ADOLESCENCE AND BEYOND

Alfred Palma is Malta's foremost translator of clasical texts. He has translated all of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets into Maltese, as well as Oscar Wilde's
poetry and dramatic works and Dante's La Divina Commedia. Palma is also a novelist. 

Mario Azzopardi: Vampir u rakkonti oħra – a collection of short stories;
a Horizons Publication – 2010; 115 pp.; €12

What has always pleased me in Mario Azzopardi and his poetry, since
the sixties, was his direct no-nonsense way of hitting out mercilessly at
the inane conventions that were wont to mess up the social, cultural and
moral structures of our tiny nation. His lines, very often controversial,
spoke volumes, were invariably provocative, off the cuff and provided
lots of food for thought.

Many years later, the poet still rebels, fights and hits out against what 
is unquestionably a much different society than the one in the sixties,
a society that enjoys the benefits of a technological age, that basks in
the blessed comforts and the tangible progress for which it has not only
sold its previous much simpler and happier age, but its very soul.

Wiser in his maturity, as sensitive as ever to reality and fully aware of
the tragic  scenario that is enacted under the seemingly contented outer
facade, Azzopardi has lately reverted to some of his most powerful and
down-to-earth poetic prose, in the form of short stories, which cannot but
draw attention to the predicament of today’s generations.

The intensity of this kind of poetic prose was immediately felt in his prize-
winning Alicia titkellem mill-Imwiet (2008), onto Skizzi and now Vampir.
This is another collection of short stories which is exclusively intended
for adolescents on the verge of adulthood. Well aware that this is the most
delicate time of one’s life, and even more aware of the extant reality of
this day and age, the author, in his own unique style, has resorted to these
12 harrowing, controversial stories that are at once as gripping and
captivating as they are daring.

Reading this book is like watching a play in 12 acts, all enacted on one
single stage with different backdrops. A theme with (at least) 12 scenes
and variations. Here, Azzopardi has resorted to a whole gamut of
situations, some difficult, others uncomfortable, all having adolescence
at their very centre, each situation calling to mind others, questions remain
unanswered, in spite of the many redeeming factors, the alternatives and
the not always welcomed suggestions. To add even more colour, the
author very often resorts to satire, sarcasm, a witty aside here and there
provides a contrast to most of the pathetically human shortcomings.
Cynicism often reigns supreme. Every situation that today’s up-and-
coming generations are faced with is intrepidly brought to the fore, is
exposed to its very roots and analysed; the author’s hold gets tighter with
each story, the pace faster, until the very last story, with its sarcastic
fabulous title.

Indeed, in this book  the young adult reader will come face to face with
reality at the expense of fantasy, which plays such an important part in
adolescence.  And human frailty is exposed in its minutest detail, at
times with utter subversions of  convention and this, ironically, adds to the
charm of each story as a story per se. The book is replete with hard-hitting
themes, such as rape, incest, lack of self-confidence, fear, disrespect for
self and society, hypocrisy and all that makes for what could be sheer
hell during the beautiful (sic) years of one’s springtime.

The cover of Vampir  shows two white masks on a sinister dark back-
ground, their wearers waving away in a ghostly fashion. This certainly
highlights the contents of the book. Don’t we all wear some sort of mask
during our lifetime, mostly for the sake of convention? And in my opinion
adolescence is the time when, give or take a few years, we’ll have
discovered ourselves, our inner selves, who we are, what we feel, our
likes and dislikes, our egos which, thanks to the conventional ethics of
society, often going against our grain, we’ll have to hide under a mask
and, tragically enough, wear it all our lives.

In this beautifully provocative book Azzopardi seems all set to make
amends in that regard. No mean feat. Society must first stop and
listen.

Alfred Palma