Writers: A Room of Our Own

I would never, I hope, spoil a book for someone. But let me just say that she earned the ending of LIFE AFTER LIFE: a perfect sentence that has stayed with me. It just blew me away.
I did not know where I was being led, but I was delighted when I got there.

You’re right: Russo owed you a better answer. Something like, in his case, “If it looks effortless, then my great efforts have paid off.”

David: Oh, good. I’ve been needing a “French” person. Can you explain to me why MADAME BOVARY is such a bore? Is it because we want to kick Madame or because her husband is so blind and bovine or because her choice in lovers is pathetic? What is it about that book that I’ve missed? I find it repulsive and morally inconclusive and sexually backwards. Why does it hold a place in the literary canon?

I see I have some research to do. I’m way out of the loop with Holtby.

I hope you get tons of visitors. I’ve never heard of anything like this. sounds fun.

Some of our choices in poetry, surely are matters of taste? I can’t fault your choices, and I’m glad you have strong feelings. Which poets, I wonder, are making demands? I’m genuinely curious about this.

Aw, BLAZING SADDLES. The funniest movie I ever saw. Ever. The audience was howling and crying because they were laughing so violently. I recall at least one man falling into the aisle.
Popcorn everywhere. Snorting and hooting. Alas, I saw the film recently, and my response was nostalgic but not filled with hilarity. BLAZING SADDLES may not have aged well.

Moby Dick. Wow. Many people have struggled with that monster (Ahab or the Whale?). My favorite part of MOBY DICK is the cook’s sermon to the sharks. Your list is impressive and the work of a versatile reader. I’m also glad to see Vonnegut up where he belongs. His early science fiction gets overlooked, but it was SIRENS OF TITAN that turned me on to Vonnegut. * Too, way too, bad that his life ended in so much bitterness concerning the reception of his books.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 8 months ago by  Polly Whitney.

Wow. I’ve never even read THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING. I’d better go make Amazon richer.
Thanks.

Ah, Odysseus! I’m so glad to see Gabriel Garcia Marquez so well represented. Have you read LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA? That novel breaks my heart. It may be the greatest love story ever told.

I don’t think rooting for proper sentence structure is nitpicky. Especially when the question involves something so basic as subject/verb/direct object.
Here’s one way I know: ANNA KARENINA does not have a single error in grammar.
Nor does EMPIRE FALLS, except in dialogue where errors in every day speech are common and appropriate.
That rule is SOMETIMES IN SPEECH; NEVER IN WRITING.
But, really, even in daily speech, who says “I’ll be down in a moment to soothe”?

• This reply was modified 9 years, 8 months ago by  Polly Whitney.

Okay, then, explain to me why writers do stuff like this: “Everything’s going to be okay,” she soothed.
That stops me whenever I see it. And it’s not working in service of your ideas to stop readers in their tracks. “Soothe” is a transitive verb and must be followed by a direct object. In other words, something or someone must be soothed. Like this: “Everything’s going to be okay,” she soothed the child [in the same, warm tones her own mother had applied like magic medicine for every scraped knee or ghost under the bed].
Or, “Never lean over the horse’s neck when you’re jumping,” she instructed.
Instructed is also a transitive verb, requiring a direct object. Whom did she instruct?
Are we losing the crush we should all have on our handsome grammar?

Adam: I’ve considered my response to your question about EMPIRE FALLS, and, even to me, that response seems lame and overwrought. So, I’m kicking EMPIRE FALLS off my list and replacing it with SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut. Thanks for making me think.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 8 months ago by  Polly Whitney.

I almost listed A FAREWELL TO ARMS, but the antifeminism stopped me. About EMPIRE FALLS, for me it’s the tightly woven past and present, the blue collar with the wealthy, the environment with the people who made it what it is. EMPIRE FALLS works against its own optimism with the contradictory truisms: romance is possible, even praiseworthy, except for the fact that people always screw it up; our understanding of history is faulty because we have it confused with the future; happiness eludes us because we confuse settings with substance. Russo also manages to be a loud voice in defense of the environment without actually screaming in our ears. But, finally, what made me an ardent fan was Russo’s use of language. He is smooth, undistracted, inventive — while insisting that those things are not possible. Russo’s rhetoric is at the service of ordinary people. I won’t spoil the book, but I think few mainstream writers would have DARED to do what Russo did at the end. EMPIRE FALLS is our town, our people, our river, our hope for the future, and even our cat — and he forces us to give a damn.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 8 months ago by  Polly Whitney.