Monty Heying's Blog
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Jun.14.2013
A novel can be read literally or figuratively, or some combination of the two. People who are looking for a realistic representation of life take everything literally and fail to see the broader implications in the story.
My first time through, The Great Gatsby seemed clumsy and over-florid...
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May.11.2013
The Great Gatsby was written before gay liberation, a time when homosexuality was not only condemned socially, but was actually illegal througout most of the United States. Authors of literary works during this period had to be careful about portraying homosexuality in a way that didn't conform to...
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Apr.06.2013
What more can I say that hasn't been said about Truman Capote's tight, lyrical prose style, concise and illuminating descriptions, brilliant metaphors, crisp and insightful characterization, and biting humor? So I'll just focus on the marquee character of the story, Holly Golightly.
Golightly is an...
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Apr.04.2013
A charismatic teenage sociopath, Jack Merridew, gains leadership over a group of marooned boys from elite British prep schools by murder and exploiting fear.
Many of the worst atrocities of mankind have been the consequence of a wealthy ruling elite seeking ever more power, or resisting them, as in...
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Apr.03.2013
It's questionable the degree to which anyone can actually be taught to write, but according to one source Salinger blossomed while taking Whit Burnett's writing class at Columbia University. Following is a quote from Fiction Writer's Handbook, by Hallie and Whit Burnett.
"...there was one dark-eyed...
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Mar.13.2013
Survival of the Fittest is an implication raised prominently in Golding's novel. The animal nature of humanity represented in the boys is brought sharply into focus by their acts of savagery.
Questions emerge such as: If the ship hadn't rescued the boys, how bad would things have gotten? Human...
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1 comment
Mar.09.2013
A fascinating and disturbing account of four teenaged boys growing up in the Hells Kitchen district of New York City in the '50s. On a hot summer day they get in trouble when their petty crime goes horribly wrong. They end up in a state reform school where unspeakable things are perpetrated by the...
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Mar.01.2013
I was astonished and disappointed at a recent book store event when the speaker, an esteemed university professor for whom I have great respect, denounced as sexist the terms "jailbait" and "poison" used by “the men” in Of Mice and Men regarding Curley's wife. The offensive language was the...
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3 comments
Jan.26.2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R66eQL..."
I just watched this John Green video (link above) interpreting The Catcher in the Rye. It's got some pretty good analysis. A little on the frenetic side, but decent overall given the brief time allowed.
But I've got an issue with describing the apartment...
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3 comments
Jan.17.2013
Rand Paul and Paul Ryan are Ayn Rand's most prominent disciples today. Who is she? She studied philosophy and screenwriting in the USSR under communist dominance. She was granted a visa to visit the United States at a time when such travel was generally restricted to the most loyal and well-...
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Jan.15.2013
The Paisano fellowship is a coveted award for any serious writer, accepting only two writers per year to live in a secluded "ranch" house in the Texas Hill Country twenty miles outside Austin. If it's seclusion you want, you got it.
Here's page three of my application.
Why do you feel that you...
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2 comments
Jan.10.2013
Why do some stories endure from generation to generation?
It may be useful to compare The Catcher in the Rye and four other books that have sold well over time: Lord of the Flies, To Kill a Mockingbird, Jonathan Livingston Seagull and The Outsiders. ...
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Jan.05.2013
** spoiler alert ** A luckless peasant fisherman who's returned from the sea empty handed every day for 84 days sets out, alone this time, to try his luck. He hauls in a monster marlin after a monumental 3-day struggle. But he's gone out too far and sharks allow him to return with little but a...
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Dec.30.2012
The Obama campaign kept soliciting my help. They wanted money. Wanted me to volunteer. Wanted me to make phone calls to swing states.
I wanted to help but I could not and would not sit and call people. I hate it when people call me. It's intrusive. It takes me forever for me to regain my...
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Dec.29.2012
Although Ernest Hemingway's early short stories are more florid, his style became almost journalistic, with writing that draws you into the current of the story before you realize it. He was the master of understatement; hyperbole was not Hem. His best prose is light and airy, almost dreamlike....
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Real happiness, genius and greatness are achieved only by discovering and remaining true to the inner, primeval and eternal voice of intuition. ...build therefore your own world, and as fast as you conform your life to the pure idea in your mind, that world will unfold its great proportions.”
—R.W. Emerson ("Nature")
About Monty
Originally from Texas, I currently hail from the San Francisco Bay Area. My short stories and poems have won contests and been published in various literary magazines, including Forum and Synchronized Chaos.
My current novel-in-progress is based on my years...
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Monty’s Favorite Books
To Kill A Mockingbird-Lee, Where I'm Calling From-Carver, The Glass Castle-Walls, East of Eden and Of Mice and Men-Steinbeck, The Joy Luck Club-Tan, Sophie's...
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