A friend and I have a running disagreement. We both adore reading but we disagree on taste. To him, the act of reading is everything, what is read is immaterial. I disagree. Yes, reading is better than illiteracy, but not all written works are equal. Quality is one reason why some works disappear why others are revered and reread for centuries. This isn’t due to an edict of teachers or a ruling from the some vicious, artsy elite. It’s because some stories are so well formed they become enduring works of art, works that instruct as well as entertain. They are the classics and there are good reasons to they should be read. Classics are the building blocks of literature. Willa Cather once wrote, “There are only two or three human stories and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they’d never happened before.” If that’s true, those stories have also become the backbone of world literature but some versions are told so well, they become the standards other writers follow. For example, once The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh jointly created the perfect template for road stories, authors have been stealing from and writing variations on these…
Biographies can be such intrusive things. Say an individual manages, through talent, work and luck, to make something good, something worth remembering. Now, that’s a difficult, desirable achievement but the is the world satisfied with it? No. When something wonderful is created, some Nosy Parker of a biographer will follow behind, trying to uncover the life and soul of the creator. On the other hand, a good biography, like Judy Oppenheimer’s Private Demons, can answer questions and provide context to that person’s accomplishments. The subject here is Shirley Jackson and Ms. Oppenheimer’s tale illuminates a few corners of this complicated, compelling, and private writer. To enjoy Shirley Jackson’s work you must be comfortable with complexity. In the middle of the twentieth century, she became an acclaimed writer in two genres that seemed mutually exclusive. The best known samples of her work are psychologically disturbing stories of alienation and evil. However, she also published popular stories of domestic recounted in a well-humored, dry and ironic voice. In a culture that likes to pigeon-hole the work of its creative artists, Shirley defied easy categorization to the consternation of some of her fans. Could the same person write stories in turn that made…
It’s funny how some writers go in and out of style. Some storytellers are flaming hot properties in one decade, and out of print in the next. You never can tell who will outlast their lifetimes. Taylor Caldwell, Edna Ferber and Thomas Chastain were royalty on the mid-century best-seller list, but I doubt if they’re remembered at all today beyond Ferber’s writing the source novel for Showboat. Daphne du Maurier fares a little better because of Rebecca and because a biography suggesting she was a lesbian but beyond that and a couple of short stories that were adapted into films, her name doesn’t ring many bells. That’s a shame because she was a prolific writer with more than thirty books to her credit and no one else created “mood” with words as well as she did. If you think I’m thinking of Rebecca again, I’m not. Her greatest “atmospheric” novel is, for me, My Cousin, Rachel. Rachel is a novel about the damage caused by doubt. In the beginning, Ambrose Ashley and his nephew Philip are completely sure of their spots in the world. Ambrose is the master of a Cornish estate and the guardian of Philip, his heir. Their lives are bound by the…
Like I said last week, every civilization develops its own mythology to answer its questions and confront its fears. As the needs of the culture change, so change the heroes we worship. So, what happens to the older gods when these newer icons are developed? Do they resent being forced into retirement or do they transcend to a Sun City section of Mount Olympus where they can play endless rounds of shuffleboard and bore each other with photos of their descendants? Did Odin develop a sub-section of Valhalla to house superannuated deities? Is there an AARP for Gods? You might think that’s a funny idea for a story but it’s actually a question Neil Gaiman posed when he wrote American Gods. It’s also an English novelist’s perspective of America and a brilliant fantasy novel. At the center of the story is Shadow Moon, a man with a past who once thought he had a future. Instead, his wife and secure job die shortly before he can reach them and a man named Wednesday offers him work. Shadow is the perfect hero for this kind of adventure: he’s quiet, tough and shrewder than most folks realize. Shadow is the kind of…
Like I said last week, every civilization develops its own mythology to answer its questions and confront its fears. As the needs of the culture change, so change the heroes we worship. So, what happens to the older gods when these newer icons are developed? Do they resent being forced into retirement or do they transcend to a Sun City section of Mount Olympus where they can play endless rounds of shuffleboard and bore each other with photos of their descendants? Did Odin develop a sub-section of Valhalla to house superannuated deities? Is there an AARP for Gods? You might think that’s a funny idea for a story but it’s actually a question Neil Gaiman posed when he wrote American Gods. It’s also an English novelist’s perspective of America and a brilliant fantasy novel. At the center of the story is Shadow Moon, a man with a past who once thought he had a future. Instead, his wife and secure job die shortly before he can reach them and a man named Wednesday offers him work. Shadow is the perfect hero for this kind of adventure: he’s quiet, tough and shrewder than most folks realize. Shadow is the kind of…