Into the Interior

by Michelle Cliff

In her previous novels, Michelle Cliff explored potent themes of colonialism, race, myth, and identity with rare intelligence, lyrical intensity, and a profound sense of both history and place. Now, with Into the Interior, she has written her most intimate, courageous work of fiction yet, a searing and ultimately moving reflection on the legacy of empire and the restless search for a feeling of belonging.

“I grew up to be someone adept at leaving,” confesses Into the Interior’s unnamed narrator, a bisexual Caribbean woman of color, and Cliff traces her travels from Jamaica to New York to London. Educated in admiration for Western culture—she goes to London to study art history—she penetrates further and further into its emotional shadow life in an attempt to overcome her own deep sense of displacement. Reversing the journey Joseph Conrad’s Marlow took from the imperial capital to a colonial outpost, she discovers a “heart of darkness” in the former capital of the British Empire. Moving among its fragmented personalities and social life, she witnesses—and experiences—its propensity for racism and homophobia, misogyny and abusive patriarchy, hypocrisy and sadism.

Deftly shifting between present and past, between a childhood in Jamaica---her memories, both disconcerting and humor-tinged, beautifully rendered by Cliff’s elliptical prose---and her purposeful wanderings as an adult that result in intellectual, sexual, and political awakenings, Into the Interior is both deeply personal and charged by a world-historical awareness of the persistent injustices that colonialism imposes on its former subjects.

Genres: Fiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Michelle Cliff (born 2 November 1946) is a Jamaican-American author whose notable works include No Telephone to Heaven, Abeng and Free Enterprise.

Cliff also has written short stories, prose poems and works of literary criticism. Her works explore the various, complex identity problems that stem from post-colonialism, as well as the difficulty of establishing an authentic, individual identity despite race and gender constructs. Cliff is a lesbian who grew up in Jamaica.

Cliff was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1946 and moved with her family to New York City three years later. She was educated at Wagner College and the Warburg Institute at the University of London. She has held academic positions at several colleges including Trinity College and Emory University.

Cliff was a contributor to the Black feminist anthology Home Girls.

As of 1999, Cliff was living in Santa Cruz, California, with her partner, poet Adrienne Rich. The two were partners from 1976; Rich died in 2012.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[bookiss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Present and past coexisting , both in terms of timelines and spaces, a deeply personal historical narrative blended with dreamwork while interwining histories, testimonies and territories. The classic colonial quest of The Heart Of Darkness is reverted and debunked through this diary-like narrative of queer maroonage, that begins from Jamaica and continues to the imperial capital, London. A very interesting read but certainly difficult because of the fragmentary writing style (that perfectly performs the sense of displacement and travelling).

[Natasja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did I understand it? No. Did I enjoy it? Yes.

[Beth Casserly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was slow getting into it, and rather confusing, but by the end I was immersed in a way I haven’t been in ages. Truly phenomenal writing, I am now head of the Michelle Cliff fan club (read: going to yap excitedly about this book in class next week)

[achilles · Rating 5 out of 5]

update, after doing some research and reading secondary research this grew on me

[philosophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can already feel Her convincing me it's actually a masterpiece.

[Bill Brydon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Within the bounds of Empire the teeth are the first to go. When the bounds break, all hell breaks loose. Chaos reigns. By the waters of Babylon the bald queen weeps. The black queen eats her young and gay. Things start, wake shake, rattle and roll. Bantus confuse sugar and diamonds. Havoc wakes Victoria Falls over. The bald queen has loosed her stays strays The map turns black from red bleeds Africa posts ood warnings India presents in breech of contact Lady Mountbatten mounts Nehru The Caribbean is ever more at sea. "Now who will mind us?"

[Annika · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 another uni read; i loved the prose like writing style and inclusion of poems. in ways it felt like experiencing the narrator's thoughts moment to moment, including the flashbacks and short tangents. though the story overall lacked a bit of cohesion and direction for me to be able to actually follow along at times. after finishing it i did think, now what was the moral of the story, what was the point? i did like the themes and discussion of (queer) identity and how that was done.

[Ellen]

‘the assault of the sea, salt relentless, ghosts dressed as sea captains dancing along the corridors above the ballroom, portraits grimy with refinement, sweet to the tongue should you lick one’