Realism | Realism
Apr.06.2013
Giovanna and Giovanni are getting married!
In discussing the relationship between reality and representation in the realistic post-war British noveI, I chose to draw an analogy from the area of visual art. In “The Arnolfini Marriage,” a 1434 painting depicting Giovanni Arnolfini and his...
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Mar.25.2013
British novelist, Pat Barker is best known for the Regeneration Triology, focused on World War I. Toby's Room covers some of the same territory...the years leading up to the war when it was all but unimaginable...and the years of the war when it also was all but unimaginable. Toby's Room is a...
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Sep.06.2012
Had another call today about the integration today. The others on the phone became very complimentary about me, about what I knew, and my pivotal role. "Have you been cloned?" one asked, "because you have a wealth of knowledge. They better hope you're not hit by a bus," joked another. "You're not...
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Sep.06.2012
The Kite Runner, focused on the tragedy of Afghanistan, was a great success when it was published in 2003 and deservedly so. This novel interweaves generational affections and disaffections with the political upheavals afflicting Afghanistan after King Zahir Shah was deposed in the 1970s....
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Sep.04.2012
I've been working on a story in a realistic, contemporary setting which transitions to the spiritual world. The character has a vision of the past. Now I'm having trouble getting her back into the present where I will somehow have to address her psychological concerns. How to get back to writing...
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Aug.08.2012
For reasons of raking in a movie deal and resultant monies, I am writing a Thriller instead of keeping at my last over a Historical novel. I am - of course - awash in technology in the Thriller (some of which I make up). In the Historical I have fast horses and sailing ships. No (new) technology...
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Aug.05.2012
All Our Worldly Goods traces the lives of two families who live through--and die through--World Wars I and II in a village in France.
The natural and best armature of a novel, it sometimes is said, is a stratified social class structure...and the tensions between its components....
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Sep.14.2011
The word "illusion" is variously defined as being a false or mistaken impression of reality or a visionary ideal in conflict with reality, and to be "disillusioned" is apparently a state of mind in which one is more in touch with actual reality because he has lost his...
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Aug.26.2011
image via dvdbeaver.com
Anna Karenina – Section One, by Leo Tolstoy
I always start a book slowly - I have to get a feel for the writer's style, the characters, setting, and some idea of where the book will lead me. But I've now finished Section One of Anna Karenina and have these comments:
Tolstoy...
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Jun.12.2011
One of my favorites essays, written early into my experience as a blogger after I started my "Running with Stilettos" website, was called "Ripple Effect." It went on and on in colorful and expository fashion for a good thousand words, but boiled down to a sentence or two it was...
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