Mis y Mas

1. At my computer, scanning the Gerald Murphy's translation of "The Lament of the Old Woman of Beare". (Why? Because I'm collecting translations of this old Irish piece from the UCD library, and cribbing books is a great use for scanners.)

2. And just prior (30 minutes) to this I was enjoying first few moments of consciousness reading Rita Mae Brown's book on writing, From Scratch, on character creation and plot development.

3. And decided I wanted to read up on some of her books that she referenced in those chapters, such as In Her Day, Six of One, and High Hearts. Which means, go to Wikipedia, for often unprofessional research, but at least some monitoring and whining if someone gets something possibly wrong.

4. Nothing on those books as Wiki articles, but they do have a ink for Ruby Fruit Jungle which is one of those I've promised myself I'd read, but never have. Jump to the link for Ruby Fruit. And there was this paragraph:

"This work is notable for being an early literary lesbian novel, as well as for Brown's own activism in lesbian and feminist causes. Many lesbian readers have found in it a reflection of their own experiences and observations. While some now belittle it as "just another lesbian coming of age novel" (Bildungsroman), its success is part of why the genre is now often considered a cliché."

So, now I have a new word. With a link. On to Bildungsroman.

Interesting. And they have a list of books (per the Wiki author's opinion), that represent this genre. Of these, I'm sorry to say I've read little---and some of these are on my Much Promised, But Never Read List.

( Read more... )

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4a. There is also the link to Künstlerroman, which is more close aligned to Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man/Woman.

5. My curiosity about the Rushdie books mentioned, made me click on Rushdie, decided I need to read Midnight's Children, and The Moor's Last Sigh.

And it mentions magical realism, which I love.
And Tristam Shandy, which I'm not sure I want to tackle until after Tom Jones, but I think I'll Netflix Cock and Bull Story.
But I think I'll skip Gunter Grass's Tin Drum.
Mouse, have you read this one?

And now I've bookmarked the Magical Realism page at Wikipedia, duly noting all cautions on the entry. Maybe I'll try some of those authors.

Maybe, I'll just start out with Chocolat, then go on to Harris's sequels. (The third book was just released this year.)


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And that's our Serendpity for Today.

Edit: and at the other end of the scale, tsgeisel reminds me to listen to Jim Valvano, who reminds me to read Emerson.

I've never read Emerson or Thoreau.