Author Archives: susan

POETRY: Eternal Universal Noise

Just a start — “Eternal Universal Noise” Oh, but where was that— and why? I heard again the booming sound that men make when they fall. Rivers fork their course with blood; thick and muddled joyless noise to wash the … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in POETRY | 2 Comments

LITERATURE: Hurston’s “The Gilded Six Bits” Part II

Hurston’s exposition, in the first sentence, is one of setting, and symbolism and metaphor are subtley rampant within the story. “It was a Negro yard around a Negro house in a Negro settlement that looked to the payroll of the … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE: Hurston’s “The Gilded Six Bits” Part II

LITERATURE & WRITING: Voice

We’ve had many long discussions here on the voice of an author and how it is indelibly marked within one’s writing style. While pure fiction does not relate personal episodes of the writer’s life, the experience must exist as a … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE, WRITING | Tagged | 2 Comments

LITERATURE: Hurston’s “The Gilded Six-Bits” Part I

It’s taken me forever to write an essay on this story by Zora Neale Hurston, because something about it bothered me—not bad-bothered, good-bothered, and it finally came to me late last night: The story is an updated version of Adam … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE: Hurston’s “The Gilded Six-Bits” Part I

POETRY: And Bad Poetry

Fetal Ignorance is growing within me and with me showing its big belly of doubt. Learning to live, to be, to venture further backward to kindergarten with each new thought. Meeting Barthelme’s Miss Mandible striving for all A’s and yet … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in POETRY | 3 Comments

LITERATURE: John Cheever’s The Swimmer

Literature Students, listen up! I feel compelled to warn you that at this point, there have been hundreds of hits on my previous postings regarding Cheever’s wonderful short story, The Swimmer. You can quote from these entries, but please, do … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged , | 2 Comments

LITERATURE: The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I can’t seem to read even a four and a half page short story without a notebook handy to scribble in. Ursula K. Le Guin’s story … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE: The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

LITERATURE: Isabel Allende’s And of Clay Are We Created

In class discussion today of this short story of a young girl trapped by a volcanic landslide and a reporter who stays three days by her side, there was one of those moments when the lightbulb glows above your head … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | 6 Comments

LITERATURE: Cheever’s The Swimmer

It looks like schools across America have The Swimmer as Assigned Reading this week; much as Atwood’s Happy Endings was the hot topic back in October. I’ve had more hits from Google, Yahoo and the like on this subject over … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged , | Comments Off on LITERATURE: Cheever’s The Swimmer

LITERATURE: John Cheever’s The Swimmer (continued)

…A storm comes up, and there are many ways that this could be interpreted. In my view, as Neddy wonders why he loves storms, how it sweeps into a home and up the stairs, and how it always means good … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged , | Comments Off on LITERATURE: John Cheever’s The Swimmer (continued)

LITERATURE: John Cheever’s “The Swimmer”

The sad saga of protagonist Neddy Merrill in The Swimmer is one that should be made required reading in every marketing major’s course studies before sending one out into the corporate world sport of cross-county swimming. I see here parallel … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged , | 2 Comments

LITERATURE: Didascalicon

I can’t believe I did this. I just ran out to the barn (my shop) to get Didascalicon because that’s where I left it this evening when I closed. This was the book I peeked into briefly earlier, and the … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | 2 Comments

LITERATURE: Blood Meridian

Yes, I finally brought myself to finish it the other day. Herein lies the mystery and meaning, and even after several readings I must go back and read again to fully comprehend it. The key lies in those last dozen … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE: Blood Meridian

LITERATURE: Again, Blood Meridian

Can’t believe I’m doing this, and just realized that I was. I’ve been down to the last few pages of this book since last night—an easy 20 minute read—and even into this morning, I’m reading no more than a page … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE: Again, Blood Meridian

LITERATURE: Focus on Blood Meridian

While The Great Lettuce Head focuses on space, I spent 335 pages focused on detail. This is my first reading of Blood Meridian, my first reading of Cormac McCarthy’s work. Maybe for me, my next reading will produce a different … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | 1 Comment