preternatural: adj. Out of or being beyond the normal course of nature; differing from the natural. Transcending the natural or material order; supernatural.
"...while she was preternaturally alert in some directions she was completely blind in others." (Found on page 75 ... from a description of the evil girl, Cathy.)
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Practice Writing
I'm happy to say I'm back at practice writing. I convinced myself I need only show up at the page. Sure enough, magical things are happening. I set my pen moving, and wonderful passages make their way from my heart to my notebook. One day at a time.
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Thursday, September 25, 2003 ( 2:12 PM )
The Diet
I just want to report my diet is going great! I've lost 30 pounds and thanks to the exercise, which I get for about an hour daily, I'm looking a whole lot better and have gone from size 24 to 18, and the 18's are getting loose on me! This has taken only three and a half months.
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Snow Falling on Cedars
Winner of awards, a favorite of literary critics, this first novel of a Washington state writer appealed to me in many ways, especially after reading the first two pages full of gorgeous description.
Unfortunately Guterson's descriptive abilities can focus on the unpleasant just as easily as on the pleasant aspects of life. There was way too much detail about sex (for my preference) and in general... just way too much description. I wanted to learn more about the art of descriptive writing, and I'm sure this book enriched me in that way, but it was top-heavy on that. It also relied heavily on back-story flashbacks - in just about every chapter. I got used to it after a while but it wasn't a simple book to read, which took some of the pleasure of reading from me.
The story takes place over the course of a short murder trial. During the trial all the witnesses (and others) are profiled with back-story, descriptions, and way more details than necessary. It has a good plot and I think if more plainly told, I would have enjoyed it a lot. The author's obsession with sex really ruined this for me. For example, he gave descriptions of the private parts of five different male characters, two of whom were dead! Spare me! I didn't need to know.
The historical part of the novel focused on the forced relocation of the Japanese during World War II. If you want to know more about that era and prejudice against the Japanese in America, this would be one good book to read.
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Sorry to say, this is the only Michener book I've read. I listened to it on tape while I was out walking this week. I walk and listen to books on tape regularly. Some of the stories were interesting, but this was probably a lousy introduction to his work. If I weren't so determined to learn from his writing, I'd probably quit here and look for another author. But knowing that he's written many popular books, I'll add him to my reading list again one of these days. Next time I'll try Tales of the South Pacific or one of the other books that are high on the lists.
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Saturday, September 20, 2003 ( 3:14 PM )
The Magician's Nephew
My goal: to read the entire Chronicles of Narnia series to my 13-year-old son this year. He's dyslexic and I've been reading children's novels out loud to him for years. This may be the last children's set I read to him (undecided)... as we may go on to only adult literature next.
My son's face visibly brightened every time I offered to read a chapter of this to him. He was as fascinated as I was, as millions of other Narnia-fans have been. We loved the book and look forward to starting the next!
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The Lovely Bones
I've stepped up my reading rate, hoping it will help prepare me for the writing of my next (fifth) novel which I want to be much better than the others. This is one of the contemporary novels I chose to read:
Its a fascinating novel told from the point of view of a murdered child. Very unique! The child explained how she'd been victimized and spent much of her time watching her family and friends as they reacted to and then attempted to cope with the horrible news of what happened to her.
In the end I felt the greatest benefit of this novel, for me, was to help me empathize with the extreme suffering the parents of murdered children go through. I had no idea how bad it was, and this book took me there and made me feel a glimmering of their pain.
There's not a lot of writing going on here unless you want to count my daily journal writing and message boards and email writing. I'm trying to catch up on my webdesign business and housework! Plus I'm now homeschooling my children again and feel bound to give them a large share of my time.
Meanwhile I'm dreaming up a good theme for my next novel, which I'll start on during November.
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Galapagos
I listened to this one on tape... read by Alan Alda. It was fascinating as Vonnegut's books usually are... very 'far out' and surprising. This one was told from the point of view of a ghost - recounting details about events one million years in his past, in the 1980's.
The book puts humanity in its place, showing just how vulnerable, stupid and ephemeral we really are. Thanks, Kurt. I really needed that! LOL
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The Red Tent
What a wonderful book! Its the story of Dinah, a girl barely mentioned in the Biblical book of Genesis (her birth is recorded in chapter 30). Using insight and fiction, Anita Diamant wrote to show the intricacies of this ancient culture in which women gathered monthly in the red tent. Its a book about mothers, daughters, and all other female relatives. Highly recommended, especially for women!
I was busy and didn't have time for any bigger goals on the Labor of Love Challenge, but I finished 10,200 words and at least 2/3 of that was today.
I wrote a children's story that as yet doesn't have a name. The working title is Daniella's Story. I actually finished it - there's 11 short chapters.
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