Shakespeare's Sister
Posted by E | Posted in literature, Rushdie, viola, writing | Posted on 1:43 AM
I had my first wave of English classes yesterday. Creative writing was first. It was pretty sweet, though I'm a little concerned that because that we are focusing on the novel this term, it won't count toward "Writing the Short Story" back at Chapman like I planned. Oh well, I suppose I'll fight off those dogs when I hop that fence in 5 months. The class itself reminds me of a class I took with Gattis last semester, "Writing the Novel." It'll be interesting to revisit novels from a different direction!
This school seems so boss when it comes to creative writing! I was looking at the courses for majors at Middlesex, and they have entire year-long courses devoted to one part of writing. They have a course just for character. They have a course just for narrative. They have a course just for setting! Forget Chapman's endless list of literature course requirements. Imagine complete immersion into the subject of writing! However, I have to say, I'd feel less enriched without lit courses. Though, I'm sure that in these year-long courses, they have you read a lot for class, not to mention the stuff they expect you to do outside of class.
Speaking of reading, I've got my work cut out for me. Chapman did not alert me that I needed to have Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children" finished by the first day of the new term, so I need to catch up on all 500 pages of that as soon as possible. Then, I have to finish two short novels for a compare/contrast essay in my CW class for mid-February. He gave a long list, but I'm thinking H.G. Wells's "The Island of Dr. Moreau" and Patricia Highsmith's "The Talented Mr. Ripley." I'll see which I can find at the bookstore today.
I also had my Literature and Otherness class yesterday, which was...interesting to say the least. Most people hated "Midnight's Children." One woman hated it so much that she couldn't resist saying needless things regarding how terrible an author Salman Rushdie is. She called his work "greedy" and "verbal diarrhea." Pleasant. She also said that "Life of Pi" was boring and mostly useless. "The last 30 pages are amazing," she said, "but why the other 200 pages? Just make it a short story!" Being as "Life of Pi" is my favorite novel, I felt a tad put off by that. I feel like she mostly missed the point of that novel. If you've read it, I'm sure you'd agree that the end of "Life of Pi" is only great because of how you got there. Take away what's before that, and you ruin the entire novel.
People like this person frustrate me, no matter how hard I try to understand where they're coming from. They decide they don't like something, but they are too busy bad-mouthing the author or the work itself to talk seriously about the work. She claims that the work "left her cold" or that she was "annoyed," but she leaves it at that, not bothering to look at why it caused her to feel that way (or even if that was the point). When you're so caught up in coming up with fifty different ways of saying a work is a piece of bona-fide shit, you miss out on the actual important stuff.
I was also baffled by the class. "I'm not sure about his narrative style," said one boy, "does he always write like this?" You mean none of them have read Rushdie before? This is a third year class! How can lit students nearly graduate from University without having read Rushdie before? He's only one of the most important writers of the 20th and 21st centuries! Regardless if you love his work or you hate it, you have to respect it. He literally risked his life to publish his work. Not to mention, he's one of today's most famous "British" authors (I use quotes because we all know he's an Indian writer at heart). That's like an American who has never read Mark Twain! Please! What is with these lit majors who don't understand anything about writers? They see a bizarre, seemingly unrefined narrative and don't even consider if it's intentional.
I apologize for what's now become a rant, but you have to understand that as a writer, many of these things are insulting to me and my prospective profession. I understand that some people don't like certain novels, writers, and styles. I respect that! But what I have trouble respecting is uneducated brutality toward a novel that requires education, spoken by someone who considers herself an english major. I'm not a big fan of "Ulysses," but I don't call Joyce a retard. In addition, because I've read more of Joyce than simply his most famous work, I know that his narrative style was specific and intentional for his novel. Unlearned learners are seriously going to be the death of decent criticism.
ANYWAY. I'm sorry for the outburst there. I have done other things than mope and fume, I promise! In fact, I've joined an "extra-curricular" string ensemble (I say extra-curricular because you dont have to register for the class, but I'm not really sure how you would consider it in the US). Apparently, I'm one of two violists here, so I should have some decent work. And we brainstormed repertoire, a session which consisted of awkward silences until I mentioned about 10 different works we could play as a string ensemble. The professor seemed impressed with my "wide experience," of which we all know I have none. The music department here is pretty small, but they have quite a bit of viola repertoire in their library, so I'm excited to pull out a few pieces to learn. In the meantime, I am performing in my Performance 1 class (original, huh?) in about two weeks. It's a good thing I brought my Piazzolla piece as well as the piano part. Though, I should start practicing again.
I realize that I am posting very often and about pretty unimportant stuff, but I think that it is merely because it's a very new, exciting experience for me. Most likely, I'll begin to cool off on the blogging in a week or so.
Also, Crystal informed me that commenting was not working. I've adjusted the settings and it now works for everyone! Hope to hear your thoughts!
Cheers!
Hola Elise! Just started reading your blog, instead of, say, doing my homework. haha. I'd love to have a real Life of Pi discussion with you sometime. That book gave me probably the strongest reactions to a piece of literature I've ever had. And our AP Class gave such a superficial overview of the book. I think it's meaning and themes went much deeper.
When I read it, I thought it was all about finding meaning and truth in life. It dwelt on issues that were important to me, but I thought that it came to the completely wrong conclusions. It seemed like the point was that truth doesn't matter. So, I appreciate it, because it was thought-provoking, and a fascinating metaphor of real life. But at the same time, it stirred in me feelings of revolt or indignation against the worldview/conclusions and the false dichotomy it presented. I know I'm probably not being terribly clear. And I know you love it, so I was wondering how you see it? I know we come from different philosophies too, so that may have something to do with our different takes. But I'm terribly curious about your analysis of it. I'm sure you've spent more time thinking about it than I have. And I promise I won't bash for bashing's sake. Nor do I want to.
Can't wait to visit you in London!!!