The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich

Why do I sometimes lose interest in a book partway through? Because I abandoned this novel at about page 150. It may be worthwhile to examine my lack of motivation to finish reading it.

The beginning was great, maybe too great. I had difficulty deciding which of the two characters, the fallen nun or the farmer, was the protagonist. They were both well written and engaging. I was fascinated. Then the random act of violence occurred - a bank robbery, in which the fallen nun was taken hostage. She gets shot in the head. I think she is dead - I have lost a protagonist. Then the slow-speed chase, which was totally engrossing, happens. The farmer chases the murderer. The farmer is murdered. I have lost both protagonists, but wait - the fallen nun is not dead, just forever altered by the damage of the bullet.

At this point I have been totally jerked around by the story and start to lose interest. Did it climax too soon? Did I lose trust in the author? Was it too difficult to identify which of the characters was the protagonist?

Then the fallen nun takes on the identity of a dead priest. Maybe I am being too literal, but why, over the next eighty or ninety years, didn't someone notice? Doesn't the church hierarchy check up on their priests?

I also got lost in the complex family stories of the native americans. Funny? Yes. Enough to pull me forward? No.

The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates

The best novel by Oates I have read, I think. I can quibble about the way she disposed of the wife-beating husband, but her story-telling instincts are probably superior to mine. And really, the story is about Rebecca/Hazel's life, and that is where the imaginative ending goes.

Compelling. Haunting. Morbidly satisfying.

Joyce Carol Oates Lecture - 6/19/2007

I was pleasantly surprised by this lecture, which was held at the Atlanta History Center and sponsored by the Margaret Mitchell House. What did I expect? I only knew the author from her books, which are dark, serious, sometimes violent stories of working class families. And from her picture on the rear covers of the books, which shows a woman with sad eyes and inclined head.

In person she was thin, tall, with the unmistakable sad eyes. Although approaching seventy, she didn't have a single gray hair. It was her sense of humor that surprised me. Witty, wry, and slightly morbid.  She was engaging and captivating.

She read from her latest novel, "The Gravedigger's Daughter", passages that I had already read, then took questions from the audience. The first question was the most interesting, about her method of working.

She envisions everything, similar to Robert Olen Butler's dreams. She called it pre-production work, similar to how a movie is made, essentially non-verbal. She does this while exercising, usually running. She imagines the novel or story in cinematic scenes while running. She used to do a complete short story in her head this way. At the desk she writes out these scenes in longhand; she writes everything in longhand. She then numbers the scenes to arrange them; structure is important to her. She said, "You cannot start a novel without pre-production."

An excellent "lecture", and an impressive author.

The River Wife by Jonis Agee

The River Wife
By Jonis Agee
Random House

 

This epic novel, by award-winning author Jonis Agee, chronicles the lives of four generations of women living on the banks of the Mississippi River in Missouri. They are all tied by marriage and blood to the French fur-trapper turned river pirate Jacques Ducharme. Covering the span of time from the 1812 New Madrid earthquake until the 1950s, the novel is wrapped by the story of Hedie Rails Ducharme beginning in 1930.

Hedie marries into the Ducharme family and is immediately taken with the house and farm built by the long-dead Jacques. She suspects her mysterious husband, Clement, of engaging in bootlegging and robbery, and when she discovers diaries written by the first wife of Jacques, Annie, Hedie is obsessed with her tragic life.

The novel alternates between Hedie’s story and the lives of Annie, the black slave Omah Ducharme, Jacques late-in-life wife Laura, and their daughter Little Maddie. All are touched by the dreadful deeds of Jacques and the fierce love he had for those close to him. There are many parallels in the lives of the women, especially the loyalty they develop for the men in their lives, often to their own ruination, and the love they have for the farm and house built by Jacques.

The attitude of the women is described succinctly by Hedie when she says, “It was love at second sight, the kind of love you feel coming down on you like a train, and you daren’t step out of the way, though you can feel it has your future happiness and unhappiness all on board.”

Agee’s depiction of the natural world along the frontier river is rich and varied. The naturalist Audobon even makes an appearance. Adding to the atmosphere is speculation about the hidden treasure of Jacques, civil war skirmishes, and visits by the ghostly figures of Jacques and Annie as they return to watch over the newer residents of the house on the banks of the Mississippi. The influence of Jacques’ life extends far beyond his grave.

In “The River Wife,” Jonis Agee has written a captivating and spellbinding novel that vividly portrays the dangers of blind love, a force that can ruin lives and reach beyond the grave.

 

Master Class in Fiction Writing by Adam Sexton

Subtitled "Techniques from Austen, Hemingway, and Other Greats". A fantastic book. I was in a slump and this book pulled me out of it. Excellent examples are used, and the author makes them easily understandable and informative. It inspired me to continue and read other examples of great literature and apply what I had learned from the book.

Rejection Blues

I've been feeling pretty down lately. I've gotten more short story rejections, enough that I was beginning to question my commitment. Why spend so much time trying to get better only to get rejected?

But last night I got a pleasant surprise. Last month I handed out two stories, "Christmas at Grandma's" and "Merle Littel" to my book club, with permission to read and criticize. At the meeting last night we discussed our two books, "Bastard Out of Carolina", and "The Secret Life of Bees", and  I thought that everyone had forgotten about my two stories. Our leader had, but one of the other members brought them up, and I was pleased to get some quality feedback from the members. They really liked both stories, I believe, and seemed to have excellent insight, so I know they read them carefully.

So my gumption is restored, at least for a little while.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin

I just love Austen's novels, and to think they are two hundred years old. Once you get used to the mannerly language, they are delightful. True, there is very little action and even less description, but these novels are proof that characterization and an engaging plot are more than enough to engage a reader's full attention.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

What a pleasure to slow down a little to the rhythm of this novel. I read it as a companion to "Master Class in Fiction Writing" by Adam Sexton, where it was used as an example of characterization. Now, of course, I have to read "Pride and Prejudice"!