Author Archives: susan

LITERATURE: On the Sublime – Endurance and Agreement

YOU must know, my dear friend, that it is with the sublime as in the common life of man. In life nothing can be considered great which it is held great to despise. (Chapter 7, Part I) It would seem … Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE: On the Sublime – Endurance and Agreement

LITERATURE: On The Sublime – That Beyond Order

I would think that words, and I have found them as gems glittering amid the coal black text, can be as breathtaking as a sunset, or a painting, or a newborn child.  Here is what Longinus has to say about … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE: On The Sublime – That Beyond Order

LITERATURE: The Orchard Keeper – Thinning the Flock

I suspect, after reading several of McCarthy’s books now, that his readers are weeded out or strengthened into firm believers by his opening chapters. In this novel, we follow one man walking towards a place he wants to be going.  … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE: The Orchard Keeper – Thinning the Flock

LITERATURE: On The Sublime – Longinus

Trying to get back into the habit of reading for knowledge as well as literature, and have started Longinus’ On the Sublime online, only because if I order it from amazon.com, it’ll cost me a bundle because I’ll no doubt … Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE: On The Sublime – Longinus

LITERATURE: McCarthy, et al – Language

I can’t find it easily enough to excerpt here, but something I found in McCarthy’s Blood Meridian awed me when I first read it since it was the first time I’d come across it.  It was a repetition of words … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE: McCarthy, et al – Language

LITERATURE: The Orchard Keeper

For some time now the road had been deserted, white and scorching yet, though the sun was already reddening the western sky.  He walked along slowly in the dust, stopping from time to time and bobbling on one foot like … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE: The Orchard Keeper

LITERATURE: Next Up – McCarthy

Need a Cormac fix.  But since I’ve so many books in the pile, I’m pulling one out of there (have a total of five left in there!): The Orchard Keeper. Am still enjoying Stories for Late at Night, and will … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE: Next Up – McCarthy

LITERATURE: On Munro

Ah, after a debate on the literary study of Shakespeare, I find I agree with Dan Green–at least in part–on Alice Munro.  He’s not a great fan; I am.  The question of content is pretty much what he is defending … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE: On Munro

LITERATURE: Glimmer Train #53 – Finale

Finished this issue, and the last story is worth remarking upon.  Properties of Storm for Healing by Doug Crandall is another take on the father/son relationship–oddly there are at least three of them in this issue–that employs good writing, action, … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE: Glimmer Train #53 – Finale

LITERATURE: Glimmer Train #53 – Handling a Concept

Obviously the idea becomes a story (unless the story just happens to happen), and the handling of it is dependent upon skill and technique.  In Kate Kasten’s Home Fires, the concept is laden with potential:  In third person pov, the … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE: Glimmer Train #53 – Handling a Concept

LITERATURE & WRITING: Glimmer Train #53 – More Show vs. Tell

Recent discussions have led me to focus more on the show vs. tell that we all know about, but also often find it difficult to remember in our writing.  Another example from Julie Rose’s Pinhead in this issue of Glimmer … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE, WRITING | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE & WRITING: Glimmer Train #53 – More Show vs. Tell

LITERATURE: Glimmer Train #53 – Showing

A beautifully written story by Julie Rose, Pinhead tells in the first person pov of a father’s love for his estranged son, and his frustrated attempts to show his feeling while being stymied by the words to say it.  But … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE: Glimmer Train #53 – Showing

LITERATURE: The Meanings of Literature
…and Nabokov on Lolita

Rarely do you get the author’s thoughts on his novel included within the book, and having read this addition, I am struck by Nabokov’s matter-of-fact attitude in the controversy of both subject matter and meaning. There are gentle souls who … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE: The Meanings of Literature
…and Nabokov on Lolita

LITERATURE: Lolita – Finale

It is satisfying to read a novel and follow the story, live with the character for the length of the book and feel that to a certain degree, you understand something about him, in this case, Humbert Humbert.  There are … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | Comments Off on LITERATURE: Lolita – Finale

LITERATURE: Lolita – Hidden Within Words

Nabokov has Humbert struggling with his conscience in a way consistent with his personality which is that of sardonic acceptance.  His description to the reader of his days spent with Lolita runs the gamut of self-justification to disgust, and his … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in LITERATURE | Tagged | 3 Comments