Books and Ideas (34)

I read for ideas. Here are some of the ideas I have found in books.

The Wonder Book for Boys and Girls. Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Why read it? Hawthorne displays the story teller’s art. While his writing style is ornate, his tales of the ancient myths sound as if they have been told in a summer meadow and in other comfortable settings with the children gathered round. Hawthorne intended to make the ancient classical myths presentable to children, but maybe adults need to rise to the wonder of children to appreciate the myths fully. Eustace Bright is Hawthorne’s composer and story teller. The myths that Eustace retells are “The Gorgon’s Head” (Medusa); “The Golden Touch” (Midas); “The Paradise of Children” (Pandora’s box); Hercules and “The Three Golden Apples”; “The Miraculous Pitcher” (Philemon and Baucis); “The Chimera” (Bellerophon and Pegasus). Enjoy.
Quote: “But some people have what we may call the ‘leaden touch,’ and make everything dull and heavy that they lay their fingers upon!”
Quote: “…a good little boy, who was always making particular inquiries about the precise height of giants and the littleness of fairies, how big was Marygold, and how much did she weigh after she was turned to gold?”
Quote: “Eustace Bright told the legend of Bellerophon with as much fervor and animation as if he had really been taking a gallop on the winged horse; at the conclusion, he was gratified to discern, by the glowing countenances of his auditors, how greatly they had been interested.”

The Writer’s Chapbook. George Plimpton, Ed.
Why read it? A chapbook is a short book with short entries. The Writer’s Chapbook is a book by writers on writing. The topics include the following: What is a writer? How to write a novel. Why poems are difficult to read. How writers write. And the characteristics of good writing. If you write as part of your profession or responsibilities or even if you are simply interested in writing, the ideas in this book will give you opportunity to reflect on the process and product of writing.
Quote: What are the characteristics of good writing? Robertson Davies: “…the ability to keep people wanting more. You cannot stop reading any of the great Russians.”
Quote: Henry Miller: “I’m always looking for the author who can lift me out of myself.”
Quote: Walker Percy: “But something keeps—or fails to keep—the reader reading the next sentence.”
Quote: Hemingway: “So that after he or she has read something it will become a part of his or her experience and seems actually to have happened; very hard to do and I’ve worked at it very hard.”

Who Wakes the Groundhog? Ronald Rood.
Why read it? From reading this book, I realize how unobservant I am about life around me. This book is packed with interesting facts about insects, birds and animals. The question in the title is about how life in nature experiences the seasons. If one studies nature, the seasons are not clearly marked as they are on the calendar. A complex set of circumstances often has to occur for insect, bird and animal life to flourish. The seasons flow from one to the other with some flora and fauna who are early and some who are laggard. The champion season jumper is the Arctic tern who spends his time at both poles and who rarely sees the sunset.
Quote: “It was one of those splendid days when the crunch of the snowshoes and the joy of living were all anyone would ever wish.”
Quote: “Like the rest of his woodland neighbors, he had little respect for the calendar anyway.”

Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews. Ed. Malcolm Cowley.
Why read it? What can ordinary writers learn from the comments by writers on their writing? The book begins with six and one-half pages of questions the interviewers asked the writers whom they interviewed. The list of questions is of value in itself for future interviewers of writers.
Quote. F. Mauriac: “The novel has lost its purpose.”
Quote. Joyce Carey. “A novel should be an experience and convey an emotional truth rather than arguments.”
Quote. William Faulkner: “Art has no concern with peace and contentment.”
Quote. Simenon: “Readers want a novel to probe their own troubles.”