Ask Jesse Ball discussion
Ask Jesse
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Patrick
(new)
Aug 31, 2011 04:57PM
Mod
reply
|
flag
I recently re-read A Little Princess and The Secret Garden, which were two of my favorite books when I was little and when I first began learning to love books. The Curfew reminded me both of being that small girl who loved to read, and also of the kinds of books I liked at that age. Jesse, what were your favorite books when you were young?
I too loved The Secret Garden. It seems there is something magical to being an invalid. When I was rather young, I loved dog books: any book with a dog, or a boy and a dog, etc. White Fang, Call of the Wild, Where the Red Fern Grows and about 40 others. I read every one I could find. But, I did not get a dog.
I liked Mark Twain very much. I liked A Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and most of all, no.44 The Mysterious Stranger.
Sherlock Holmes, I adored. All Creatures Great and Small also -- a series about a country veterinarian in England.
Also, The Once and Future King. Also, the whole series with Castle of Llyr, The Black Cauldron, Taran Wanderer, etc.
And Chronicles of Narnia, of which The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is my personal favorite.
I had a book, too, about Erik the Red that I liked very much. Also that one about the building of the pyramids: Pyramid.
And -- I had many books about daily life in different ages, daily life for the Vikings, for the Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, etc. Those were beautiful little books.
Early on, did you have any challenges working with editors and agents because your work is unique (and more interesting!) than typical literary fiction? Over time has their feedback in editing your work changed?
It also has some of the beautiful strangeness of Wind in the Willows. Jesse, your curious world is uniquely yours, though, and I found it both comforting and frightening.
Dear Jesse, I reviewed 'The Curfew' on my blog (http://bluestalking.typepad.com/the_b...), along with another really great read. I love publicists.Did you originally intend to use fairy tale elements, or did it happen organically? The effect is both magical and disconcerting, typical for a fairy tale. The puppets kept Mary occupied, while also mirroring the disconcerting worry about what was going on outside those dark drapes. Is she safe here or is she not. The question kept me feeling uncomfortable and uneasy. I assume that was your intention. Why did this element work so well?
Lisa
Mary's elective mutism speaks (no pun intended) volumes. Was your intention to use her as symbolic for those who had no voice, or for some other reason?
Ga11agher wrote: "Early on, did you have any challenges working with editors and agents because your work is unique (and more interesting!) than typical literary fiction? Over time has their feedback in editing your..."Yes -- it was difficult early on. Now, my publishers understand the work I am doing.
Corey wrote: "It also has some of the beautiful strangeness of Wind in the Willows. Jesse, your curious world is uniquely yours, though, and I found it both comforting and frightening."Kind of you to say so!
Lisa wrote: "Mary's elective mutism speaks (no pun intended) volumes. Was your intention to use her as symbolic for those who had no voice, or for some other reason?"The world is our world, as it always is. I often feel the way Molly does.
Lisa wrote: "Dear Jesse, I reviewed 'The Curfew' on my blog (http://bluestalking.typepad.com/the_b...), along with another really great read. I lo..."Those elements, now thought of as fairy tale elements, are our common human property, and part of the general manner in which we have told stories for thousands of years. The current situation is that some aspects of contemporary culture are thought-poor, and deny themselves access to things that are natural.
I was wondering if you could say a bit more about lucid dreaming and its place in your writing process. Do you use it directly to compose or do your explorations of that state more inform the tone of your work?
William wrote: "I was wondering if you could say a bit more about lucid dreaming and its place in your writing process. Do you use it directly to compose or do your explorations of that state more inform the tone ..."Lucid dreaming is a thing that is central to being human, to being alive. It is a bit like knowing about a park, a very beautiful park that is close to your neighborhood. Somehow, many people don't know it exists, but you like to go there often and walk.
hi jesse,i recently read "the curfew" and then decided in the past few days to re-read "the way through doors" and "samedi the deafness". so i was delighted when i got the email notification today about this discussion group. serendipitous...
although, i don't really have a question! just wanted to take the opportunity to tell you how extremely much i've enjoyed your work (including your poetry in "march book") ever since i read "the early deaths of lubeck, brennan, etc." in the paris review (which remains one of my favorite stories).
actually, now i've thought of a question--in what ways does your poetry inspire/influence your fiction and vice versa?
thanks,
grace
ps "the way through doors", btw, is just beautiful and brilliant, and i love it.
grackyfrogg wrote: "hi jesse,i recently read "the curfew" and then decided in the past few days to re-read "the way through doors" and "samedi the deafness". so i was delighted when i got the email notification toda..."
I am glad you've found time to read so much of my work. I am sometimes humbled to learn the ways in which people manage to include me in their lives. To answer your question, I began as a poet. I have always written poetry, and always read it -- as instructions on how to think. So, poetry was there first, for me. I was disheartened when I published March Book and got no response, really. It seemed then to me that I should do more things and various things and see what I could make of it. I suppose the thing that people who don't like my books, well, one of the things they don't like, at least, is that I find ways to include poetry, whether by hiding it or obscuring it or contextualizing it. I feel almost that an idea or a human feeling could be treated either in verse or prose, depending on inclination and resources -- and audience, of course.
that's a shame about the response to "march book." i'm sorry. but i'm definitely glad that it prompted you to try other things. meanwhile i still like "march book", especially "several replies in a numbered column." i think one of the things i like most about your books is that you find ways of including poetry. so... keep it up, please. thank you.
and speaking of, any new poetry due to be published soon?
g
grackyfrogg wrote: "that's a shame about the response to "march book." i'm sorry. but i'm definitely glad that it prompted you to try other things. meanwhile i still like "march book", especially "several replies in a..."Oh, I can't really complain about that first poetry book, as I have been very lucky so far... I mention it only to explain my progression from poetry to fiction.
It's nice to hear you like especially 'several replies in a numbered column' as I had to fight to include that one! Some were of the opinion it was better left out. But, I thought it was the best part, or had the best parts in it.
The newest poems that I have published make up the last volume in The Village on Horseback -- which came out last month with Milkweed. That last volume or last section is called The Skin Feat.
well all i can say is, i'm relieved you didn't give up the fight to include "several replies". you were right about it! certain lines in particular have really stuck with me, and it feels strange to think i might never have read them. everything always hangs on such threads.looking forward now to "the village on horseback".
so, what's the answer to a question you never get asked about your writing or your creative process, but wish you would? (if there is one.)
Hi Jesse, I don't have a question but simply wanted to express my gratefulness for your work. I had read Agota Kristoff's trilogy "The Book Of Lies" last year and it had affected me so greatly that afterwards, anything I tried to read after I was unable to finish. Nothing seemed to interest me until I came across a copy Of "Samedi the Deafness" in the library. I loved it. Finally I thought, I've found a writer with a unique interesting style and I immediately tried to find everything I could you had written, which hasn't been easy. The library did also have a copy of "The Way Through Doors" and I thought it was absolutely beautiful. Luckily I received a Kindle as a bday gift this summer and was able to purchase "The March Book" & "The Curfew" for it and I thought they were both wonderful. Devoured in days! I just wanted to thank you so much for your books and I look forward to reading much much more from you. You have topped on my list of favorite writers along with Kristoff! Thank you.
grackyfrogg wrote: "well all i can say is, i'm relieved you didn't give up the fight to include "several replies". you were right about it! certain lines in particular have really stuck with me, and it feels strange t..."Hmmm, well -- if someone were to ask me about my love of objects and spaces, and what books he/she should read if such things are dear to him/her as well -- I would say:
bachelard, poetics of space, flame of a candle, etc -- all his books! if i could have someone to tea, it would probably be him.
Lotus wrote: "Hi Jesse, I don't have a question but simply wanted to express my gratefulness for your work. I had read Agota Kristoff's trilogy "The Book Of Lies" last year and it had affected me so greatly that..."Very glad to hear you love Kristof -- she is one of my all time favorites for The Notebook, which is about as good as a thing can be. She just died this summer. In my opinion, a real master.
Hi JesseI just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed The Way Through Doors. Its one of my favorite books and I re-read it often. Can't wait to read the new one :)
Caitlin wrote: "Hi JesseI just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed The Way Through Doors. Its one of my favorite books and I re-read it often. Can't wait to read the new one :)"
Thank you, Caitlin.
Hi Jesse,I enjoy your books very much. They seem to have an old fashioned quality that is rare in most fiction today. I guess I am trying to say your books have an unfussiness and calmness that I really like. Most contemporary fiction seems so busy and hyperactive and attention-grabbing.
So what I would like to ask is...do you consider yourself a solitary person? How or where do you place yourself in the current literary scene, if at all? And lastly what is one thing you would recommend to anyone to increase his/her happiness?
:) Thank you Jesse!
Jesse wrote: "Lotus wrote: "Hi Jesse, I don't have a question but simply wanted to express my gratefulness for your work. I had read Agota Kristoff's trilogy "The Book Of Lies" last year and it had affected me s..."Yes she will be missed. If you haven't read the last two books of the trilogy you must! I love that bare bones sparse style of her writing. I found something similar in your work that you are able to tell a remarkable story with using a minimum of words. I definitely think that is really fantastic.
Hello Jesse,Ok. Oftentimes when reading I am so in my head I lose the feelings in a work, the odd turn of phrase and beauty of the lines really makes this one of the more emotional readsfor me,certainly. I like getting all muddled in Pynchon.
This line choked me up They don't want to have to ask permission for anything, least of all being alive. Whew! You said at Decatur you write straight through- but there are certain lines that pierce like poetry- do they just roll out? When a certain like rolls out do you sense a particular moment of clarity, or all the bits and pieces the same, groundwork for the rest? Do you sense the reader will suss out a particular line?
You know that curious feeling you get when you're reliving a memory and you're not quite sure if it was a dream or reality? That's often what I feel when I read your work (which is a compliment). It's obvious that you're a brilliant storyteller, but do you ever have a hard time determining what's real between what you're writing and what you're living? Some people become so immersed in their work that it becomes their life. When writing your stories, do you find it sometimes difficult to snap back into your reality from your fantasy? Or is it this constant struggle of in-between that you love about your work?
I'm very much looking forward to reading The Curfew. I fall more in love with your work each time I read it.
Brian wrote: "Hello Jesse,Ok. Oftentimes when reading I am so in my head I lose the feelings in a work, the odd turn of phrase and beauty of the lines really makes this one of the more emotional readsfor me,..."
When a sentence needs to bear weight for other sentences, or needs to crystallize a larger idea -- at such times, verse constructions can be strong. Yes -- they do come in a crowd with the rest, as the work proceeds.
Maggie wrote: "You know that curious feeling you get when you're reliving a memory and you're not quite sure if it was a dream or reality? That's often what I feel when I read your work (which is a compliment). I..."I think the thing that can happen is to mistake constructions of thought, of scene, of mind-state, for being larger or more essentially strong in the fiber than they are. Then, one has to have a care not to stand on the wrong board, or risk falling through to the water below. Generally, though, the work arises out of my life, and the emotionality is valid in those terms, in the terms of my life. It is real then, in that sense.
Thank you for this encouragement.
Carrie wrote: "Hi Jesse,I enjoy your books very much. They seem to have an old fashioned quality that is rare in most fiction today. I guess I am trying to say your books have an unfussiness and calmness that I..."
Yes, definitely a solitary person. I wouldn't know where to place myself -- maybe near the door for a quick getaway?
One thing to increase happiness -- put yourself in more situations where you can be surprised.
Top old-timey (19th century)ish novels? Poets? Manuals?
Castiglione---Book of the CourtierBasho---Narrow Road to the Deep North
Marquis de Saint Hervey---Dreams and How to Guide Them
Baudelaire---Paris Spleen
Murasaki---Tale of Genji
Pearl_poet---Sir Gawain & The Green Knight
Nerval---Aurelia
Heidi wrote: "Hi Jesse,I just finished reading "The Curfew" late last night. I really liked it. William, Molly, and the Gibbons are so endearing and heartbreaking. I thought the use of the puppet show to tel..."
Oh, I shouldn't say that! At least, not in public.
Thanks Mr. Ball. More bones with directions. Looking forward to reading your other works. Thanks for answering our questions. Looking forward to the new novel. Any hints (or even riddles) :) on the working title/subject?
The Jester hands Molly the bone.He stands for one minute and then the other, he climbs up the ladder of rain and the roof beyond:and then; The Jester hands Molly the bone carved with directions. Might be an untruth but one of those that must be true since it needs to be, for all of us.
Brian wrote: "Thanks Mr. Ball. More bones with directions. Looking forward to reading your other works. Thanks for answering our questions. Looking forward to the new novel. Any hints (or even riddles) :) on the..."The next few books are complete and awaiting their turns. More than that, I shouldn't say.
