The bad thing about today is it's one day closer to January. I expect to hear from assorted medicos then, reminding me of postponed checkups. "Oh, sure, I'll be back next year," I said. "I can't afford it now." Thus goes the race between an entropic body and a dwindling wallet.
However, I still have one good eye and have been reading up a storm. I finished Catherine, a remarkable NaNovel. My God, the thing not only makes sense and is full of savory phrases, there's lots and lots and lots of like..um..er..intelligent thinking going on in it. Discussions of religions, the nature of humans, even a shout out to Bethany!
It's been a long time since I read something that made me think so much. It was a pleasant experience. I think my sights are quite a bit lower. I use the Graham Greene explanation. When asked about some of his less ambitious works he called them "entertainments." I like that term.
So today I dashed off my first impressions on Catherine. I could easily write a book just discussing the things I loved in it. The trouble is, it takes forever to write critiques. I could talk for half a day about it, about anything I read, but that would entail writing for sixteen.
The NaNoWriMo Yahoo! group is more active than its been in years. Active in the sense that I think some people are actually sharing and reading. That old group hasn't seen that in years. But the thing that really made my day is that someone who's read Big Train Show and who knows a thing or two about aviation said she wasn't laughing all through my blimp adventure segment.
As she said, and as I've been taught and have been doing all along, you can make stuff up if you don't know the facts. Reality must be twisted to meet the needs of the story, and that's as true for facts as it is for events. I have little idea what the inside of a blimp is like, but I know what the story needed and was able to apply some common sense and come up with something workable.
Perhaps that's why they call it fiction.
Oh. Damn. No room for the vegans today.
Vegans are your friends!
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2 comments:
I too am a big Greene fan and I use his distinction too: between novels and entertainments. Thanks for all the comments on Catherine. I appreciate everything you have said. The blimp scene in Big Train Show is good and I found in credible. When in doubt make it up. Fiction writing is great, the readers expect you to lie to them and are disappointed when you don't (only half-joking).
I meant to say, "I found it, the blimp scene, credible." I was skeptical at the beginning of the scene, but I could see everything in my head clearly in my head by the end and you convinced me that the trip happened and led to the results you claimed: Sid's being famous. (I think I need more coffee.)
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