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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A deeply moving exploration of what happens when a brilliant, prickly woman is faced with the one thing she can't outsmart: cancer. Vivian's diagnosis and subsequent fight force her to reconsider what she thought she knew about a person's individual worth and dignity, as distinguished from that person's intelligence or abilities. The juxtaposition of Vivian's vocabulary - that of a scholar and professor of metaphysical poetry - with that of experimental medicine helps convey how jarring this experience is for her.
Very smart, sharp dialogue, and some interesting reflections on the perils of being too attractive or not attractive enough. Not quite as devastating as, say, The Shape of Things, but very realistic in the characters' mixed feelings towards one another and the way in which they grow and move on, but also don't.
On the surface, this is a love story about Sara and Dara, two young students in Tehran who struggle against strict cultural standards in order to see one another. It's also about the author, who exists as a character trying to write this story so that it will pass government censors without sacrificing its essential quality. Beyond that, though, it's a story about writing - the things we choose to say and not to say, and why, and the times when silence can be even more eloquent than words. All these layers can make the book a bit dense to read, but it offers valuable insights into life in the Middle East, as well as making shrewd observations about the powers of language to obscure as well as to communicate.
Reading this book is a lot like having a very patient, very practical best friend who knows exactly what keeps you from writing your best or maybe even writing at all, and exactly why it's so important that you stop making excuses and do it anyway. Goldberg offers a few exercises to get you going, but more valuable is her portrayal of the writing life, the unglorified, day-to-day discipline of sitting down and putting pen to paper.
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(2 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
This book knocked my socks off, plain and simple. Gluck moves easily through different voices, speaking at times as a flower, a human, a god, to create a complete and moving portrait of what it means to be alive.
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prufrock31 has commented on (6) products.
Wit by Margaret Edson
prufrock31, December 17, 2011
A deeply moving exploration of what happens when a brilliant, prickly woman is faced with the one thing she can't outsmart: cancer. Vivian's diagnosis and subsequent fight force her to reconsider what she thought she knew about a person's individual worth and dignity, as distinguished from that person's intelligence or abilities. The juxtaposition of Vivian's vocabulary - that of a scholar and professor of metaphysical poetry - with that of experimental medicine helps convey how jarring this experience is for her.Reasons to Be Pretty by Neil Labute
prufrock31, December 17, 2011
Very smart, sharp dialogue, and some interesting reflections on the perils of being too attractive or not attractive enough. Not quite as devastating as, say, The Shape of Things, but very realistic in the characters' mixed feelings towards one another and the way in which they grow and move on, but also don't.Censoring an Iranian Love Story by Shahria Mandanipour
prufrock31, October 6, 2010
On the surface, this is a love story about Sara and Dara, two young students in Tehran who struggle against strict cultural standards in order to see one another. It's also about the author, who exists as a character trying to write this story so that it will pass government censors without sacrificing its essential quality. Beyond that, though, it's a story about writing - the things we choose to say and not to say, and why, and the times when silence can be even more eloquent than words. All these layers can make the book a bit dense to read, but it offers valuable insights into life in the Middle East, as well as making shrewd observations about the powers of language to obscure as well as to communicate.Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
prufrock31, March 17, 2010
Reading this book is a lot like having a very patient, very practical best friend who knows exactly what keeps you from writing your best or maybe even writing at all, and exactly why it's so important that you stop making excuses and do it anyway. Goldberg offers a few exercises to get you going, but more valuable is her portrayal of the writing life, the unglorified, day-to-day discipline of sitting down and putting pen to paper.(2 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
Wild Iris by Louise Glueck
prufrock31, March 17, 2010
This book knocked my socks off, plain and simple. Gluck moves easily through different voices, speaking at times as a flower, a human, a god, to create a complete and moving portrait of what it means to be alive.(4 of 6 readers found this comment helpful)
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