I finished this year's reading of O! Pioneers in the gym while trying (but failing) to help my team win the cardio challenge. Every year I read it, I find myself identifying with different characters or situations than I did the last time. This year, it was the Emil-Marie relationship I found most parallelling my own. Granted, not everything aligns up perfectly and I've discovered it's possible to feel a connection to characters with seemingly opposing points of view.
Without getting into much detail, either personal or plot related, here are a couple of selections affirming my parallel.
"She sighed despondently. "Everything I say makes you cross, don't it? And you never used to be cross to me."
Emil took a step nearer and stood frowning down at her bent head. He stood in an attitude of self-defense, his feet well apart, his hands clenched and drawn up at his sides, so that the cords stood out on his bare arms. "I can't play with you like a little boy any more," he said slowly. "That's what you miss, Marie. You'll have to get some other little boy to play with." He stopped and took a deep breath. Then he went on in a low tone, so intense that it was almost threatening: "Sometimes you seem to understand perfectly, and then sometimes you pretend you don't. You don't help things anyby pretending. It's then that I want to pull the corners of the Divide together. If you won't understand, you know, I could make you!"
Marie clasped her hands and started up from her seat. She had grown very pale and her eyes were shining with excitement and distress. "But, Emil, if I understand, then all our good times are over, we can never do nice things together any more....And, anyhow, there's nothing to understand!" She struck the ground with her little foot fiercely. "That won't last. It will go away, and things will be just as they used to....I pray for you, but that's not the same as if you prayed for yourself."
...
"I can't pray to have the things I want," he said slowly, "and I won't pray not to have them, not if I'm damned for it."
p.80
"When she reached the stile she sat down and waited. How terrible it was to love people when you could not really share in their lives!"
p. 131
And, as always, I reccomend this book to everyone who enjoys reading. It's an easy read, pretty light, a good balance of exposition and dialogue and I have the most amazing time with character analysis while reading this. Cather really gets a grip on this, and it's why she's probably the closest thing I have to a favorite author.
2011-12-01
2011-11-15
Writing Journal
I had an experience a while ago that, even as it was happening, seemed slightly surreal. Perhaps it was like deja vu, except I don't think I had ever had this experience before. Since it was something that could have happened in the past, it was almost as though I were living the memory of a fantasy. If that makes sense.
What I first found odd about the 15 minute experience was how much of it I remembered later. Hours afterwards, I was talking to someone and briefly (in a line or two) summized the experience. As I was speaking, it all came back to me. Every moment of those minutes was accounted for in my memory.
Perhaps stranger is that I kind of have this visual of the experience. I can see the lightness that was in my step, as it was a very pleasant experience. I can also see the other characters, if you will, and their faces. I might even venture to say that I was aware of those things during the experience itself. Part of me wants to use this as a scene in a story, as it was rather something like out of a Jane Austen novel (and I've been almost immersed in Austenian stories as of late between books and movies). In fact, it rather reminds me of a particular scene in Sense and Sensibility.
But I feel it would become less real somehow.
Even the journal entry I made about it and the vagueness with which I have been using here casts shadows upon it. It has left me questioning whether or not I can cast aside the sentimentality of my appreciation for the experience and dilute it by sharing it in writing.
I just thought of a similar experience I had some time before this one. I spun that scene into words, taking some creative liberties with the facts, and shared it with some friends, all hopes for feedback being dashed. The first experience (and the most recent in my life) could actually do a good deal of good as backstory for the experienced I've already turned into a short short.
Perhaps life is just handing me one or two experiences every so often, intending a story to be told.
What I first found odd about the 15 minute experience was how much of it I remembered later. Hours afterwards, I was talking to someone and briefly (in a line or two) summized the experience. As I was speaking, it all came back to me. Every moment of those minutes was accounted for in my memory.
Perhaps stranger is that I kind of have this visual of the experience. I can see the lightness that was in my step, as it was a very pleasant experience. I can also see the other characters, if you will, and their faces. I might even venture to say that I was aware of those things during the experience itself. Part of me wants to use this as a scene in a story, as it was rather something like out of a Jane Austen novel (and I've been almost immersed in Austenian stories as of late between books and movies). In fact, it rather reminds me of a particular scene in Sense and Sensibility.
But I feel it would become less real somehow.
Even the journal entry I made about it and the vagueness with which I have been using here casts shadows upon it. It has left me questioning whether or not I can cast aside the sentimentality of my appreciation for the experience and dilute it by sharing it in writing.
I just thought of a similar experience I had some time before this one. I spun that scene into words, taking some creative liberties with the facts, and shared it with some friends, all hopes for feedback being dashed. The first experience (and the most recent in my life) could actually do a good deal of good as backstory for the experienced I've already turned into a short short.
Perhaps life is just handing me one or two experiences every so often, intending a story to be told.
2011-11-14
Reading Journal
Finished "Jane and Cassandra" over the weekend.
It's a historical fiction about the relationship between Jane and Cassandra Austen. Had I had more biographical facts myself, I would have been able to tell that the events were real, but that the opinions of them were not. (Although, the narrative surrounding Mr. Atkins remains a mystery to me.) I finished the weekend by watching the Pride & Prejudice starring Kiera Knightly and learned that the cast portraying the Bennett family played Sardines in the house before the crew got there so they could learn the layout and take ownership of it before cameras invaded. I also watched Sense & Sensibility with the Ang Li and other director's commentary. All I retained from that viewing (which I didn't pay much attention to, honestly, because they sort of wore themselves out towards the end and it was just the movie playing) was that they used period animals. The commentators were constantly interjecting, "Period sheep!" It was actually quite entertaining.
I've picked up O! Pioneers, which I plan on reading mostly in the gym. Am hoping to finish it before I get on the bus home for Thanksgiving. I also pulled a book off my shelf called Memory Wall: Stories by Anothony Doerr, who, according to the jacket cover, is the writer in residence of Idaho. I haven't actually read more than the cover, though. Bought it when Borders was going out of business.
It's a historical fiction about the relationship between Jane and Cassandra Austen. Had I had more biographical facts myself, I would have been able to tell that the events were real, but that the opinions of them were not. (Although, the narrative surrounding Mr. Atkins remains a mystery to me.) I finished the weekend by watching the Pride & Prejudice starring Kiera Knightly and learned that the cast portraying the Bennett family played Sardines in the house before the crew got there so they could learn the layout and take ownership of it before cameras invaded. I also watched Sense & Sensibility with the Ang Li and other director's commentary. All I retained from that viewing (which I didn't pay much attention to, honestly, because they sort of wore themselves out towards the end and it was just the movie playing) was that they used period animals. The commentators were constantly interjecting, "Period sheep!" It was actually quite entertaining.
I've picked up O! Pioneers, which I plan on reading mostly in the gym. Am hoping to finish it before I get on the bus home for Thanksgiving. I also pulled a book off my shelf called Memory Wall: Stories by Anothony Doerr, who, according to the jacket cover, is the writer in residence of Idaho. I haven't actually read more than the cover, though. Bought it when Borders was going out of business.
2011-10-28
Reading Journal
I finished Lance Armstrong's autobiography last night. Have I mentioned I've grown to like sports writers? Don't know what it is....I don't particularly care for playing or watching them, but I find reading about them just fascinating.
Anyway...it was pretty good, although somewhat outdated (2000). A bit more cussing than I cared for, but the bits about the racing were exciting. He has an extreme personality (tell me something from Texas that isn't extreme, though) and it made for a fascinating read.
I look forward to starting O! Pioneers a little sooner this year than I have in other years. Oh, well. If I try putting it off for another cycle, I'm afraid I'll be too late.
Anyway...it was pretty good, although somewhat outdated (2000). A bit more cussing than I cared for, but the bits about the racing were exciting. He has an extreme personality (tell me something from Texas that isn't extreme, though) and it made for a fascinating read.
I look forward to starting O! Pioneers a little sooner this year than I have in other years. Oh, well. If I try putting it off for another cycle, I'm afraid I'll be too late.
2011-10-14
Reading Journal
I finished "Not Dead Yet" and "So I'm Talkin' to This Guy..." last night.
Both were decent. Not I'd-Rather-Give-Myself-a-Swirly boring, but not exactly enthralling, either. "Not Dead Yet" was at the beginning, and some of "So I'm Talkin' to This Guy..." was pretty good.
"Not Dead Yet" is the story of Phil Southerland, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 7 months. He took control of his diabetes and now heads a bike racing team to raise awareness and funds for solutions for Type 1. The first part is best if you're reading it because your passionate about bikes, while the second is best if you're reading it because you're passionate about diabetes. Lucky for me, I'm into both. Oh, and he looks like Matt Damon.
"So I'm Talkin' to This Guy..." is a collection of short, 2-page op-eds by Rob Borsilliano (or something equally Italian). He grew up in the Bronx and his wife talked him into moving to Des Moines. The last entry really threw me.
Both were decent. Not I'd-Rather-Give-Myself-a-Swirly boring, but not exactly enthralling, either. "Not Dead Yet" was at the beginning, and some of "So I'm Talkin' to This Guy..." was pretty good.
"Not Dead Yet" is the story of Phil Southerland, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 7 months. He took control of his diabetes and now heads a bike racing team to raise awareness and funds for solutions for Type 1. The first part is best if you're reading it because your passionate about bikes, while the second is best if you're reading it because you're passionate about diabetes. Lucky for me, I'm into both. Oh, and he looks like Matt Damon.
"So I'm Talkin' to This Guy..." is a collection of short, 2-page op-eds by Rob Borsilliano (or something equally Italian). He grew up in the Bronx and his wife talked him into moving to Des Moines. The last entry really threw me.
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