Out of this world

Once I adjusted to Borges' sense of humor in Ficciones, several of the stories reminded me of Lovecraft, but without the nameless dread.

Several other stories made me feel as if I were reading Chandler again-- characters show up, are named, act decisively, and clearly have a long history with the detective although they have not been mentioned to the reader previously in the story.

This technique of Chandler's puts the reader in the same position as the detective in a sense. We are in the dark, looking through small windows, then trying to arrange what we see as if those glimpses were cels or snapshots, in order to create a complete story line.

I often feel like an ineffective detective at the start of a case, the first time I read something.

Hand made and mind made

Since I read for a living, it is often the case that I seek other activities for relaxation. I feel some regret about this, because there are so many good books that I want to read for pleasure. I get to a few every year, but slowly.

I also get a great deal of pleasure from working with my hands--gardening, picture framing, cooking. That prevents me from holding a book. The only way to read and do manual work is to listen to audio books. I don't listen to audio books often, but last summer I discovered a treasure-- the audio book of Ellison's Invisible Man, read by actor Joe Morton. 18 hours. I listened to the first half driving from Gainesville FL to Nashville, a 9 hour trip, and I listened to the second half driving back south.

Not long into the trip, I felt like Joe Morton's Invisible Man was my best friend. Morton reads the novel as if it were a stage play, with a different voice for each character Invisible Man meets in his journey, and a wide variety of moods for Invisible Man himself. Since I know that Ellison recorded himself reading his manuscript and then played back the tapes as he revised, I believe he was as interested in the sound of the narrative as the way it reads on the page. The narrative includes song lyrics, preaching, and oral storytelling, more evidence that it has a life out loud.

How many novelists, I wonder, write with the idea that their work will be read out loud?

he who gives quickly gives twice

He who gives quickly gives twice, Marianne Moore wrote, in nothing so much as in a letter. Brevity is all.

With that advice in mind, I'll pass along the best belly laugh I've had lately. Carol Anne Duffy's poem "Mrs. Sisyphus" begins with these lines:

That's him pushing the stone up the hill, the jerk.
I call it a stone-- it's nearer the size of a kirk.

and ends with this line:

He is giving one hundred per cent and more to his work.

The entire poem is playful and dismissive of epic endeavors. She and Mrs. Noah have little patience for great works. The whimsical elements (rhyme, profanity, cliche) of the poem undermine the seriousness of the husband.

With that extreme acknowledged, I'll mention the flip side. Many of us have loved ones who toil away at seemingly impossible tasks anonymously and to good effect. If one life in crisis is redirected, what a good thing for us all.

topics which will remain uncovered in this blog

As a newbie to the blog world, I have been reflecting that there are several topics which I will not address in this public forum.

I will not reveal extremely intimate information about myself, past or present.

I will not opine about recently concluded criminal trials in Florida which are attracting national attention.

I will not ride my hobbyhorse over Republican governors, or legislation overseeing student assessment and teacher performance and collective bargaining.

What is left to say? Plenty.

First, there are a lot of good people who get up every day, go to work, work hard, and complain very little. They have opinions and are concerned, but they choose to express their concern by doing a good job in their corner of the world. They get discouraged, or they get encouraged, but they still get up and go to work every day.

Second, there is a lot of good composing going on that gets to the heart of what is important to remember from day to day. So for today, here is the first line of Steinbeck's Cannery Row. Any place we go back to day after day is full of promises and disappointments. This first line has a variation on the telescoping effect of the first chapters of The Grapes of Wrath, as well as the germ of a sense of place, all in one sentence.

Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream.

first entry

Hello Blogosphere,
Am I coming in on the tail end of the active life of blogs? I hope not. Many years after WEBLOGS began, I am starting my first blog.

My inspiration is Roger_Paw, who has been photographing and videoing Pip the redtailed hawk chick at Washington Square Park.

What do I have to add to the mix? Not much yet. I'm a high school English teacher in north central Florida with a husband and 4 cats. I've been teaching since 1988 in this orange university town. I grew up all over until Nashville became my home.

I am a teacher on summer leave, I have just a month ago created my first teaching website, and now I have a blog. We'll see where this will lead. For now I'll say that this is a working summer, but I'm as good a procrastinator as the next girl.

Cheers,
Rey.