Pamela's comments
(member since Mar 10, 2008)
Pamela's comments from the Constant Reader group.
(showing 1-20 of 97)
I sent a writer new to me a thank-you note for writing a wonderful poem. (I sent this to his public e-mail, which was linked to the contributors' notes for that journal). He responded, which I didn't expect but treasure.
My chapbook, A Walk Through the Memory Palace, has been released by qarrtsiluni. Here's a link: http://memorypalacewalk.com/
I'm waiting for my copy to arrive; I decided to read this book based on your post, Barbara. Here's why: SPOILER (Even though I haven't read the book, I'm sure this qualifies).
"An artist who used [her:] talent for propaganda" could also apply to Leni Riefenstahl and her art. For me, the questions of artistic integrity and personal culpability make An Artist of the Floating World an intriguing read.
I really liked Matthew Modine in Birdy. It's an exceptional performance. Ruth, I envy you getting to see this for the first time.
I'm ecstatic to announce that my chapbook, A Walk Through the Memory Palace, has been chosen for publication in the qarrtsiluni series by author Dinty Moore.
Here's the announcement:
http://qarrtsiluni.com/2009/08/01/chapbo...
Thank you! It's never too late for Matisse!
Here's a link to Kooser reading "A Room in the Past," which I find lovely and compelling. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/...
Throughout the poem, the grandmother is never presented head-on. She's seen peripherally, moving through life in housedresses of mist,/blue aprons of rain. In all of the chores that she completes--putting away the dishes, cleaning off the counters, wiping out the sink (the last thing I do when I clean my own kitchen)--her back is turned toward the rest of the family. Now that the light is bright and the room spotlit by sun, her kitchen and, by extension her absence, becomes more noticeable. What has defined her no longer contains her. Just as the mist is evaporated and the end of rain signaled by sun, she's quietly vanished. That metaphor of the dishrag....a dry leaf is particularly haunting to me.
I really like Laurie King's Mary Russell/Holmes series. Her other books are good, too. Donald Westlake's mysteries are often hilarious. I'll also read anything written by George Pelecanos or Dennis Lehane. Currently, I'm reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and so far, so very good.
Sibyl wrote: "I don't really consider myself a very visual person, but I do like to use bold colours when decorating a room, and a lot of posters etc. I got the idea for the books from a picture I found online. ..."This is gorgeous and inspiring!
Whitaker wrote: I guess the character Gilbert Osmond as presented by James is definitely portrayed as evil. I think Isabel thinks of him as a snake under the flowers at some point. Throughout TPOL, Isabel is found in gardens, admires gardens, thinks of her mind as garden-like...What's a garden without a snake? Maybe Paradise, but certainly static....
Not only can we see Gilbert as a snake, but we can also see him as a gardener--look at how he's cultivated and ultimately "pruned" Isabel. Pansy's also aptly named, so hothouse-honed she seems "uncanny."
Also, what's a garden without a gardener? Think of Pansy and her almost unreal
Here's an excerpt from "What Women Want" (the end):When I find it, I'll pull that garment
from its hanger like I'm choosing a body
to carry me into this world, through
the birth-cries and the love-cries too,
and I'll wear it like bones, like skin,
it'll be the goddamned
dress they bury me in.
Again, carpe diem gives way to memento mori.
Whitaker wrote: "Women’s Rights in The Portrait of a LadyI too was intrigued by the notion of Isabel’s wealth and did some scrouging around after reading the novel (BTW, does anyone know how much £60,000 is in ..."
This is a wonderful post, Whitaker! Here's what I found out about £60,000 in today's (well, nearly today's, 1998) pounds. According to a report by Parliament in 1998, a factor of 72 applies to convert Victorian-era pounds to 1998 pounds. Thus, a windfall of £60,000 would convert to a late 20th-century fortune of £4,320,000.
If you want to convert Isabel's fortune into dollars, then a factor of £1:$4.86 applies during the same time period. That's $291,600 in 19th-century American currency. The conversion here (based on the Consumer Price Index calculator at measuringworth.com) translates an 1870 fortune of $291,600 into-drum roll, please-$7,789,374.04.
Jim wrote: I read somewhere the other day that James' great theme was betrayal, and that shows extremely well in WS. Perhaps James' heirs include Dashiell Hammett as well as Edith Wharton.
Jim, I think you're onto something here--not just betrayal, but also third-person limited point of view/narration, which is a big change in The Maltese Falcon.
Henry James is one of my three favorite fiction writers. I like those sentences that curve like a nautilus' accretions, clause upon clause. I'd look at some of the short stories (not that they, either, are particularly short!). "The Beast in the Jungle" and "The Jolly Corner" are great reads. I'd also recommend reading The Turn of the Screw, if James is not yet an acquired taste for you.
I have a study with a perfect crawl-up-and-curl-into loveseat; the back cushions are curved at the top (perfect space for book and cat). The kitchen table has been a favorite spot since I was a kid doing 4th grade homework. A few years ago, we moved into an old house with a great clawfoot tub, and I have inadvertently baptized a few paperbacks.
Here's my take: Sometimes I like the asterisks.
http://ldc.upenn.edu/myl/llog/BeetleBail...
There's also one for which I couldn't find a photo, but here's a link to the discussion: http://www.lsadc.org/info/ling-fields-ch...
An excerpt:
In a 1990 Beetle Bailey cartoon, for instance, Sarge chews Beetle out with a string of symbols ending in #!!, and Beetle laughs, "#?? Nobody says # anymore!" Sarge, deflated, sighs, "Gee, I always thought # was all-time classic cussing."
I love Beetle Bailey's grawlixes.
Thanks for the link, Sherry. I think I'd like to do this in the summer when classes are over.
This is wonderful news! Somehow I missed this during the time my community was encased in the '09 ice storm. Let me be the latest (but hopefully not the last) to tell you congratulations and that I will hold your project close to my heart.
Congratulations, Felix and Barbara.
Many of the Google books are truncated. Certain pages are deliberately omitted. This really is frustrating when you reach an engrossing passage!
