A lovely Italian phrase that translates as " A small cask makes good wine" is an Italian compliment to a short person. I reply by stretching to my 5' 1" height, Grazie! (Art: Philippe Mercier 1689 — 1760)
Botte Piccola Fa Vino Buono Read More »
I am having a wonderful time reading 16th-century Basile's splendid introductions to stories in his Tales of Tales. And while the tales are wicked-wonderful, these observations on the human condition have me enthralled — I suspect because they remain surprisingly current. Plus ça change… "…artisans leave their shops, merchants their trade, lawyers their cases, shopkeepers
Startling Moments from Basile That Still Ring True Read More »
When writing fiction about childhood and rites of passage, one can't escape the sorrow of maturation, the painful process of shedding one's skin to inhabit a new identity. Oral narratives evoke these transformations in often stark and vivid language: an armless maiden on a journey to become whole; the girl whose feet are battered
I am in a frenzy, following up from a the previous post on the art of Katherine Ace. We were writing about the surface of art in painting and oral narrative performance of well known fairy tales contrasted with the subtext of evocative imagery — the tension between the encounters of the
The Skin and Blood of Art: Atwood and Lorca Read More »
There is nothing more thrilling than to read a novel's opening sentences and feel the entire weight of the novel laid bare, giving both a sense of anticipation and dread. You can not help yourself but to lean in to see if such proclaimed prophecy will turn out to be right even as you are
Lessons From the Masters: Joseph Conrad’s Opening Sentence: An Outcast of the Islands Read More »
Flannery O'Connor: From Mysteries and Manners "I often ask myself what makes a story work, and what makes it hold up as a story and I have decided that it is probably some action, some gesture of a character that is unlike any other in the story, one which indicates where the real heart of
The Anagogical Moment, Referencing the Mystery. Read More »
This is why I love reading Shakespeare: Prince Hal: "This sanguine coward, this bed-presser, this horse-back breaker, this huge hill of flesh." Falstaff: "S'Blood, you starveling, you elf-skin, you dried neat's-tongue, you bull-pizzle, you stock fish. Oh for breath to utter what is like thee! You tailor's-yard, you sheath, you bow-case, you vile standing tuck!."
The Very Best Insults Read More »
I have just finished a conference where we read and discussed in great depth Emile Zola's novel, Au Bonheur Des Dames (The Ladies Delight.) The novel, set in the late 1860's, centers on the invention of the department store (based on the historical store Bon Marché in Paris). The owner Mouret — a scoundrel and
The Splendor Of Shopping: Emile Zola and Au Bonheur Des Dames (The Ladies’ Delight) Read More »
