Descent of Alette Response, Kelsey M.

I was excited about the book before I opened it, not only because of the cover (which was extremely alluring--it's a very pretty book) but because of a conversation I had at work. My supervisor asked me what I was currently reading in classes, and when I mentioned this book, he stopped and looked directly at me.

"I saw her do a reading [of her work] once. It was like witchcraft; I swear, it felt like she floated out of the room, man."

After that, I was more than intrigued by Alice Notely and the book--fortunately, "the Descent of Alette" lived up to my expectations.

The most frustrating and rewarding part of the book was Notely's language. Upon reading her note at the beginning about the form she had chosen to use for the book, I questioned it. It soon came to my attention, however, that it was clear that the use of the quotations was vital to her intent. The quotations, at their most basic level, cause a kind of deliberateness in both the word choice and placement by the author, and the comprehension by the reader. It breaks up the flow of a line while simultaneously creating suspense and tension between each set of quotations. Each enclosed phrase is to be appreciated for its obviously intentional pairing, but is also part of a whole, as we are reminded by the perpetuation of this form throughout the text. As I also mentioned in class and in a DWP, I also felt that this came to change the act of reading the text--while the quotations are used untraditionally...they are still quotation marks and cannot be regarded as anything else. This meant that eventually, the reader comes to regard them as an element unto themselves.

I also loved the point that Notely makes about the form of her book, that the quotations "remind the reader that each phrase is a thing said by a voice." This speaks strongly to the theme of "pluralism" that runs through the book--the view of Alette as standing for many people (both literally and figuratively in the story). This idea of voices, particularly many voices, also seems to hearken back to the idea of "Herstory"...the idea that the history of womankind is passed down verbally, while men's history is written. Notley often talks about how "form" and words are all invented by the Tyrant (as a figurehead for patriarchal society) and describes the many attempts to escape this, such as with the old woman and the painter that Alette meets. Notely sees to imply, with this particular form, that the story of Alette is told, and that this is merely a careful recording--the essential form of Alette's story does not adhere to the traditions of a patriarchal society.

The theme of transformation also reinforces this idea. Throughout the book, Alette both witnesses and is the subject of many transformations. The "crazy" woman in the subway attempts to make her "own world" by rejecting everything that is made by man/the Tyrant; the artist strives to "invent air" so that she may know a form not derived from man/the Tyrant. Alette's many transformations both speak to her "pluralness" and also allow her to remained unclaimed by the Tryant. This becomes clear when Alette regains her memory; it is then that she remembers her name. Alette's name and memory suggest that who she is, is not form--she is essentially something not invented by the Tyrant, but her form is only one expression of herself. This is similar to the idea that Notley's text is not the story, but a telling of it, thereby breaking free of (or attempting to) the traditional, invented form.