Category Archives: LITERATURE

LITERATURE: At Swim-Two-Birds – Exposition

Posted on February 8, 2007 by susan

Without that first bit of research I did on this, I might not have realized what is going on, but O’Brien, at his own pace, handles that: I was talking to a friend of yours last night, I said drily.  … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: At Swim-Two-Birds – Techniques

Posted on February 6, 2007 by susan

O’Brien, with this novel, has shown that he knows the conventional form and elements of story, and therefore has become quite expert at twisting and flaunting them.  His novel approach of the many-faceted seemingly unrelated plot paths is even more … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: The Pleasure of the Text – A Question of Degree?

Posted on February 6, 2007 by susan

Barthes claims that Pleasure is not the lesser, nor Bliss the greater form of the same thing. That instead, they run parallel, and may even be in conflict.  In an interesting argument he brings up the inability to speak of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE & NEW MEDIA: At Swim-Two-Birds – Paths and Concepts

Posted on February 5, 2007 by susan

I don’t know that "concept" is precisely what I mean here, but with the multilayered structure of this novel (narrator present (?) plus three more separate story lines), it is a learning experience in itself, but the author teaches even … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: At Swim-Two-Birds – Hypertextual Structure

Posted on February 4, 2007 by susan

Okay, I admit that I had to check this out so I did just some quick research to figure out what was going on here.  While at another time in life I might have joyfully accepted without question, or perhaps … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: Up Next –

Posted on February 2, 2007 by Susan

There are two that caught my fancy, and I’m likely to read a page or two of each before I decide, by mood alone, which will be the next read. Sinclair Lewis’ Babbit is tempting, and I’d pulled it from … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: The Haunting of Hill House – Finale

Posted on February 2, 2007 by susan

Finished this last night, and despite picturing Julie Harris as Eleanor throughout the reading, I still can see how Jackson has written the character skillfully as a troubled young woman who in fact was exactly what Harris portrayed. I had … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: Powell’s

Posted on February 1, 2007 by Susan

A while back I complained a bit about the first shipment of books I received from Powell’s, noting that my orders from Amazon and Barnes and Noble had come in quickly and well-packaged. Well, I must say that the first … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: The Haunting of Hill House – Adverbial Abuse

Posted on February 1, 2007 by susan

In a previous post I complained about Jackson’s somewhat inappropriate use of adverbs.  Here’s another… After coming into her bedroom and finding it streaked with blood, Theodora opens her wardrobe and finds her clothes covered with stains and ruined as … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: The Haunting of Hill House Organized Stream of Consciousness

Posted on January 31, 2007 by susan

After learning to understand Faulker’s Benjy in The Sound and the Fury, Jackson’s Eleanor is a piece of cake.  Thinking quickly over the evening before, she could remember only that she had–must have–seemed foolishly, childishly contented, almost happy; had the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: The Haunting of Hill House – Language Use

Posted on January 29, 2007 by susan

While there’s a lot to learn from Jackson’s writing style, there are a few peccadillos, it seems, and they do bother me. An overuse of adverbs:  "I know," Elinor said tiredly.  He snickered disagreeably.  Anyway, she thought obscurely, it’s my … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: The Handmaid’s Tale – Another Look

Posted on January 28, 2007 by susan

Good literature keeps you thinking about it.  There’s an obvious theme and message here that Atwood wants to get across regarding men and religion:  be very, very afraid of either, and especially both.  I don’t agree with her, but I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: The Haunting of Hill House – Classic Show vs. Tell

Posted on January 27, 2007 by susan

Here’s how Jackson gives us Elinor, one of the main characters on her way driving up to meet the others at Hill House: On the main road of one village she passed a vast house, pillared and walled, with shutters … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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NEW MEDIA & LITERATURE: The Haunting of Hill House – Form

Posted on January 27, 2007 by susan

The title was familiar, the back cover blurb somewhat confirmed it:  I’d seen the 1963 movie based on this novel many times.  The minute I came up upon the character of Eleanor in the book, I thought of Julie Harris’ … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: The Haunting of Hill House – Hooks

Posted on January 26, 2007 by susan

Just a page or two into this, but I’ve learned to try and post thoughts as quickly as possible (except in the case of Barthes, whose words I spend days disentangling to roll into some kind of ball that I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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