
Her work has been published in various Australian anthologies. She is an
Australian Poetry Cafe Poet.
