It should not be so hard to write both poetry and fiction. Both arts, after all, make use of the same materials, words and punctuation. Poems...
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What would you do, what would you think, how would you occupy your time if your child disappeared? In this novel, Kevin Brockmeier creates a writer, Christopher Brooks, whose 7 year old daughter disappears without a trace from the family backyard. The "novel" we read is written by Brooks as he mixes "fact and speculation" in the hope that they "will call her back from wherever she is today" (xv). This is not a linear, or even in places, a realistic story, but its "truth" and the eloquence of the writing stay with you.
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In her second novel, The Outside World, Tova Mirvis provides an accessible glimpse of the ?inside world? of Orthodox Jewish life. For me, the strength of the book is in Mirvis? believable mosaic of individuals. All are all trying to make sense of what it means to live as an Orthodox Jews. For example, middle-aged Shayna who became Orthodox as a teenager is always afraid that she will be ?found out? as a relative newcomer. Or Baruch (formerly Bryan) who was raised in a more progressive Orthodox home and becomes religious alienating his family. Or Naomi?s search for a more spiritual connection with her religion.
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(10 of 18 readers found this comment helpful)
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Susan Wilson has commented on (2) products.
The Truth about Celia by Kevin Brockmeier
Susan Wilson, January 16, 2007
What would you do, what would you think, how would you occupy your time if your child disappeared? In this novel, Kevin Brockmeier creates a writer, Christopher Brooks, whose 7 year old daughter disappears without a trace from the family backyard. The "novel" we read is written by Brooks as he mixes "fact and speculation" in the hope that they "will call her back from wherever she is today" (xv). This is not a linear, or even in places, a realistic story, but its "truth" and the eloquence of the writing stay with you.(10 of 15 readers found this comment helpful)
The Outside World (Vintage Contemporaries) by Tova Mirvis
Susan Wilson, October 2, 2006
In her second novel, The Outside World, Tova Mirvis provides an accessible glimpse of the ?inside world? of Orthodox Jewish life. For me, the strength of the book is in Mirvis? believable mosaic of individuals. All are all trying to make sense of what it means to live as an Orthodox Jews. For example, middle-aged Shayna who became Orthodox as a teenager is always afraid that she will be ?found out? as a relative newcomer. Or Baruch (formerly Bryan) who was raised in a more progressive Orthodox home and becomes religious alienating his family. Or Naomi?s search for a more spiritual connection with her religion.(10 of 18 readers found this comment helpful)