This post feels like textbook Susan Bordo-- serious stuff packed with humanism and raw feeling, and fun pop culture packed with serious scholarly thinking. I wish more people wrote this way.
About Lessons in Chemistry: it makes the mistake of giving too much space and detail to the secondary characters' arcs. The station owner, was one- dimensional, and Mad's quest to find her father could have been more succinct. The whole bit about the neighbor's politics was an unnecessary detour and a redundancy, as we already knew the MC had integrity. What really disturbed me though, was that she only got to be a high school teacher, when even the lady in the audience was going to med school. If all of this was to say that women were becoming movers and shakers (which is true), why wouldn't she be teaching in a university? Was this intended irony? Sheesh...
I totally agree. Have you read the book? It’s annoying in a lot of ways, but at least it doesn’t have the stuck-on protest thing (I guess that was an attempt to give the story some racial context, but it didn’t work) and at the end it’s suggested that she’s going back to doing scientific research.
No, I haven't read it. Most adaptations shortchange or misrepresent the book source in one way or another. The Goldfinch was a fail. Silo, I rather liked. I'm looking forward to seeing how The Wager fares. (David Grant) This is one hell of a novel!
Susan, you may be experiencing that most debilitating disease that can sometimes afflict writers. A loss of faith in one's audience. It takes two to tango as the saying goes.
Luckily I can provide a cure for that disease. Another better disease! :-) The trick is to be so addicted to typing that you can't stop even when it becomes beyond clear that to continue is utterly pointless. Sometimes I wonder if that might be the definition of a "real writer"?
Nobody is paying us, or listening to us, or understanding us, nothing is being accomplished, the audience is asleep in their seats, we're not really getting that much out of it ourselves, and in fact we're sort of sick of the whole thing, but we keep on writing anyway, because we can't stop.
There's a thing in the music world where once one achieves a certain level of mastery of one's instrument, it feels less like we're playing the music, and more like the music is playing us. Sorta like that?
The more insightful the article, the smaller the audience.
Good business and good writing are incurably incompatible.
"A few times this past week I thought I had concepts important enough to share, but each time thought better of it because understandably with so many lives cruelly lost and so many more still at stake, there is currently little interest, tolerance or capacity to remember situational nuance when primal emotions are burning so hot and raw, and everyone knows much more death and trauma is yet to come." https://samray.substack.com/p/middle-eastern-quicksand-and-axioms
Some of your original comments on the subject were on my mind when the very well-received piece was written, so you deserve some credit for any perceived perfections ; )
This post feels like textbook Susan Bordo-- serious stuff packed with humanism and raw feeling, and fun pop culture packed with serious scholarly thinking. I wish more people wrote this way.
Can I say I love you? And can I use this at the beginning of my posts?
Of course, and of course, and I love you too, Susan!
About Lessons in Chemistry: it makes the mistake of giving too much space and detail to the secondary characters' arcs. The station owner, was one- dimensional, and Mad's quest to find her father could have been more succinct. The whole bit about the neighbor's politics was an unnecessary detour and a redundancy, as we already knew the MC had integrity. What really disturbed me though, was that she only got to be a high school teacher, when even the lady in the audience was going to med school. If all of this was to say that women were becoming movers and shakers (which is true), why wouldn't she be teaching in a university? Was this intended irony? Sheesh...
I totally agree. Have you read the book? It’s annoying in a lot of ways, but at least it doesn’t have the stuck-on protest thing (I guess that was an attempt to give the story some racial context, but it didn’t work) and at the end it’s suggested that she’s going back to doing scientific research.
No, I haven't read it. Most adaptations shortchange or misrepresent the book source in one way or another. The Goldfinch was a fail. Silo, I rather liked. I'm looking forward to seeing how The Wager fares. (David Grant) This is one hell of a novel!
So you’ve given me a new novel to read—The Wager. You might enjoy a post I did on adaptations I’ve liked: https://open.substack.com/pub/susanbordo/p/from-bookcase-to-screen-the-adaptations?r=384ha&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Will give it a read, thank!!
Susan, you may be experiencing that most debilitating disease that can sometimes afflict writers. A loss of faith in one's audience. It takes two to tango as the saying goes.
Wow. Yes.
Luckily I can provide a cure for that disease. Another better disease! :-) The trick is to be so addicted to typing that you can't stop even when it becomes beyond clear that to continue is utterly pointless. Sometimes I wonder if that might be the definition of a "real writer"?
Nobody is paying us, or listening to us, or understanding us, nothing is being accomplished, the audience is asleep in their seats, we're not really getting that much out of it ourselves, and in fact we're sort of sick of the whole thing, but we keep on writing anyway, because we can't stop.
There's a thing in the music world where once one achieves a certain level of mastery of one's instrument, it feels less like we're playing the music, and more like the music is playing us. Sorta like that?
The more insightful the article, the smaller the audience.
Good business and good writing are incurably incompatible.
Love it! And is probably why I continue on Substack, even though so few people notice I’m there!
Writing for itself, not as a means to some other end.
We're probably zen masters, but just don't realize it. :-)
"A few times this past week I thought I had concepts important enough to share, but each time thought better of it because understandably with so many lives cruelly lost and so many more still at stake, there is currently little interest, tolerance or capacity to remember situational nuance when primal emotions are burning so hot and raw, and everyone knows much more death and trauma is yet to come." https://samray.substack.com/p/middle-eastern-quicksand-and-axioms
Perfectly said.
Some of your original comments on the subject were on my mind when the very well-received piece was written, so you deserve some credit for any perceived perfections ; )
@CAMILAHAMEL1? Did you just write a comment? It disappeared when I started to respond.
Someone just left a comment, and just as I was about to respond it disappeared!! If the commenter is reading this, repost please!
Happy Holidays.
Plural as I assume you will celebrate American European Christians Thanksgiving Thursday.
And
Indigenous Day of recognition of Friday.
Enjoy both and keep up the awesomeness
I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic, Dave!