Words, words, words
A hasty update, writing to write.
First things first: I realize I have not cinched off the thread I opened in my first post exploring how Angel Dreams came to be and what it is, and I hope to do that some time. Suffice to say that almost two months ago now (oops) it was premiered at the theater on campus to what I would consider great success and I’m happy to say that it has a life of its own! Kyle’s music for it turned out beautifully and I have the deepest gratitude to all who worked on it, and I’ll include it at the bottom.
But seeing as I haven’t thought out a fitting reflective piece to round out that train of thought (maybe what you just read is all you’ll get), I’m just gonna do a little update for you all on where things are at creatively in life these days. I’m reading a lot. I think on my last count I have 12-14 books checked out from across two libraries. I am dedicating myself to only a few at the moment, but they are all inspiring in their ways, so here’s a bit about each.
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers
I’d describe this as a southern gothic-adjacent novel, concerning a handful of idiosyncratic, colorful characters and their lives in a small Southern town in the 1930s. John Singer is a deaf-mute and is almost the main character, if there is one in this book. He’s fascinating and is characterized by this saintly long-suffering-ness and general charity towards all, and every character whose perspective you get access to sees something different in him. I like the concept of projecting onto someone who can neither speak nor hear very well, and that people invent aspects of his character for themselves in some ways.
The Two Towers - J.R.R. Tolkien
I’m about exactly halfway through my LotR trilogy re-read, being halfway through this volume (on book 4 out of 6 total, if we were to get technical). I love Middle Earth dearly and this re-read has inspired a lot of the writing I’ve been pushing myself to do more of recently, likely more on this at the end. I’m not convinced these are good novels though, not that I wish them to be. There are times they don’t read very well with your novel goggles on, and its more apparent than ever how much more this is a work of mythology than classic literature. It kind of amazes me how universally beloved these are! I think people make a mistake when they consider them to be “fantasy novels” though, I don’t know why that bothers me so much haha. The entire race of the Rohirrim are so obviously just ancient Anglo-Saxons and Theoden’s arc through to the end of the trilogy is not too dissimilar from that of an elderly Beowulf at the end of his saga. I love it but that’s what I’ve been thinking about reading this.
Outer Dark - Cormac McCarthy
Within the first 30 pages of this book, a young woman has given birth to the son of her brother, which he takes and abandons out in the woods immediately after its birth. “Cormac McCarthy try not to write the most despicable situation of all time challenge: failed” goes through my head whenever I read this book. The writing is obviously staggering and I’m sure it will get worse, but for whatever reason I’m willing to stick it out. I actually lied and I’m sure the beginning is the worst part. Who knows? I am glad for my last read to offset this though…
All Of The Days And Nights - William Maxwell
This is a collection of short stories written over a span of several decades, and having read three I can easily say I’ve found a new author to chase around for a while! These are so hopeful compared to my usual fare and I’m really loving it. There’s a way in which there is real evil and angst in the stories, but it does not come to settle in the marriages and families and friendships for the most part, and if so then that divorce or falling has already happened outside the confines of the story. Rather, these bonds of love, or the longing for them, push against the badness in the world of each story. It’s terrific stuff and I highly recommend. The first story is “Over By The River” and it knocked my socks off.
One of my favorite musicians, MJ Lenderman, just released a single from his forthcoming record called “She’s Leaving You” and it has such a terrific chorus. His writing is dirt simple and constantly super effective, and his voice is clean and clear and very unassuming. I’m a big fan and I hope you will be too.
It falls apart
We’ve all got work to do
It gets dark
We’ve all got work to do
She’s leaving you
She’s leaving you
She's Leaving You - MJ Lenderman
I’ve been writing a good bit, and its felt great. The project swimming around in my head has been there since at least last winter, but more accurately since I was very very young. I don’t know how much I’ll share about it on here because I want to write it more than talk about it, but I feel like saying something about it. I’ve been really inspired by taking very regular long walks out in the woods of the park near my house and watching the sky fade and fireflies come out. It gets me thinking about the world and the other side of things that are in front of you all the time, and how if you listen, and are careful not to guard your eyes too closely, some deer or other critter might lead a path closer into the world’s Heart. That’s a lot of what this writing is about, so here’s a little snippet here…
“…For wherever two or more trees are gathered, there the Inner World hides on the other side. And behind each blade of grass and in every pinking cloud in the light of a dimming, westering sun, there it is also. It is man's folly to seek out this World by a straight path through the trees, paving the ground he levels beneath him as he goes. If he thinks of the trees at all as he passes them, they are the scenery of his mission, when really if it is a way in he seeks, there it passes him by, endlessly.”
As promised, here’s a link to Angel Dreams.