Ramble About Literature

Several years ago, in Kansas City, Kansas, I listened to Jamaica Kincaid pontificate about beginning sentences with the word "and" for almost thirty minutes before her intended reading. I knew she was a big name, but aside from "Girl," I hadn't sought out any of her work. Beyond from her discourse on "and," which has infiltrated my writing, I remember her as an intense, educated woman with flair.

I wonder if the self-hatred that comes with being sexually abused allows a reader to relate to Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye's child who thought she was ugly because society told her that black girls were the ugliest of all creations. And then I wonder how to synthesize that into my own writing.

Earlier this school year, Maya Angelou moved me with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. If I could somehow incorporate some of her syntax and descriptive language into my work, I think I'd finally work into a level of description I'm comfortable with that doesn't bore me to write. The line, "My world humpty-dumptied, never to be put right again," impresses me every time I think of it. I savor those moments when she chooses to pepper her work with cultural allusions as verbs.

Based on Bri's recommendation, I bought Mary Oliver's A Poetry Handbook for T's birthday. Oliver's introduction finally gave me a perspective on Shakespeare that makes me want to read his work. Michael Emerson (also www.michaelemerson.net) inspired me to keep trying to connect with Shakespeare's work, and now I'm glad I did. I downloaded The Complete Works of Shakespeare to my Kindle because of Emerson; the public school system had taught me to loathe Shakespeare as punishment reading.

Now, I'm waiting for my husband to finish Oliver's book so I can read through the themes section. I've been thinking more and more about clearly defined themes and synopsis index cards, and I feel Oliver's book has something to offer me in that area.

I'm currently reading H. G. Wells's The Island of Doctor Moreau. I've been wanting to read some of literature from that period, and Wells combines my love of LOST with my reading goals. Wells employed a narrative technique Sherlock Holmes lovers will immediately recognize as first-person letter/papers. Occasionally, the protagonist/narrator excuses his rambling with meta-references. I don't mind the meta-references when the information is useful, but in general, this narrator is uninteresting and functions as a substitute for the reader that doesn't capture the imagination as well as it could. F. Scott Fitzgerald does the same type of thing in The Great Gatsby with narrator Nick Caraway. I've never been fond of the technique outside of Watson's "records" of Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I'm glad that, as a whole, modern writing has moved away from this habit. I like it as an occasional technique, but I wouldn't want it in my everyday reading.

Placeholder

Placeholder post so I can check out templates.