Archive for the ‘literature’ Category

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Yes, I am writer

January 23, 2012

I have no idea how I passed high school English. First of all, I never learned the formula for a high school English class essay. Secondly, I don’t think I actually read any of the books we were assigned.

And I love to read. I’ve always loved to read. But whenever I sat down to read the books assigned to me, my eyes just glossed over the words and I didn’t process them at all. The night before the English AP, I reread The Great Gatsby and thought, “Hey, that’s not a bad book.” (I got a 5 on the AP, by the way, but that’s because I was able to draw on my knowledge of Hamlet, from acting in it.) Even then, I must not have understood Gatsby, because last year, I reread it a third (?) time and it was all new to me. Did you know that all the characters do in that book is drink and party? How is this standard high school reading? How did I not realize that’s what it was about?

I reread Persuasion in college, like it was the first time, and very much enjoyed it.

I’ve been listening to some classics on audiobook while driving lately, because the last few contemporary novels I listened to pissed me off, and I wasn’t sure if that was because they were shitty books, or because I wasn’t experiencing them properly, having them administered through the ear. I’ve appreciated To Kill a Mockingbird (which I read as a young person, not for school, but I didn’t remember it well. I thought Boo Radley was the black guy Atticus defended.) and Of Mice and Men (which I’d never read).

Then I read that House of Mirth is Mindy Kaling’s favorite book. House of Mirth? You mean House of Boring! I couldn’t even get through that book in high school. Unless, maybe I didn’t really try? So I got it on audio, and you know what? Lily Bart’s kind of a kickass heroine.

So, for the record, I was an idiot when I was in high school.

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I paid full price for @mindykaling’s book

November 19, 2011

Mindy Kaling is one of my comedy heroines. Right up there with Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

I always thought she was funny in her tertiary role on The Office, and was impressed when I noticed that she had a writer, producer and sometimes directing credit. I “liked” Subtle Sexuality on Facebook after watching the video for Male Prima Donna.

Following her on Twitter is what solidified our completely one-sided friendship.

When her book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) came out a few weeks ago, I asked Rob to get it in audio form, because it’s so awesome to hear comedy writers read their own stuff. In the book, she talks about how falling asleep watching Dave Chappelle made her feel like they were friends. Well, that’s what it’s been like the past few weeks; Kelly Kapoor tells us funny stories every night before bed.

The best part is that Rob thinks she’s hilarious too!

His review: Once you factor in her creative talents in authoring & narrating humorous tales, Mindy’s hotness skyrockets through the roof. Gorgeous and brilliantly witty. She is the second smartest & hottest & funniest girl next to Kari.

Awww.

So when I found out she was going to be signing her book in Seattle, even though I’d already listened to most of it, and even though I can’t remember the last time I paid cover price for a book (sorry, authors), and even though the UW Bookstore required you to buy the book there to have it signed, we happily drove down there and paid $25 for the book and the privilege of saying “You’re my favorite Twitter friend.”

Know what else is cool? And I can say this with some authority since I grew up in Los Angeles and have seen my fair share of celebrities close up. Mindy Kaling is considered more of a “real person” than a “model/actress” type (which she notes in the chapter where she describes having to audition for, and be turned down for, the character of “Mindy” in a pilot she wrote!). And yet, compared to all of us schlubby Pacific Northwesterners, she looked famous. Glamorous and put together. And was so gracious.

/fanletter

Posted in criticism, literature, pop culture, socially awkward | Leave a Comment »

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Everyone who’s ever had a dog has had a dog who died

October 7, 2011

I’m taking a new writing class with my fiction-writing teacher. A memoir-writing class, because I knew when Isis died that I was meant to write a memoir about our life together.

I’m wary of writing a book where the dog’s death is a surprise. When I read Marley & Me, I knew how it was going to end, because I did the math. Still, I heard from several readers who felt betrayed by the sweet little story where the dog dies at the end. At the end of a long, happy life, I might add.

Although Isis’ sudden and unexpected death is a wonderfully surprising twist that no one would see coming, I want to protect my readers from the heartbreak that we felt. I have written ten pages to turn in about that day in February when I brought Leo to work with me, had the loveliest time, and then got the call that Isis had died. I think the first part of those pages, up until I arrive home, will be the first chapter of the book. But the rest of what I turn in — the details of what happened to her, how we felt that day, and what we did next — will happen later in the book. After the first chapter, I will go back to the day we got Isis and tell the story from the beginning.

Yesterday, I wrote the scene at the vet’s office the day Isis died. We saw a vet I’d never seen before (and hadn’t seen since). I remembered her first and last name, and how nice she was.

Today I took the dogs to the vet for some routine stuff, and was very surprised when that doctor came into the exam room. The first thing I said was, “Oh! You were here when my dog Isis died in February.” She said she thought I looked familiar, and then had the pleasure of meeting Miss Mia.

Posted in literature, pets | 2 Comments »

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Early criticism

June 27, 2011

Trains of thought are funny things. I was driving home from book club, thinking about a caption I wrote under a photo of Leo on Facebook. I wrote, “Leo smiles more ever since Mia joined the family.” I wondered if maybe I should delete the “ever.” Yes, I actually copy edit myself after I’ve posted things online, and think about diction while driving. When I catch errors in old FB posts that I cannot change, I cringe and worry that people will think less of me. I think less of me.

The phrase “ever since” triggered a memory. I want to say I was in second or third grade when I was assigned my first book report. I’d heard of book reports, of course; I have an older brother. And I’d read books about kids who had to write book reports, like Anastasia Krupnick and Ramona Quimby. I don’t remember who the teacher was, or what the book was. Looking back, I don’t think we were even assigned to do “real” book reports. We were given half-pages of paper and were supposed to write back cover summaries. I read a lot, so I knew from back cover summaries. I wrote something like, “Ever since Susie Q started her new school, she suspected her classmates were really witches.” I was pretty proud of myself. It read just like the back covers of my books.

The teacher (might have been a teacher’s aide) was displeased with many of our book reports. She read an example of one that was especially egregious. Mine.

She didn’t name names, but I was really embarrassed and had no idea why mine was an example of what not to do. We weren’t supposed to start with “Ever since”? Was I supposed to write, “I read a book called Blah Blah. The main character’s name is Susie Q. Blah blah blah.”

This happened nearly 30 years ago, and I’m still scarred. What a shitty teacher. Sadly this wasn’t the last time I was told by a teacher at a fancy private school (who ought to know better) that I didn’t know how to write. Which reminds me of the time Anastasia Krupnick wrote a poem that she thought was wonderful, but got a bad grade because it didn’t rhyme. Her poet father disagreed with the teacher and changed the F to Fabulous.

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My alternative lifestyle

December 23, 2010

While on vacation the three days before Christmas, I decided to pretend I’m a different kind of writer. The kind the writes from home.

I volunteered to turn in 10 pages at my fiction writing class on the first day back after the break. On top of that, we have another writing assignment we’re supposed to read out loud.

Between the days off this week and two next week, I should be able to write 10 pages easily. But I’m having a hard time. I can’t visualize what it is that I’m writing about, is the problem, I think. Sentence construction like the previous is another. Problem.

I should just write write, not care if it’s good and go back and revise later.

If I were self-employed, this is what my day would be like:

  • Take Leo to the dog park from 9-10.
  • Play with Isis in the backyard.
  • Shower.
  • Sit at computer and check e-mail, Twitter and Facebook.
  • Eat.
  • Maybe write something.
  • Take Isis for a walk.
  • Play with Leo in the backyard.
  • Write?
  • Talk to Rob when he gets home from work between 4 and 5.

Given this, I did write 1,000 words yesterday. While walking Leo a short while ago (we skipped the dog park, it was raining), I decided I would have a solid 2,000 words by the end of the day and also make some headway on the other assignment, which is to write obituaries for some of my characters. Harder than I thought it would be.

I’m hungry.

Posted in career, fiction, literature, pets | Leave a Comment »

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Salitter drying from the earth

July 16, 2010

In all likelihood anyone who googles “salitter” will be directed here to my review of The Road.

When I googled “salitter” I found this.

Generally I prefer novels that are entertaining reads. I want a sensical plot and a fulfilling resolution. I don’t need to be “challenged” but I’m happy if I’m given something to think about. Water for Elephants, The World According to Garp and The Dogs of Babel meet these criteria. These are the kinds of books I’d like to write.

I could never write a book like The Road. It’s like a painting. Or a poem. It’s art.

Cormac McCarthy uses words like “salitter,” phrases like “ensepulchred within their crozzled hearts,” and he doesn’t use commas. He doesn’t want you to breeze through his book. As a friend of mine put it, “It’s written to make you uncomfortable.”

I had to reread commaless sentences to figure out where the pauses went. I had to mark words to look up later.

Narratively I felt like the postapocalyptic story became repetitive. They walked on the road. They found a place to camp. Maybe they found food and ate it or maybe they were hungry. They encountered some danger. They were afraid and desperate, teetering on the brink of hopelessness.

But it was so beautiful.

As the story wore on I wondered why the father and son kept walking on this road. I understood why the wife/mother didn’t stay with them. There was no hope. I kept reading to find out if they would reach the coast and what would happen when they did although I suspected they wouldn’t find what they needed. They weren’t the last two people on earth but they might as well have been since they trusted no one else not to eat them or steal their stuff. Or both.

One of them was going to die and then what was the other one going to do? Keep walking the road alone? Each was the other’s reason for keeping on.

Here’s why I loved this book. Here’s why it’s art: After all the harrowing desperation, the ending was uplifting. As happy an ending as you could hope to have after the apocalpyse.

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Bookclubbing

May 17, 2010

I seem to have gotten my “young folk” book club off the ground. First we read Infidel, because I had read it and was dying to talk about it, but couldn’t attend the discussion at what I lovingly call my “Mature Women’s Book Club.” Our second book was Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches. I didn’t care for it because a) it’s not narrative and b) it was an old white guy’s anthropological opinion of other cultures.

Our next two books are Water for Elephants and The Road. I finished Water for Elephants last night, even though we won’t be discussing it until mid June. The Mature Women’s Book Club will be discussing it at the end of June.

I was accused of “cheating” by getting the young folk to read the same book as the mature women, but I was encouraged that the men in the young folk club would like it for two reasons.

  1. The first time I heard of the book was when I saw the audio version in the fish stock assessment lab at one of my tribes. The lab technician (a dude) had listened to it during his long days alone in the lab.
  2. When I got my copy at the used bookstore downtown, the sales guy raved about it and said he read it in its entirety on a flight between Denver, Detroit or Dallas (I can’t remember) and Seattle.

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Water for Elephants

May 17, 2010

Sex, violence and circus animals. What’s not to love?

I enjoyed Water for Elephants from the start, but as it neared its conclusion, it just kept getting better and better. On my scale, it went from four stars to five stars in the final chapters.

There’s a technique I’ve been seeing too often in television shows, where something terribly dramatic happens in the opening scene. Then we see a title that says “24 hours earlier” and we find out the events that led to the dramatic circumstance.

Water for Elephants opens with a dramatic prologue that introduces us to Jacob (our hero), Marlena (his love interest) and Rosie (an elephant). Then we’re introduced to Jacob as a nonagenarian in a nursing home. When the circus comes to town, he reflects on the events that led to his becoming a circus veterinarian and falling in love with both Marlena and Rosie.

I started asking myself why the writer felt the need to start with that prologue. I felt like it detracted from the story because I thought I knew where the characters would end up. Without giving anything away, I will say that the prologue is, in fact, masterfully written and enhances an already powerful climax.

For some reason I want to compare my experience reading Water for Elephants with another heralded book about animals, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. I found Sawtelle enormously disappointing, after being completely entranced by the dogs in the early chapters. I learned later in his interview with Oprah that the author didn’t know why his characters did the things they did. Sawtelle also had a deliberately mysterious prologue, but none of the questions it raised are answered in the story. As the story started falling apart, I kept reading, eager to find a satisfying conclusion, but found none.

So I was thrilled last night as I read the last 150 pages of Elephants, to feel it going somewhere and have it arrive with all the pieces intact. It’s not a perfect novel. I had some criticisms along the way, but I can’t remember what any of them were, because I so completely enjoyed the dénouement.

Posted in criticism, literature | 1 Comment »

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Infidel

February 9, 2010

This month’s book club selection is Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. I haven’t finished it yet, but I’m inspired by it already.

I’ve read a lot of memoirs/stories of people who come from a place of oppression and abuse. Ali seems a rare example of someone who really strives to make sense of her past and make changes for the future of others.

I’m shocked though, by some of her revelations about Islam:

The Prophet did teach us a lot of good things. I found it spiritually appealing to believe in a Hereafter. My life was enriched by the Quranic injunctions to be compassionate and show charity to others. There were times when I, like other Muslims, found it too complicated to deal with the whole issue of war against the unbelievers. Most Muslims never delve into theology, and we rarely read the Quran; we are taught it in Arabic, which most Muslims can’t speak. As a result, most people think that Islam is about peace. It is from these people, honest and kind, that the fallacy has arisen that Islam is peaceful and tolerant.

She’s not saying that Muslim extremists misinterpret the Quran. She’s saying that they’ve interpreted it exactly the way it was intended.

For me, her skepticism about Islam extends to all religions. I don’t know that this is something I will be able to discuss freely within my book group.

Ali looks around at the Western world and thinks, “Waitaminute, here’s a society that’s functioning better than the Muslim world from whence I came. (I’m paraphrasing here.) How can it be that they all are doomed to hellfire if Islam is the only way?”

Any religion that denounces all other religions is intolerant.

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Reading in the dark

January 11, 2010

I’m using John Henry (my iPod touch) as a Kindle. It might even be better than a Kindle.

I read the Wonderful Wizard of Oz first, because it was free, to see if I could actually read an entire book on the device. Even though the “pages” are small, the “page turning” via a swipe of the finger is so fast, I don’t consider that a negative.

I bought Dead until Dark, the first Sookie Stackhouse novel, for about $6 and have been enjoying it very much. I find I read more often, because I tend to always have my iPod within arm’s reach, so when there’s a pause in my day, a wait for my takeout order or a lull between television shows, I read a bit.

The screen is illuminated, but I set the reading app – Stanza – to have a gray screen, so the glare doesn’t hurt my eyes. I can read in the dark. If I can’t sleep, I don’t have to worry about the noise from page turning. I don’t have to prop my head up, but in fact can lie on my side with my head on the pillow.

Posted in literature, pop culture, technology | 2 Comments »

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