Tag: adult lit

Our Town and Realizing Life

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9780060535254Last night, Walt and I saw the Huntington Theatre’s production of David Cromer’s Our Town by Thornton Wilder. This might be my favorite play ever and this production was stunning. In general, the show emphasizes the fleetingness of life and the importance and beauty of the everyday. Cromer’s production takes this to a new level and I’m still pretty much an emotional wreck about the whole thing. (But in a good way.)

But it also made me think about an article I read recently about the art of being still and how that can help you as an artist. It’s easy to rush through the day and never really notice or appreciate the things and people around you. In Our Town, Emily and the Stage Manager have an exchange:

EMILY: Does anyone ever realize life while they live it…every, every minute?
STAGE MANAGER: No. Saints and poets maybe…they do some.

But even poets can get caught up in the rush of day jobs, laundry, making breakfast, paying electric bills, etc. In his article, Silas House suggests that we slow down and focus on the situation around us and ultimately utilize it in our writing:

“We must use every moment we can to think about the piece of writing at hand, to see the world through the point of view of our characters, to learn everything we can that serves the writing. We must notice details around us, while also blocking diversions and keeping our thought processes focused on our current poem, essay or book.”

I like the idea of a focused, hypersensitivity. Even if you don’t focus on a particular project, as a writer it really helps to live in the moment. You’re more likely to notice surprising details or odd characteristics when you’re not thinking about how you need milk or that you should email your friend about dinner. Not only is this important for general quality of life (it all goes so fast and is so beautiful), but it can bring a whole new depth to your writing life.

If you’re in the Boston area, you need to check out Our Town. And if you’re not, you still should check out a copy of the play. So good, guys.

Inventing Characters

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From this interview with Barbara Kingslover:

“Like all authors, I’m asked if characters are biographical, if I put people I know into my fiction. You can see from my process that that would be impossible for me. I begin by seeing a narrative, so I can’t put people I know in it—they simply wouldn’t behave properly, they wouldn’t be cooperative and do what I asked of them. So I invent the people I need, and that’s a lot more fun anyway. I can continually refine the characters, their histories, and their damage, until they are exactly the right people I need.”

I think this is one of the best responses to the “Who’s this character based on?” question ever. I hate when people assume that fiction comes entirely out of your life experiences. I tend to find the particular characters who are experiencing this particular story. Sometimes that matches up with things I’ve experienced or heard about in real life, but a lot of the time it comes from learning more about that character and that story.

Do you tend to invent your characters, use people you’ve met in real life, or a combination?

Outside of a Dog, a Book Is a Man’s Best Friend. Inside of a Dog It’s Too Dark to Read.

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What’s better than photos of famous writers? Photos of famous writers with their pets, that’s what! My favorite:

twain1

I need to keep that kitten-on-the-shoulder shot in mind for future author photos. Of course, I’ll need to one-up Twain and have a kitten on each shoulder. Bring on the kittens!

Make sure to check out all the pictures; they’re so cute! And if you still need some more bookish animals, check out these pictures of cats and their books.

(image: The Atlantic)

Friday Fifteen

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Managed to make it through the week and to the Friday Fifteen. Check out this week’s list of fifteen-word reviews:

97804402191701. A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry
I’d be curious to read this now in conjunction with The Fault in Our Stars.

2. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Ceepy novel with an awkward, meek main character in an English manor home. Heck yeah.

3. Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
Makes me want a winter part with bunnies, badgers, tea and popcorn.

4. World and Space (Childcraft: the How and Why Library #4) by World Book-Childcraft International
Geology, astronomy, and all sorts of natural sciences for kids.

5. Selected Poems And Four Plays of William Butler Yeats by William Butler Yeats, ed. M. L. Rosenthal
Read it for English lit survey class, but Yeats is one to go back to.

The Gift of Books

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For me, it’s a given that books are presents. Most of the time, they’re my go-to gift. But finding the right book for friends and family can be hard. You want something that they’ll enjoy but haven’t necessarily experienced yet.

Fortunately, author John Green has some great suggestions that span fiction and nonfiction, adult lit and YA, etc. John also breaks his suggestions into “if you liked X, you may like Y,” which can help fit your individual gift list. Plus John’s really fun:

Which books are you giving or recommending this year?

Has The Catcher in the Rye Already Come of Age?

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What does it take for a book to connect with teen readers, and can you teach those books in the classroom? At Slate, Jessica Roake says: “Young readers need a new coming-of-age classic, a book that has yet to be discovered and co-opted by the culture,” because apparently JD Salinger’s classic The Catcher in the Rye just doesn’t do it for teen readers anymore.

I don’t want to argue that The Catcher in the Rye is still what Roake wishes it were–a novel that’s ‘cool,’ that gets passed from reader to reader and deeply affects students. But I think she forgets that English classes aren’t always about reading on your own and discovering books. Most teachers have to work from a syllabus, make students write essays, and analyze metaphors.

A heads up: this is not fun. This is not adventure reading.

Not to say English class can’t be an excellent place to discover literature. I remember diving into The Great Gatsby and being surprised at how awesome it was. But there’s also an aspect of work to it. You’re not allowed to discover the book in our own way because, most often, the teacher is working to make sure the entire class understands the text. It’s a totally different setting than discovering a thrilling and controversial book on your own.

My own Catcher in the Ryeexperience was a good one. I had a fantastic English teacher who didn’t shy away from the book’s racier aspects. (Our final essay was an analysis about the use of “fuck you” in the last few chapters.) I thought a lot about what it meant to save your essential innocence in a world determined to destroy it. I’m really glad I read it in a classroom setting that pushed me to analyze the book.

But I think Roake has a good point–The Catcher in the Rye isn’t a surprise in the same way it was when it was first published. We all know about Holden’s angst and the novel’s use of swears and sex (which are pretty tame compared to what you see on tv). And that’s okay. I don’t think you need to say “we should get rid of it in English classes because it’s not a secret powerful read anymore.” I think it’s still an enormously valuable text and can lead students to a lot of other books–especially YA novels like The Fault in Our Stars, Speak, Story of a Girl, etc. Roake’s suggestion of Black Swan Green sounds awesome, too.

Basically, we should open up syllabi to different and unexpected books. You never know what’s going to connect with students. But I don’t think that should come at the expense of rejecting older works because students already know about them. Students can find something in The Catcher in the Rye or Black Swan Green or Hamlet or Antigone.

Friday Fifteen

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Holy cow, another Friday Fifteen already? Let’s get the weekend started with these fifteen-word book reviews:

1. Midnight in the Dollhouse by Marjorie Stover
Dollhouse people are secretly alive and help solve a mystery. 9-year-old me loved this.

2. Evelina or the History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World by Frances Burney
A precursor to Austen without the witty heroines

3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Not my favorite, but some great stuff like creeptastic Umbridge and the Department of Mysteries.

4. An Octave Above Thunder by Carol Muske
Lovely collection. Discovered “China White” from a college prof who knew all the good stuff.

5. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Dragon-human political intrigue centered around a young musician. Hartman made cool, unexpected choices; great writing.