Shel’s Comments (group member since Mar 05, 2009)

Shel’s comments from the fiction files redux group.

I may be behind in the book but I am trying to keep up with Infinite Summer. A few days ago an article was posted about The Pale King, his book that will be posthumously published. Here is the final paragraph - it holds one of my new favorite quotes ever:

Pressed for more details, Pietsch cites a commencement speech that Wallace gave at Kenyon University in 2005, which he says is “very much a distillation” of the novel’s material. “The really important kind of freedom,” said Wallace, “involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day. That is real freedom… The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the rat race, the constant gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing.”

The article is here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/bo...

Michael, the perfect mix of sustained zaniness and great characterization and plot, no? I love it, too. A very good read.

Discussion begins August 24th at 9 AM sharp. :)

Get the story here.

I will post some resources as we near the discussion time. I try not to go overboard on that stuff because I like to take the stories at face value and not use other interpretations, but Joyce... I think we all could use a little context when it comes to Joyce.

What a great idea, SmartyKate! I will post an event.

I had a writing teacher once who kept telling us to "up the ante" in every scene. Ramp up the conflict! Add in unexpected twists!

So how many of those does a writer add, with no attendant contemplation or exploration, before the story makes no sense at all?

You can only imagine what kind of stuff was read aloud, that shouldn't have been, in that class.

So I was thinking about this and talking about it with a couple of people. Their experiences with reading him, etc.

I read Women in Love once when I was in high school, but I don't think I understood a damn thing.

In college he was the topic of my feminist lit crit class (a class I nicknamed... oh, never mind) quite a bit but I have to admit, he did not a whole lot for me.

There was this one passage we read in class about how this woman character could only orgasm after the man had ejaculated inside her. I thought that was weird. I can't remember which book.

I think it was because I thought he was kind of... wrong headed about women. I also thought that it would be impossible, without having a psychotic break of some type, to have so much inner conflict and emotions coursing through a person, and then they have to appear all... composed, and never say a thing they mean.

The jury is still out, as I'm still reading Women in Love.

I think, though, that he might appeal to 20-somethings because there is a lot of... emotional changing happening during that time. At least, there was for me. Coming out of puberty, starting to grow up... and being more interested in the opposite sex for things other than their parts.

Oooooh. Oresteia. I love me some Greek drama.

I almost named my daughter Cassandra.

So my library was having this summer classics thing this week and in dropping off some stuff I saw Women In Love. I picked it up and started it today. I got it because I recall from way back that DH Lawrence was exploring a "new" way for men and women to relate to one another at the time.

I am two chapters in and had to read that first chapter a second time out loud.

It's amazing Ursula and Gudrun can even get up out of their chairs from the fear of what might happen next! As though they might just drop dead! One never knows! And the contradictory body language, and emotions, vs. words... it's really hard to keep track of whom is feeling and thinking what and there is no explanation as to why. It reads like a play.

And Hermione. Whoa. What's up with Hermione? So smart and independent and wealthy, knows Rupert is trying to ditch her, but can't stand to be more than a few inches away from him? Such inner conflict.

And why are these women so dead set against marriage and children (or deeply ambivalent about it) but go weak in the knees and simply MUST know these two men? During a wedding, no less? And what's with their entirely un-British names?

In all seriousness. I think that bit may be about the ambivalence over a social institution vs. the need to connect to another human... personally, sexually, men and women being a bit on the mysterious side to one another. Around having children I can understand the ambivalence more, because of the medical risks at the time.

And what is Rupert's thing about people who are sitting in front of him not existing, saying no one matters, and Gudrun's critique that he treats everyone with such importance?

This all goes to say, this Lawrence guy is kind of frustrating. I mean, I feel like I can read and understand him, but the internal drama his female characters seem to feel doesn't seem real to me.

I'm trying not to think about this in terms of women today. In fact, in my own life I have been told that I overthink things... and am really emotional... not that you would know it from the outside... so maybe Lawrence makes sense?

Anyone (Martyn?) have some words of wisdom for me as I venture in?

Oh boy! Jane Eyre. I love Jane Eyre.

I already put in my dos centavos... I think people are waiting for a poll or executive decision. :-)

I am crying out to be led! I am currently reading about 10 books! Help me focus! :-)

Shite! I accidentally deleted Kerry's second post! Here it is again:

Observations about the Dorks at Dorkapalooza 2009:

- Brian is seriously from another planet, did you see him swimming in that icy cold water??? At dusk??? He may think he’s lost his Louisiana accent, but I could still hear it and it’s lovely and distinct. There was something about his voice that was familiar to me; it didn’t feel like I was hearing it for the first time when I met him.
- Jennie is a lovely girl: miraculously strong (hauling that keg, walking for miles and miles), with a bright, sunny smile and a nice Kentucky twang that in no way makes her sound like a hick! ;)
- Martha had us all a little baffled until we pictured her wearing a cowboy hat and realized she was SmartyKate! Her laugh tickles me pink and she made a delicious homemade meal for us in a sweaty hot kitchen. Food is indeed love. Her relationship with her son Paul is refreshing in its honesty and support. He’s got a great future ahead of him, but he really needs to listen to The Smiths.
- Shel did us all a solid by keeping up with JE drink for drink from the keg. She was always ready with a wink and a smile or to take the dogs for a walk. I admire the way she is relishing her new found freedom.
- Margaret is a no nonsense kind of gal and I mean that as a compliment. She’s made it admirably through some tough times and I’m glad she was able to come and share in the Dorka revelry.
- Patrick G. is entirely too huggable. I just wanted to squeeze him all the time! He’s affable, kind, and I think if we lived near one another we would easily become inseparable.
- Lara is my dear one. At the Dork she was my partner in crime, my confidant, my heart. I’ll never forget our sunset drive, despite the cacophony in the backseat. We were able to tune it out and focus on the beauty. Oh and Car Alarm and click, click, click my beautiful girl.
- Ben is quiet until you get him talking. He’s nice and calm until you wind him up. He has the most wonderful silent laugh, you hear hardly a sound, but his entire body shakes. I feel like I provided a great service to everyone at the Dork by giving him access to the internet to check his email. He would look at me with those desperate eyes, make a quiet buh buh buh sound, and move his fingers as if using a touch screen and I would hand over my iPhone to him. It calmed him immediately. ;)
- Patty is the marshmallows in my hot cocoa, the sugar in my tea, the spring in my step. She is just so pleasant to be around! She and her poet only stayed one night but they made it memorable and I was thankful to have her for as long as she could give. I thank her for being patient with my amateur birding questions. I took notes.
- Jean-Paul, AKA Patty’s Poet or The Poet was a lovely addition to our little group. When JE lost his voice, he performed the drunken bingo calling admirably. He even treated us to a recitation of one of his own poems and I believe it was one of the highlights of the bingo evening. Oh and he’s also quite a handy ninja around a campfire.
- Patrick K. is a hearty soul. When you took the time to write a conversation with him it was always lively and interesting. I wish there was a better way for him to communicate with everyone but it never seemed to get him down. The physicality and movement of the group (JE especially) had to be entertaining even when you couldn’t hear the conversation!
- Our skipper is a force of nature that almost never stops moving. He speaks with his entire body and doesn’t let a lost voice stop him. He’ll rasp and cough and sputter until everything he needs to say is said. Oh and he can keep a keg icy cold for three days straight. He’s loyal and unselfish and a great host. He’s madly in love with his baby boy, who (all apologies to Lauren) looks an awful lot like his daddy. Thanks for the memories Jonathan, you did it again. You’re the best!
- I wish we all could see each other more than once a year. I missed everyone who didn’t make it this year with all my heart and missed everyone who DID make it the minute we said goodbye. See you next year?

Martha, -- yes, thanks for feeding us. :-) And kicking my ass out of the kitchen!

And for all the great advice as we huffed and puffed up that hill.

Paul is a great kid. You are a great mom. I KNOW you'll both be just fine.

I think you should do the poll. people like you better and will vote more. :-)

Well... really I'm just attempting to put some energy back into the group - but I think August is a bad time to try to do that.

And of course I love the book so I'm going to volunteer for that one...

I had forgotten about the polls. Dan... maybe there's something totally opposite to House of Mirth or Women In Love that you want to tackle? Like a Murakami?

Well... really I'm just attempting to put some energy back into the group - but I think August is a bad time to try to do that.

And of course I love the book so I'm going to volunteer for that one...

I had forgotten about the polls. Dan... maybe there's something totally opposite to House of Mirth or Women In Love that you want to tackle? Like a Murakami?

What's funny is that now I can hear Brian saying those words with that charming lilt of his, which makes the word fuckwit all the funnier.

You know, we need some group reads in here to liven things up a bit. I'm just sayin'... I'll volunteer to be the grumpy postmodern feminist but I draw the line at not shaving my armpits for the duration of the discussion.

(Kidding, of course. I would approach any discussion with the utmost gravity.)

I'm about 100 years late... but Happy Birthday, Guy de Maupassant!

And maybe I can add that Scully from the X-files played her in the movie.

I like it. Materialism!

Yeah. I was thinking I would post it. I just have to think of a way to make it sound... EXCITING!

OK then. Do we want to start in August or in September when summer is over?