Oh, thanks! I'm so happy you are working with Elizabeth Kendall, whom I love. It's wonderful when two friends come together. I always recommend you when people are looking for the thing you do so well. Much love, L
Brilliant piece on Malcolm. I savored every bit of your .....(I can't come up with the proper adjective here; tough? brilliant? evocative? unusual? attention-getting? Is there one word for all of these things?) writing. Brilliant, I say.
Brilliant works for me. :) There is a lot of fun stuff going on in this piece from the point of view of the writer (me) that's also fun to talk about in terms of the craft and form of turning what could be considered criticism into a form of dramatic narrative. I've tried to teach this from time to time. Thank you so much for getting it. xxL
I would not have known how to phrase it this way but this is IT: "the craft and form of turning what could be considered criticism into a form of dramatic narrative." Criticism of any sort (I am an art historian and I have read a lot of stinkin' corpses of art criticism....) can be so dead, and your prose is so ardently alive.
You get it! If this is useful, I can add that the way any piece of writing I make gets made is to reverse engineer from the goal of giving the reader pleasure. Sometimes information will give the reader pleasure if the reader needs to know the thing in oder to continue the suspense of the narrative, for example. Often people write sentences because they feel pleasure writing them. That's important, too, but often the pleasure the writer feels in writing a sentence that isn't aimed at landing pleasure for the reader, is going to produce a thing that is dead.
You do this kind of writing on the books of others, and the others themselves, so well, it's scary. And you do it by not pulling back from inserting yourself exactly where you belong in the writing. Bravo!
Thanks, love. It's basically doing what I say Malcolm does . . . turn everything into thought-in-action, that is, the narrator's thoughts-in-action. It produces the illusion that is also not an illusion that any kind of commentary and response to experience can be turned into dramatic narrative with an unfolding revelation of mystery or plot. Or something like that. I'm enjoying saying things about my forms in the comments.
I love this. I, too, want more than anything to spend time with people who make me "feel things that can go to sleep until they are suddenly recalled to life."
I love this piece so much! The craft comments are spot on, but what I love is the heart in this writing, the reach into the experience of another human being, the piercing and gentle examination of another life. And the acknowledgment that the narrator is performing a forensic analysis she's not entirely sure about. How could she be? And yet she offers it to us and it resounds.
I like everything you write. Your voice is always crystal clear. In this piece you spoke to me, directly, as if you were channelng my inner thoughts about writng and my self. I will now re-read still pictures. Thank you for your brilliance.
This note pleases me so much. I was writing directly to you. That is the illusion I am aiming to create in the sentences. It's a joyous practice, and thanks for being part of this gathering.
well, you hooked me at "psychoanalytic theorizing," knowing your aversion to it—and of course, it was captivating, not to mention the carrot dangling before you laid it on us! the whole libel suit and trials story is fascinating; sam chwat sounds pretty genius but you also have to hand it to malcolm for recognizing the adjustment she needed to make. adding "still pictures" to my TBR.
The Malcolm book sounds like a delight, as is this piece. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas is wonderful company on a sleepless night, and I must savor Malcolm’s entire take on it.
Oh this was good. Especially the section about Malcolm's trial, the New Yorker, and her Jewish trial advisor. Very good. Thank you.
Oh, thanks! I'm so happy you are working with Elizabeth Kendall, whom I love. It's wonderful when two friends come together. I always recommend you when people are looking for the thing you do so well. Much love, L
Brilliant piece on Malcolm. I savored every bit of your .....(I can't come up with the proper adjective here; tough? brilliant? evocative? unusual? attention-getting? Is there one word for all of these things?) writing. Brilliant, I say.
Brilliant works for me. :) There is a lot of fun stuff going on in this piece from the point of view of the writer (me) that's also fun to talk about in terms of the craft and form of turning what could be considered criticism into a form of dramatic narrative. I've tried to teach this from time to time. Thank you so much for getting it. xxL
I would not have known how to phrase it this way but this is IT: "the craft and form of turning what could be considered criticism into a form of dramatic narrative." Criticism of any sort (I am an art historian and I have read a lot of stinkin' corpses of art criticism....) can be so dead, and your prose is so ardently alive.
You get it! If this is useful, I can add that the way any piece of writing I make gets made is to reverse engineer from the goal of giving the reader pleasure. Sometimes information will give the reader pleasure if the reader needs to know the thing in oder to continue the suspense of the narrative, for example. Often people write sentences because they feel pleasure writing them. That's important, too, but often the pleasure the writer feels in writing a sentence that isn't aimed at landing pleasure for the reader, is going to produce a thing that is dead.
You do this kind of writing on the books of others, and the others themselves, so well, it's scary. And you do it by not pulling back from inserting yourself exactly where you belong in the writing. Bravo!
Thanks, love. It's basically doing what I say Malcolm does . . . turn everything into thought-in-action, that is, the narrator's thoughts-in-action. It produces the illusion that is also not an illusion that any kind of commentary and response to experience can be turned into dramatic narrative with an unfolding revelation of mystery or plot. Or something like that. I'm enjoying saying things about my forms in the comments.
Shows what a good reader you are, as well as a really good writer.
Thank you, pumpkin. xxL
Brilliant
Thanks.
I love this. I, too, want more than anything to spend time with people who make me "feel things that can go to sleep until they are suddenly recalled to life."
I love this piece so much! The craft comments are spot on, but what I love is the heart in this writing, the reach into the experience of another human being, the piercing and gentle examination of another life. And the acknowledgment that the narrator is performing a forensic analysis she's not entirely sure about. How could she be? And yet she offers it to us and it resounds.
Thanks so much for this comment.
I like everything you write. Your voice is always crystal clear. In this piece you spoke to me, directly, as if you were channelng my inner thoughts about writng and my self. I will now re-read still pictures. Thank you for your brilliance.
This note pleases me so much. I was writing directly to you. That is the illusion I am aiming to create in the sentences. It's a joyous practice, and thanks for being part of this gathering.
well, you hooked me at "psychoanalytic theorizing," knowing your aversion to it—and of course, it was captivating, not to mention the carrot dangling before you laid it on us! the whole libel suit and trials story is fascinating; sam chwat sounds pretty genius but you also have to hand it to malcolm for recognizing the adjustment she needed to make. adding "still pictures" to my TBR.
Thanks, love, for always understanding the structure of the pieces. XXL
Great- I love the way you weave insight, perception, and emotion into narrative analysis. You have such an authentic voice.
Enjoy your writing. We have a mutual friend. Would love to chat. Let me know.
This was so good. Much better than the other ramble-y Janet Malcolm piece I saw earlier this week. You get her in a way that enlightens us all.
The Malcolm book sounds like a delight, as is this piece. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas is wonderful company on a sleepless night, and I must savor Malcolm’s entire take on it.
loved this, thanks
Thank you. I’m startled by this piece. The insight and the writing. Can’t stop thinking about it.
So happy to hear this. Thank you.
"the beauty of jump cuts and collages that produce pops of connection inside us" Thank you for capturing the almost unsayable.
Thank you!