Well, the gloves and scarfs are out. Winter definitely sharpened its claws in Boston this week. But the sun's shining, and the sky's a smooth swish of blue, so I'm not complaining - yet.
Last night I snuggled up on the sofa and munched through the pile of newspapers/magazines which I hadn't got around to reading properly the past fortnight. I particularly enjoyed Bill Buford's profile in the Oct 29 edition of The New Yorker: "Extreme Chocolate: Searching for the perfect bean, in Bahia", about Frederick Schilling who opened a chocolate factory and founded Dagoba Organic Chocolate. It's a great story, which includes a description of how Schilling was convinced he was visited by Xochiquetzal, the Aztec goddess of cacao. Other note-worthy articles I happened upon were "How Manga [comics/print cartoons] Conquered The US: A graphic guide to Japan's coolest export" by Jason Thompson in Wired magazine, and, in the Nov 5 edition of The New Yorker, a superb portfolio of evocative pictures inspired by the fairytale Hansel and Gretel: seventeen artists were asked by the Metropolitan Opera to offer their own interpretations of the story to mark the new production of Engelbert Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel" (the original artworks can be viewed at the Metropolitan Opera House's Gallery Met).
I've also discovered a new writer - Jason Brown. His short story collection "Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work" caught my eye in Barnes and Noble and when I started reading his story "Trees", I couldn't put it down. His voice is very distinct - haunting, raw, unexpected. One of his stories ends "He turned around and looked up, as if at a mountain peak or a descending plane, but there was nothing above except a line of high white clouds pulling up over the valley like a cold sheet."
Well, I'm off to write now. I've been a bit stuck on one section of the novel for a couple of days and I talked it over with Christian who came up with some magical ideas within seconds. I got incredibly excited. Anyway, I'm all set to go back to the lake and forest again now.
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2 comments:
Jason Brown? I'll have to take a look.
I'd like to recommend Jim Crace's 'On Being Dead', though near the end I wanted to shout 'so decompose already'. It is an interesting view of life- after the fact that is or the biology we all should reconcile ourselves to. We are not dust to dust. The final stage is messier, as being bio-degradable truly means. Plus Crace fabricates beautifully. Why learn a displine, i.e. zoology, etc when you can make things up. A lesson about being brave enough to dispense with Google-able facts in crafting fiction.
Look forward to your next blog.
And, Sophie, I'd love a sneak peek of your latest if it's permissable.
Redhead (from Lesley)
Connie!!! Of course!
It's wonderful to hear from you. And I'll definitely check out "On Being Dead". I've got a copy of his novel "Quarantine" at home I haven't read which was recommended to me too. I hope your writing is going super as always. I miss your characters and novel worlds. love, Sophiexxx
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