This and That: Mini-Stories

Yesterday’s Sunday (8/21/11) San Francisco Chronicle book section had several interesting mini-stories:
1. A page full of colorful images of book covers illustrates the fact that whenever cover designers want to show that books take place in San Francisco, they almost inevitably use images of the Golden Gate Bridge. Seeing these Bridge-bedecked covers -- some quite lurid -- all together on one page is striking and a bit amusing.
2. Although Charles Dickens wrote in his will “I conjure my friends on no account to make me the subject of any monument, memorial, or testimonial whatsoever,” the first-ever statue of him in Britain will be erected in Portsmouth next year.
3. Ann Patchett, author of “Bel Canto,” “Run,” and “State of Wonder,” will open a bookstore in Nashville in October; she says “I don’t want to live in a city that doesn’t have an independent bookstore.” Brava, Ann Patchett!
4. The highest earning authors in the world last year were James Patterson ($84 million), Danielle Steel ($35 million), Stephen King ($28 million), Janet Evanovich ($22 million), and Stephenie Meyer ($21 million). No comment.

Great Aunt Priscilla's Shakespeare on my Shelf

I have written (5/28/11) about how I cherish the few books I have that were my late grandmother’s. I am also very happy to have a beautiful set of Shakespeare’s plays -- small muted-green clothbound books in the Yale Shakespeare collection, published in the 1910s and 1920s -- that were my late Great Aunt Priscilla’s. Aunt Priscilla was almost like a second grandmother to us, as she was very close to my mother’s family, lived with them for a while when she was a teenager, and was dearly loved by all in my mother's large extended family, including my mother and, later, me. I remember our visiting her in the Okanagan Valley when I was a child, and during my early adulthood had the honor and pleasure of showing her and her friends around San Francisco; she loved traveling and loved her friends, and after she became a widow, traveled more than ever. I loved and admired her and learned from her; she was a longtime schoolteacher, respected by everyone in her community, and a very well-read person. She also had a strong sense of justice, and worked for peace and justice in various ways. Although I don’t believe she used the term “feminist” about herself, she was a great example of an independent woman (married, but independent) at a time when not many women were interested in being, or able to be, so strong and independent. She was a great role model for those who knew her, including my aunts, my cousins and me, as well as generations of her students. So when I see her books on my shelf, I think fondly and admiringly of her, and thank her for being the strong, wonderful, influential woman she was.

"Dreams of Significant Girls," by Cristina Garcia

I have -- unlike many children and adults -- never read the Harry Potter books. But I am glad that they have provided so much reading pleasure to so many. As I wrote on 8/13/10, I don’t read much Young Adult (YA) fiction, and I especially don’t like or read science fiction/fantasy, whether YA or adult. But I have very occasionally read YA books when they relate to girls figuring out their lives, female friendships, sisterhood, and related topics. One such YA novel I enjoyed some years ago was Ann Brashares’ “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” which was later made into a movie. I have just read a new YA novel, “Dreams of Significant Girls” (Simon & Schuster, 2011), by Cristina Garcia, author of the critically well-received book for adults, “Dreaming in Cuban.” “Dreams of Significant Girls” attracted me because of the sisterhood topic, as well as the fact that it is set at a boarding school in Switzerland. As a person who attended a (very nice but much less posh) boarding school (Kodaikanal School) for five years in India, many years ago, I am drawn to such stories. In addition, as I have written before, I am interested in issues of social class, and this story raises some of those issues, albeit indirectly. The three main characters from three very geographically dispersed places all attend the elegant Swiss boarding school every summer for three summers, are very different, initially don’t get along, but become fast friends and great sources of support and comfort for each other during those summers and for a long time after. Despite the fact that these girls are quite privileged, they all have serious issues to deal with. (I know, I know, the “poor little rich girl” theme is a bit worn, but the author makes it fairly fresh in this novel.) The characters are appealing and the story is fairly interesting, but what most appealed to me was, as I predicted, the female friendship/sisterhood theme. The story is in some senses too predictable, and lacks depth, but it is enjoyable to read, and it does reinforce the important idea that girls’ and women’s friendships are crucial elements in their lives.

Memorable Birth Scenes in Literature

Another in the "memorable" series: Memorable Birth Scenes in Literature

Morgaine gives birth to Mordred (The Mists of Avalon)
Tristam Shandy is born (Tristam Shandy)
Kitty and Anna both give birth (Anna Karenina)
Melanie gives birth (Gone With the Wind)
O’lan gives birth (The Good Earth)
Milkman is born (Song of Solomon)
Denver is born (Beloved)
The narrator is born, and her aunt gives birth (The Woman Warrior)

Writing Colonies

I wrote on 2/16/11 about unusual places that some writers write, such as a remote island. Most are more conventional, writing in home studies, at dining room tables, in university offices, in libraries, or in coffeehouses. But some writers are fortunate enough to be given, for a few days or weeks, the opportunity to write at various writers’ colonies. Some of the most famous ones, entrance to which is of course very competitive, are Yaddo, Macdowell, Bellagio (on Lake Como!), Ucross, Hedgebrook, Dorland Mountain, and the Virgina Center for Creative Arts. Most of these colonies are set in physically beautiful surroundings, which provide inspiration and a sense of well-being. Writers are given quiet, comfortable places to write, with all meals and other needs provided. They may stay for as little as a week or as much as several weeks. Even if one is not fortunate or well known enough to be accepted to one of these, some writers have access to shorter stays at conference centers or other sites that provide congenial and quiet spaces for writing. For example, some universities, such as my own, sponsor weekend writing retreats; I have participated in several of these. It is amazing how much writing can get done in a weekend in which one’s complete focus is on writing. And there is always the self-constructed writing retreat; for example, my colleague P. and I have created two three-to-four-day writing retreats in the beautiful city where she lives. We focused on writing all day, and then had delicious dinners and talked about what we were writing and how it was going, providing each other with advice and encouragement. The key to all of these colonies and retreats is having the luxury of a good place and uninterrupted time to write.

Memorable Couples in Literature

I have already listed here (on 7/7/11) some memorable weddings in literature ; today I broaden the list to some “memorable couples in literature.” In some cases the couples are memorable because of their great (if sometimes doomed) romances; in other cases they are remembered for being spectacularly unsuited to each other.

Lancelot and Guinevere
Heloise and Abelard
Romeo and Juliet
Othello and Desdemona
Anthony and Cleopatra
Elizabeth and Darcy (Pride and Prejudice)
Mr. and Mrs. Bennett (Pride and Prejudice)
Emma and Knightley (Emma)
Dorothea and Casaubon (Middlemarch)
Lydgate and Rosamond (Middlemarch)
Cathy and Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights)
Lady Chatterley and Mellors (Lady Chatterley’s Lover)
Rose of Sharon and Connie (Grapes of Wrath)
Celia and Shug (The Color Purple)

And here are some real life memorable literary couples:

Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett
James Joyce and Nora
F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda

"Being and Becoming a Speaker of Japanese," by Andrea Simon-Maeda

My colleague in Japan, Andrea Simon-Maeda, has written a very interesting book about her process of learning the Japanese language over the 35 years she has lived and worked there. She married a Japanese man and has a grown son, so her personal as well as her professional life (as a university professor) have facilitated and intertwined with her language learning. The book’s title, “Being and Becoming a Speaker of Japanese: An Autoethnographic Account” (Multilingual Matters, 2011), indicates its academic roots, but it is definitely accessible, informative, and enjoyable for the general reader as well. Fellow academics will find this book valuable; general readers who prefer to skip some of the language theory can do some judicious skimming and still benefit from and enjoy the book. I recommend it to anyone interested in languages, in language learning, in Japan, in expatriate life, in mixed marriages, or any combination of these topics. Simon-Maeda has an engaging style, and she is good at providing the kinds of specific examples that make her points clear and vivid.