Monday, May 5, 2014

Of books and writers


“All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you: the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and the sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was. If you can get so that you can give that to people, then you are a writer.” 

Ernest Hemingway

It rained yesterday, a good, earthy summer rain. It has been raining now and then since the last couple of weeks - the first moody spells of the year that have washed away the lifeless, sun-baked stagnancy off one and all. I hope they'll wipe the dusty panes of my mind too, and let me see the world more clearly so that some calm can be restored in my writing/blogging hours.
And so, somewhere between waiting for it to pour while grumpily editing a convoluted manuscript and the echoing persuasions of "you should write more often" from friends and family, these strikingly illuminating words of Hemingway happened. They further took me down memory lane, to a good ten years back when I had to present a paper on Hemingway's short stories as part of the semester-end evaluation for our Modern American Literature course. As an ode to his bizarre, very shortly-written short stories (there are some that are barely a page long), the title of my paper chuckled, 'The Difficulties of Reading Hemingway'. Being someone who worshiped Hardy and Keats and tried to emulate their romanticism, I wasn't too enthusiastic then about his curbed expressions and economic usage of words. Literature meant to describe, to paint a world laced with words. I remember the awkward look of our professor, who was quite the proverbial taskmaster, when very emphatically I ended my talk with how the great writer of his times finally shot himself in the head. Yes, I was that thoroughly tired of his brilliance that apparently the whole world got, but me. In stark contrast, over the recent years, I'm amazed at the candour that I find in his writing. The very understated style that once annoyed me now astonishes me - the art of saying so much in just a handful of words.
Not for nothing they say, you don't read a book once. As you grow, so does its world and the characters living inside it.

PS. My current reading stupour comes from Elif Shafak's The Bastard of Istanbul. A plot that skids between two completely different geographies - Istanbul and Arizona (peppered with bits of San Francisco as well) - and houses at least thirty characters of which about fifteen carry the narrative forward, it's a whirlwind of a read. At times I felt the urgent need of drawing a family tree so as to not lose track of who was where and when. But like I have said here before, the element that tugged at my heart amid this chaos was Istanbul - its charming cobbled streets, the call of the simit seller, the greedy seagulls hovering over a ferry on the Bosphorus, and the history that coats almost every building of the city. There lies the pull of the novel. So yes, go for the atmosphere and for a detailed critique of the general Turkish attitude toward the Armenian genocide.  


11 comments:

  1. Hello Suman,

    In life we often think that it is when one has come round full circle to the beginning that one really starts to see the sense of things. At first Hemingway seems to lack the words and, then, eventually one cones round to the view that quality not quantity counts in words as in so many other things.

    In our gardening days, we first enthused about flowers......more colours, more varieties, more, more and yet more. However, after some 20 years, we came to realise that green was a colour and pretty much the only one needed and trees would always be the purest form of gardening anyway.......most of which one would plant but never see in maturity!

    So, yes, if one can capture sparely the thoughts, ideas, emotions and, yes, the weather, then one can truly be following in Hemingway's footsteps and be a writer. You, dearest Suman, are well on that pathway. Your lightness of touch is a joy. Your carefully chosen, well positioned words are delightful. Please let us have more.......

    And thank you so much for your comment on a recent post to which we have made reply. You will have to 'load more' to see it. Such a lovely idea......small things that make life big....your writing is one of these 'small' things!

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    1. Dear Jane and Lance,

      How you make my day, and always! Thank you so very much for your kind words. It's truly flattering and even more encouraging - just what I needed to hear during a trying summer spell. For someone who aspires to be a writer and for her writings to be so appreciated means a lot, and more so when it comes from such charming and erudite friends. Thank you, once again.

      I did visit your recommended 'A Super Dilettante' and must say it was quite a discovery. It's always a pleasure to come across kindred souls, isn't it!? Thanks, yet again.

      Yes, I too agree that the beauty of green can never be too much, and that sometimes it is all the eye needs and looks for.

      Have a good day.

      Suman

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  2. P.S. We wonder whether you have discovered the blog of our dear friend, ASD. He writes as 'A Super Dilettante' and we are sure that you and he would get on well......

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  3. Hello Suman

    As I was reading your post, I thought of A Super Dilettante and how you two would enjoy each others words. Like you, he has a gentleness and kindness that seeps through his words. Then I read Jane and Lance Hattatt's comments and I am shocked that they have already suggested a connection. There are no coincidences, the Holy Spirit, the x degrees of separation or whatever one's belief is working here.

    Your recent read sounds very interesting. I have not been to Turkey but Arizona is like a second home.

    Hope you have a wonderful week

    Helen xx

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    1. Dear Helen,

      Your comment made me smile. Yes, sometimes coincidences work beautifully, don't they!? I did visit 'ASD' and like I have written to the Hattatts above, it was a joy to come across his blog. It sure is a wonderful place to wander about.

      Thank you for your ever inspiring words; they help me to keep going despite all odds.
      Arizona, a second home!? Wow, that sounds interesting. I have been to Arizona twice, but purely on touristic purposes. Love the place - there's just so much to explore!

      Have a good day.

      Suman

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  4. I love a recommendation from a good source!
    it took me a long time to appreciate Hemmingway, and I still find myself bumping into bits of his books with discomfort.

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    1. Oh yes, I face that too. Sometimes I just have to go through a paragraph again and again till I get it, but I have learnt to appreciate him. All in good time, as they say! :-)

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  5. Dear Suman, It's a beautiful post about literature! And a wonderful quote! And I love a recommendation from you too!!

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    1. Thank you so much for those sweet words, dear Celine. This book is originally in English, unlike most Turkish fiction, and I think there should be a French translation. Let me check; I'll get back to you if I find one.

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  6. Dear Suman, if you think Hemingway’s short stories are sharp and concise and to the point (and I love all that) you should try Lydia Davis. She has short stories of no more than a few sentences. I think she has perfected the art. Even her name has not a single spare letter!

    I hope your writer’s impasse comes to a wide open exit soon. I am in a similar boat. Stranded and befogged. (Sorry about the mixed metaphors)

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    1. Why I love the metaphors, Friko! Hope you have made it to the shore safely. I'm still stranded in the middle of the ocean flapping my oars. The new post will tell you why.
      Thank you so much for the recommendation. She sounds interesting; will definitely look for her.

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