1. I needed a 3rd writing sample for a job I applied to, so I took one of my old grad school papers. I used the first 2 and a half pages (about 900 words) and, while editing it, realized how poorly written it was. The ideas were fairly mature, but I had to make edits on literally every sentence. I mean, I handed that in for a grad! (not a particularly good one as I remember) In grad school! Had I actually proofread the thing, fixing many of the careless mistakes and awkward sentences, it could have been a really good paper. Just highlights some of the things I wrote yesterday. In case you're wondering, I made a somewhat bold argument that one method of interpreting a novel is to examine how the structure deviates from the way that a typical novel in that genre is normally structured. I had to discuss a detective fiction novel and a confession text in the paper. Part of the argument is that you can (gasp) completely ignore the specificities of the text (the plot) and concentrate solely on it's more general structure.
2. I really enjoy the movie Finding Forrester. I watched it today for the umpteenth time, and it never gets old. I think what I like most about it is the fact it is a representation of many of the things that I would love to have part of my life, namely having a natural talent for writing and being intimate friends with an author. If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it.
RETURNING TO EARTH BY JIM HARRISON
Unlike the last two novels I reviewed, I want to start off by saying that I really enjoyed this novel and highly recommend it. The novel concerns the death of Donald, a terminally ill half Native American suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease. Perhaps my favorite aspect of the novel was its highly effective structure. The novel is separated into 4 distinct first person narratives, starting first with Donald himself, and proceeding to K (his brother-in-law's ex-wife's son), David (his brother-in-law), and finally Cynthia (his wife). Donald's narrative is probably the most engaging, mainly because, like many approaching death, he feels the need to pass on intimate and often personal information before he dies so that it doesn't get lost. Intermixed between various anecdotes from his own life, Donald tells the story of the three Clarences: his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. To Donald, the progression of how he got to be where he is today is what defines him and what needs to live on after his inevitable death. Existing on the outskirts of this family narrative, Donald at times will discuss his relationship with his Native-American heritage. I find these sections very engaging because they play with the whole center vs periphery concept within American history. (For an basic idea of what I mean by center vs periphery, refer to Edward Said's book Orientalism and sort of extrapolate from there. I wrote a paper in my Spanish American Colonialism class about this idea in reference to South American indigena discourse during the Conquest. It's really a very interesting topic.) The other three sections deal mainly with how Donald's family and loved ones deal with his sickness and death. I love K's section because it is he who tells us of the actual circumstances of Donald's death, not Donald himself. In a way, it heightens Donald's helplessness because, despite the fact that he is painted as a strong male figure, Donald isn't even strong enough to relate his own death. David's section mainly deals with the how the family copes with Donald's death. Some deal with it well (K and Donald's son Herald) while others not as well. Donald's wife Cynthia falls somewhere in between though Clare, Donald's daughter, is affected the worst. In a way, she represents that instinct within us all when a close family member dies when all we can say is “I wish...”, “If only I had gotten the chance...”. The reality is that the death of a loved is a difficult experience to go through. It leaves a large void in someone's life that is often difficult to fill. Unsurprisingly, Cynthia's section deals with how the family moves on after his death. Cynthia seriously considers looking for love again (Donald died relatively young as both him and Cynthia are in their mid 40s). Likewise, Clare finds peace while Herald continues the cycle by getting married. Speaking from personal experience, dealing with death is one of those processes that is very individual to each person experiencing, and, regardless of how “strong” someone might think they are, there is absolutely no way you can predict how you will respond, not to mention that it's wake affects your perspective on life permanently.
One of the more interesting things about the novel, to me at least, is not what it contains, but rather what it lacks, namely chapters from the perspectives of Herald and Clare. Now, I can imagine various reasons why they aren't necessary, but I still find it interesting that K is given a voice while Donald's children are not. If I were to write a paper on this book, it would probably have something to do with that.
Lastly, I really enjoyed the style of Harrison's writing. Much of the novel is told in a stream-of-conscious fashion, though not very intensely. I think that the style really allows us as readers to get into the heads of the characters. We are no longer objective observers of other people's lives, but rather engaged participants in these people's lives. A fairly modern invention, the combination of stream-of-conscious writing and first person narrative is much more effective for our involvement with this novel as opposed to if it had been written in the third person.
In other words, what I'm trying to say is ask me to borrow this book because I think you'll really enjoy it.
Music listened to while writing this blog: Coldplay and Brett Dennen (If you don't know who he is, I highly suggest you look him up.)
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