Pam Webb

a writer's journey as a reader

Archive for the tag “reading”

17 Dec 2012
7 Comments

Bright Spots and Pass Alongs


When the world reveals too much darkness I tend to retreat.  I know I can’t just hide and pretend it will all go away, yet I don’t want to dwell on tragedies and troubling events.  So when the world is at its darkest I look up and out and around to find the bright spots.

Beautiful dramatic sky with sun rays Blue Heavens Idyllic Wallpaper Broad Daylight Stock Photo - 16019369

Whitetail doe eating with her twin fawns nearby a forest Stock Photo - 7770366
leaded glass dragonfly sticking to window with back light Stock Photo - 13175274
Sunset in autumn forest Stock Photo - 13041518
The photo of beautiful beach and waves Stock Photo - 12003686
Cute little boy feeding ducks Stock Photo - 10488802
butterflies
readalonequote
And I escape by reading.
My love and prayers go out to those affected by the turmoil and troubles of the day.  I do encourage everyone to keep looking for the bright spots as I am reminded of Emily Dickinson who spoke of hope:

“Hope” is the thing with feathers

254
“Hope” is the thing with feathers— That perches in the soul— And sings the tune without the words— And never stops—at all—
And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard— And sore must be the storm— That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm—
I’ve heard it in the chillest land— And on the strangest Sea— Yet, never, in Extremity, It asked a crumb—of Me

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08 Dec 2012
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Jane Eyrror


Disclaimer: my commentary (not to be confused with a diatribe) is by in no means a diss upon those authors who have achieved success in their ability to appease the hunger of a ready populace for further forays of their favorite literary characters. I applaud publication success, even though I may not applaud the content.

The Janes of my reading life have left me wanting.  Wanting more that is.  Having read through Jane Austen and desiring more of Jane Eyre, I have continued to found solace in the many continuations that are currently available.

As we all know, there truly is no satisfying replacement for the original.  However, when you crave a Godiva and only Hershey, sometimes you are willing to settle for less when the best is no longer available.  In my Search for More Jane (not a book title, but wouldn’t it be a fun one?) I have scoured my GoodReads lists to find plausible reads.  I attempted several titles and grew weary in my searches for a true Elizabeth and company.  Only JA knew Elizabeth best. Besieged by the plethora of Pride and Prejudice knock-offs, I have turned to other novels of classic inspiration.  Jane Eyre is one such hopeful.

I dutifully read Wide Saragossa Sea since it ranked a place on the AP Suggested Reading List. Touted as the prequel to Jane Eyre and hailed as a classic, I braved through the novel ever hopeful it would answer those nagging questions of how Edward Rochester became smitten and taken in by Bertha.  The novel turned out to be more of a stand alone than a companion read.

I then chanced upon Death of a Schoolgirl  by Joanna Campbell Slan at my local library on the new releases shelf.  Seeing it featured Jane Eyre in her married state of Mrs. Rochester I quickly plunked it into by book bag.  Overall, I enjoyed this as a weekend read with its premise that Jane’s curiosity and tenacity makes her a rival to Miss Marple in sleuthing skills. A fun read, granted, it offered only a shadow in terms of the depth of Jane.

image: amazon.com

 

I then remembered reading a book review about a contemporary version of Jane Eyre.  Setting the intrepid ET upon the search, she found Jane by April Linder. I too checked it out.  Here is the catalog summary:

Forced to drop out of an esteemed East Coast college after the sudden death of her parents, Jane Moore takes a nanny job at Thornfield Park, the estate of Nico Rathburn, a world-famous rock star on the brink of a huge comeback. Practical and independent, Jane reluctantly becomes entranced by her magnetic and brooding employer and finds herself in the midst of a forbidden romance.

Book Jacket for: Jane

image: amazon.com

I read it anyway.

No, Jane had not been what I had originally been looking for, and fortunately I found the lost review buried under my get-to-it-someday stack.  The Flight of Gemma Hardy, proved a much better replacement crave read and definitely proved the glowing review it received.

image: amazon.com

Set in Iceland and Scotland in the fifties and sixties, Gemma Hardy’s life parallels that of Jane Eyre’s in travail and hardships.  Gemma is a young woman who becomes an au pair for the precocious niece of a Mr.Sinclair, who infrequently visits his Scottish home.  Gemma’s journey and subsequent flight adequately pays tribute to that of Jane Eyre’s, yet manages to be a distinctive and well-written plot twist of its own merit.  I reluctantly finished Livesey tribute novel, quite satisfied with having found a glimpse of Jane through Gemma.  I am looking forward to discovering her other works.

Sometimes the best way to find a continuation of a familiar voice is to discover a new acquaintance.

Conclusion: There is real no “eyrror” in finding replacement reads for Jane; it’s only a matter of discernment.

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13 Nov 2012

Bibble, Bobble, Wibble, Wobble


Poor Vera–her state of mind and mood often is a reflection of mine.  After my push week of PTCs and then a weekend of flu my creative verve is very much swerving like a tipsy ballerina on a wet dance floor.  To elucidate, my words are slipping all over the place.

Out of the 2,406 words I posted today I really only like this snippet: Books can be the best friends in the world.  I can find them waiting for me on a shelf no matter where we move to.

You see, Vera, my NaNo protagonist has the misfortune of having a set of parents who tend to move often because her mother Sylvia likes a change of scenery.  This means a lot of adjusting and readjusting for Vera.  Which means making friends is not easy for her.  However, she finds solace in books.  Like me, Vera long ago discovered all kinds of friends are waiting to be made at the library.  They are there waiting patiently on the shelves, just waiting for someone to discover them.

So my Thirteenth NaNo post is a bit of a bobble, a slip of a wobble, yet the main dance move, the main step is in place and that is books are always there for you.

Happy Pages (and I’m 22,000+ invested in NaNo–drat, where’s the Haagen Daz when you need it?)

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24 Oct 2012
5 Comments

Just Another Gothic Girl


English: Gothic girl.

English: Gothic girl. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT THE GOTHIC TO WHICH I REFER

I have admittedly strayed from my AP book list and I am in the midst of coasting in my reading tastes: the gothic romance novel. oh yeah.

I’m not talking your acceptable-found-on-the-list novel like Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, and Jane Eyre. Nope, I’m talking about the forgotten books by a forgotten author that needs rediscovering.  Maybe I will start a resurgence of Dorothy Eden readers. You  never know.

Intrigued by what constitutes a gothic romance novel I Googled to find a most excellent site called Virtual Salt, which is written by Robert Harris, former professor and general busy guy.  He’s got an exciting menu of topic choices on his website and it is a recommended stop by.  I chose “Element of the Gothic Novel” and will definitely be borrowing from and referring to his article once I get to Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre in AP Lit.

Currently I’m cheat reading and have discovered amidst the buried “E”s when I was last shelf shopping,  Dorothy Eden, who had once upon a time a long writing career spanning from the 1940s into the 1980, being known primarily for writing these smashing gothic romances with heroines exhibiting contemporary tendencies.  I’m deep into my second one and these are exactly what I need,  having come off of a grading campaign of freshmen poetry notebooks.

Here is Gothic Romance Elements 101 in a Nutshell.  For in-depth article investigation I encourage you to investigate Robert Harris’s site.

A Gothic Romance needs to have the following:
1.  a castle
2. inexplicable events
3. suspense
4. a damsel in distress
5. overwrought emotions
6. metonymy of gloom and horror *

*refresher for metonymy: it’s a type of metaphor.  For instance, in movies to get some immediate gloom and horror tone going the script will throw in some approaching footsteps and of course you gotta have the sudden torrential downpoour complete with thunder and lightning.

Here’s what Dorothy Eden fare I’ve dined upon so far–the title alone, let alone the cover art, indicate a GR is within the grasp.

The Shadow WifeI couldn’t improve on Amazon:

There was something about the tall, dynamic Dane that disturbed Luise Amberley. But he was so attentive, so charming, that she silenced the small warning voice within her and yielded to his passionate persuasions. The wedding ceremony was hasty, almost furtive, but Luise was too wildly infatuated to care. Even his insistence that their marriage be kept a secret did not seem unreasonable. Otto Winther was, after all, a Count…a man whose ancestors were royalty in Denmark. Not until they left the small seaside resort where they had met and arrived at Maaneborg Castle did Luise become aware that something was wrong. It was not merely the coolmess of the welcome. There was an atmosphere of desperation and danger. They were hiding something. And Luise was determined to find out their secret, no matter what the risk. She did not want to remain a SHADOW WIFE.
It’s actually much better than the description. Considering the publishing date was 1967 I found myself surprised that the following being mentioned: a)computers b)open love affairs within a marriage c)abortion.  Plus Luise is no fainting Melba.  She does not easily whimper off or get locked up in a dungeon.  She reminds me a lot of Jane Eyre, one of my all time fave heroines.
I’m in the middle of Winterwood and once again I will let Amazon do the honors.
 WinterwoodSee the castle?  See the damsel in distress?  Gloom and suspense?  And you know that inexplicable event is about to happen.
Enough of the blogging.  I must return to my saga of the socialite forced by circumstance to become governess to the wealthy family consisting of handsome husband, aloof wife with a myriad of light illnesses, and two spoiled children.  I did mention the dying, extremely rich aunt, did I not?
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14 Oct 2012
9 Comments

oh, yes–please read me a story…


Over the past couple of years I’ve been fortunate to journey with some of the more elite and talented thespians of this age.  The likes of Jeremy Irons, Cherry Jones, Jessica Tandy, and Sissy Spacek have kept me company on my long travels and daily commute.  They have challenged me, enlightened me, and entertained me.  And I showed my appreciation by never interrupting them as they spoke.

“Read me a story.” These words are among the first requests we have as a child once we figure out language.  Somewhere between infancy and childhood the request to be read to drops to the wayside–maybe it’s seen as being rather babyish, since, after all we have learned to read books on our own. Yet, I never tire of having a book read to me.  I especially have learned that while I need to read, I’m not very good at juggling the reading of more than one book unless one of them is an audio book.  I am hooked on audio books.

Audiobook Collection

Audiobook Collection (Photo credit: C.O.D. Library)

I’ve been listening to audio books since they became available on cassettes all those years ago.  Sometimes the dratted tapes would fuss up and I’d lose part of the story. Aggravating. Then came CDs, (much better thank you–although occasional scratching causes blips and hiccups–so annoying).  Now there are websites, Ipods, and Playaways, where all that is needed are a set of headphones.

There is nothing like having a good story read out loud on a long, solitary car trip.  As I prepare for my trip I gleefully check out several audio books from my lovely neighborhood library and perch them on my passenger seat as my companions.  Most books play any from seven to fourteen hours. Great for those long hauls.  I’ve been known to stay in my car to listen to the last of the story even after arriving at my destination.

The downside to audio books is due to their very nature of interactive reading–once started as an audio book, it’s difficult to finish it by traditional eye-to-page.  I made that mistake with The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Coming home I was about halfway through listening to the book and decided to finish reading it via my checked out library book. What better way to spend the remaining sunny summer afternoon?  However, as emotionally involved as I got with the story, due to the excellent voice of Cherry Jones, I couldn’t sufficiently feel the proper grief when * SPOILER ALERT* I read of Singer’s demise. It didn’t register at all.

Lately, I’ve taken to listening to audio books on my short commute to work.  It helps get more reading done, since I get tired of listening to music.  Except I have run into a bothersome problem. My last audio book still resonates with me and I am having a difficult time moving on to checking out my next selection.  How can I possibly find a better reading than what Jeremy Irons did in The Alchemist?  I may have to go back to listening to music for a while. I even tried to recapture the glorious reading by checking out both library copies which are wonderfully  illustrated.  Nope,  wasn’t the same thing as listening to Jeremy’s sonorous tones.  I may even be spoiled for the movie they keep saying will eventually be made.

What is your favorite audio book?  Is it just me, or is there really something about having someone read you a story?

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08 Oct 2012
14 Comments

Has Dewey Metis Match?


SLJ1210w FT Dewey Are Dewey’s Days Numbered?: Libraries Nationwide Are Ditching the Old Classification System

image credit: School Library Journal

Recently I received a shock: the Dewey Decimal system might be at death’s door.  Yes, sit down.  I can see the news has hit you just as hard.  My first thought is, “What’s next? Abandoning order in the grocery store? Arranging by content or by color?” Metis is menacing the time-honored and respected DDC system. Then I thought I should be more  opened-minded. Maybe there is a sound reason why Dewey might possibly be ringing the death knell chimes.

After reading the SLJ on-line article my open-mindedness gave way to absolute rejection of the new kid on the block: Metis. The Dewey Decimal Classification system was thoughtfully developed to create order out of chaos.  Before Dewey came along, libraries would willy-nilly shelve their books.  Some methods included alphabetizing, shelf placement, and random subject designation. Then along came Mel.

Melvil Dewey, the designer of DDC, was an amazing guy.  I could write an entire blog post about him, and if you are interested in finding out more about you should link over to this article  to become enlightened to how dedicated he was to libraries.  He even risked his life saving books from a library that was on fire.  That’s my kind of Book Booster.

The SLJ article focused on a real-life library that has changed over to what they call Metis, who was the Greek goddess Athena’s mama. Metis supposedly reigned in the clever department, and the Metis system relies on clever deductive association when searching for a book. The librarians in the Metis library believe the system is much better for kids since it encourages them to associate ideas into reality.  For instance, Johnny the second grader, comes bouncing in and says, “I want to read a mystery story because Dad and I watch Sherlock Holmes and I want to be a detective, too.”  Betsy, our intrepid librarian points to the shiny sign that says, “Scary, ” and says, “That’s where you’ll find it, sweetie.”  Yup, mysteries are scary because they are associated with the unknown, and the unknown is associated with being nervous, and nervous is associated with frightened, and frightened makes leads to thinking of ghosts which are as you know, scary.  This If You Give a Mouse a Cookie logic is not working for me.  A mystery to me is how anyone could think this Metis system is going to fly.  Dewey’s been doing fine all these years.  Why the sudden backlash against shelve and order?

If you aren’t familiar with Dewey, here is a crash course.  It’s divided up into categories and those categories can have subcategories.  It’s quite neat and tidy.  Take a look:

HOW DEWEY DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION (DDC) WORKS

000 General Works (Miscellaneous)

100 Philosophy

200 Religion

300 Social Sciences

400 Languages

500 Pure Sciences

600 Technology (Practical Arts) including medicine, engineering, business accounting, agriculture, salesmanship, etc.

700 Fine Arts (including architecture, painting, photography, music, amusements, etc.)

800 Literature

900 History, Geography, Biography

What is there not to like about this system?  One reason, declares the article, for the reconsideration is because kids don’t even learn their decimals until fourth grade.  Umm, excuse me.  Dewey’s decimals are filing markers and not mathematical.  This associative logic and deductive reasoning could explain why Metis is so appealing to these particular librarians. And what will these students do when they go to their public library and it’s still the DDC?

I’m thinking as I read the article, “One giant leap backward for mankind.” Dewey put order into the system.  Order is a good thing.  Metis is kind of subjective touchy feely nonsense organization that could create unilateral universal chaos.  One person’s science could be another person’s science fiction.

Now, I ask you, are we dumbing down our society even more by taking away Dewey’s decimals and putting up shiny poster board subject signage?  If you want to read up on Dewey, you can find him in the 921 section of your friendly neighborhood library–any library that speaks Dewey.  Or you could get Metisphysical and look for the sign that spouts “People Who Once Were Alive And Are Now Dead.”

 

English: From left to right: R. R. Bowker, Mrs...

English: From left to right: R. R. Bowker, Mrs. Dewey and Melvil Dewey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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28 Sep 2012

The Naughty List: BB Week #4


Cover of "The Great Gatsby"

Cover of The Great Gatsby

Banned Book Week is around the corner: define your mind with censored or challenged literary lines. As you decide on additions for your next TBR you can make like Santa by checking your list to see who’s been naughty or nice.

 

  • Cover of "Their Eyes Were Watching God"
  • Cover of Their Eyes Were Watching God

 Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison
Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
Native Son, by Richard Wright
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway

The Call of the Wild, by Jack London

Go Tell it on the Mountain, by James Baldwin

  •  All the King’s Men, by Robert Penn Warren
  •  The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
  •  Lady Chatterley’s Lover, by D.H. Lawrence
  • A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
  • In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
  • The Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie
  • Sophie’s Choice, by William Styron
  • Sons and Lovers, by D.H. Lawrence
  • Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
  • A Separate Peace, by John Knowles
  • Naked Lunch, by William S. Burroughs
  • Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh

    Cover of "Lord of the Flies, Educational ...

    Cover of Lord of the Flies, Educational Edition

  • Women in Love, by D.H. Lawrence
  • The Naked and the Dead, by Norman Mailer
  • Tropic of Cancer, by Henry Miller
  •  An American Tragedy, by Theodore Dreiser
  • Rabbit, Run, by John Updike
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25 Sep 2012
4 Comments

When Chick Lit Goes Bad: BB Week #2 entry


Cover of "The Awakening: And Other Storie...

Cover via Amazon

While Lady Chatterly’s Lover made the Banned list, Kate Chopin‘s The Awakening did not.  Both miffed, shocked, and outraged many a reader upon its respective appearance; but only Lady Chatterly’s wanderings provoked the censors to add D.H. Lawrence’s offering on venturing outside the lines of socially acceptable behavior of women of the 19th century.  Here’s Lady Cha Cha’s rap sheet according to ALA.org:

Banned by U.S. Customs (1929). Banned in Ireland (1932), Poland (1932), Australia (1959), Japan (1959), India (1959). Banned in Canada (1960) until 1962. Dissemination of Lawrence’s novel has been stopped in China (1987) because the book “will corrupt the minds of young people and is also against the Chinese tradition.”

Admittedly, it did have some naughty language, even for today’s standards, and some rather risqué scenes, which explains its appearance in a 1959 obscenity trial.  The book went on to fame and fortune, appearing in various forms, even a BBC 1993 mini-series with Sean Bean and Joley Richardson. Bad girls don’t go away, they continue to spice up literary history,

However, a point to consider is that D.H. Lawrence wrote the book from a man’s point of view.  Perhaps he should have borrowed the POV Gun from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  Lawrence is a writer of merit and his works have lasted the fickleness of time and reader tastes, so I can’t fault him for his chick lit bad girl book.  But honestly how can a man know what a woman’s feelings are?

Enter Kate Chopin.  She wrote The Awakening with a woman’s point of view in mind.  Like they say, “It takes one to know one.”  If not familiar with her 1899 novel, here is the micro precis:

Edna Pontellier awakens out of her expected role of wife and mother and goes against the tide of conventionality and is last seen swimming somewhat unhappily ever after into the sunset.

If Chopin had put in the naughtiness, her novel certainly would have made the BB list.  Instead it was censored for its open depiction of a female protagonist exploring her wild side.  This chafed against expected 1899 norms of decent behavior.

Reactions to her novel ranged from hostile condemnation (“We are well-satisfied when [Edna Pontellier] drowns herself,” “Poison”) to critical lambasting (“It was not necessary for a writer of so great refinement and poetic grace to enter the over-worked field of sex-fiction,” (Chicago Times Herald), to lukewarm chastisement (“”next time I hope that Miss Chopin will devote that flexible, iridescent style of hers to a better cause.”–Willa Cather).

Some compared The Awakening to Flaubert’s 1856 Madame Bovary (another BB list member).

So even though Chopin did not include the naughty stuff, she still received censure for writing about how a woman had become dissatisfied and wanted to flap her wings a bit.  That was considered bad form.

The moral is here that Chopin never wrote another novel.  In fact, she didn’t publish much after The Awakening‘s disappointing reception.  The irony is that Chopin ushered the advent of many a literary foray into a woman’s point of view, including Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, Katherine Anne Porter, Henry James, and Tennessee Williams.

After recently finished Chopin’s novel I am saddened to not have the ability to continue reading more of her work.  The critics too well censored her without ever lifting their pen to add her name and novel to their list.

Enjoy a good book this week, even if others deem it bad–it’s all a matter of perspective, isn’t it?

English: First ed title pg

English: First ed title pg (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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19 Sep 2012
5 Comments

Openers and Closers (and a bit in between)


As I was site flicking the other night I came upon Style (UK version) and their collection of “100 best” concerning books.  Couldn’t resist browsing and came back with a shopping bag full of great book lines.  Here are the picks of best openers, middlers, and closers from books (well, in my opinion, of course):

Awesome Openers:

“Call me Ishmael.” Moby-Dick, Herman Melville

“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.”
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston

“This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.”
The Princess Bride, William Goldman

image: wikipedia.org

It was a pleasure to burn.” Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

Middle Memorables

“She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me” Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

“Your hair wants cutting.” Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

“All morons hate it when you call them a moron.” Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

“I could get you strung up in a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.”
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

“Fool: Cry you mercy, I took you for a join-stool” King Lear by William Shakespeare

Catchy Closers:

“He loved Big Brother.” 1984 George Orwell

“It’s funny. Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.”
The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” A  Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

“Oh, my girls, however long you may live, I never can wish you a greater happiness than this.” Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

“‘From the Land of Oz,’ said Dorothy gravely. ‘And here is Toto, too. And oh, Aunt Em! I’m so glad to be at home again!'” The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum

“He was soon borne away 
by the waves and lost in darkness and distance.”
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

“And the ashes blew towards us with the salt wind from the sea.” Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier

“He turned out the light and went into Jem’s room. He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.” To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

What are you favorite lines?

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06 Sep 2012
4 Comments

Author Snapshot: Carson McCullers


Cover of "Heart Is A Lonely Hunter"

Cover of Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

As a writer and a reader I am curious about authors.  I like to poke, prod, and discover who they are to understand how they write. Some authors definitely have backgrounds which influence their writing.  One such author is Carson McCullers.

It was a bit of deja vu when I began reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. I then realized I had read it so long ago that I couldn’t really recall the story, so it was similar to revisiting a place attached with faded memories.  After reading the book I looked up Carson McCullers and immediately became fascinated by her background. Amazingly enough Heart was her debut novel–at 23.  The book registers such emotions and craftsmanship it is  unbelievable it came from the pen of a woman so young.

If you aren’t familiar with Carson McCullers here is a snapshot of an author who produced some fine writing despite the setbacks in her life.  Then again, maybe her writing is a result of the impediments she encountered.

McCuller’s style focuses on the loneliness and isolation of individuals of the South employing imagery which pinpoints an emotion, a moment which simple, yet breathtaking accuracy. Her writing has a sense of musicality, due no doubt to her interest in it.  The words flow and swirl much like notes in a recital piece.  In fact, she once described The Member of the Wedding as a fugue, and it actually reads much like a fugue would be played out.
What have I gained from reading Carson McCuller?  It is this: a realization that it is discovering a sense of beauty even when we are living out our imperfections, and that we often gain the most growth through adversity.  McCullers has a way of peeling back the façade and intensely scrutinizing the individual beneath. Once there, a realization occurs—other people have the same thoughts and feelings as I do.  Then again, do they?  This admission is daunting since her explorations tend to leave an undefined rawness, a discomfort, a vulnerability. And this can be uncomfortable.
Novels/Novella
The Member of the Wedding (1946)
 Other Works
The Square Root of Wonderful (1958), a play
Sweet as a Pickle and Clean as a Pig (1964), a collection of poems
The Mortgaged Heart (1972), a posthumous collection of writings, edited by her sister Rita
 Passage from The Member of the Wedding
Yesterday, and all the twelve years of her life, she had only been Frankie. She was an I person who had to walk around and do things by herself.  All other people had a we to claim, all other except her…Now all this was suddenly over with and changed.  There was her brother and the bride, and it was as though when first she saw them something she had known inside of her: They are the we of me.
A couple of noted facts:
  • First novel The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter at age 23
  • Planned to study piano at Julliard, but lost tuition and worked instead
  • Became invalid due to illness
  • Friends with Tennessee Williams
  • died at age 50

Her works have been adapted into plays and movies, and though she is no longer with us, her writing definitely  continues to influence the literary world. She is a stellar definition of the Southern gothic genre.

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