After high school, I went to college (‘cause that’s what you just did, right?), but it was mostly white noise. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I grew up, but I knew enough to know this wasn’t it. I’d read William Least-Heat Moon’s ‘Blue Highways,’ and had resonated deeply with me. I dropped out (more like faded away), bought a carton of cigarettes and hit the open road. I didn’t know what I was looking for; I figured I’d know it when I saw it. And i spent a lot of time roaming around the forgotten parts of the American west. There’s a whole world out there that doesn’t touch the interstate, and a lot of interesting people doing the best they can.
This was off/on for a couple of years. I’d go for a little bit, come back, get wanderlust and go again. There were also a few “inbetween” trips where I did things like help friends move. Later on, I got a job with an airline, and I would fly somewhere to start another trip (ie fly into Boston, and spend awhile driving around the Eastern Seaboard with no set plan, or to Dallas and do the same with the Texas/ the desert SW). When I lived in Memphis, I would go get lost in the Mississippi Delta and take the long way home. There were also some road trips built in as I transferred between stations.
My sister did that, years ago. Read some book and said she has to go to Portugal. Has to see the stuff she read about. Gave notice at her apartment, put her stuff in storage and left for 2 years. Books can get right under our skin. I love knowing you did a similar thing, Kevin.
It’s been a long while since I read anything powerful, Linda. I read a lot of bon bon books, the literary equivalent of popcorn movies. One book that rocked my world was Peter and Wendy, the book upon which the play Peter Pan is based. For the first time, it became shockingly clear to me that I would grow up and that it would not always be pleasant. The yolk of responsibility would fall on my shoulders and my options would narrow. I would one day be cast out of childhood’s Eden. Barrie’s brilliance is that he uses fantasy to expose a harsh reality and yet leaves hope that, if we are mindful, we can carry a spark of the child we were within us.
I was wrong. The book is based on the play, although the character of Peter Pan first appeared in his novel The Little White Bird, which was written for adults. That’s one I’ll have to check out.
Oh, I have not read that either. God, I wish someone would just pay me to read books I want to read. I loved Peter Pan as a kid but I was unaware of these. So going to look up both of them.
You gave me a new way of categorizing books: the ones that gut us. Those volumes compel us to dig deep into who we are and what we believe. You do what I admire most in a writer. You leave me thinking.
It’s been a long time since a book gutted me. Partly because reading has become hard after surviving a very abusive relationship. Recently, I finally gotten back into books, but it’s been a slow process.
To cope, I discovered storytelling in gaming. My sons bought me a PS5 and several games rated the best at storytelling. That’s how I found The Last of Us. This two-parter’s plot arc is amazing. The ending gutted me, and I just sobbed.
The thing that hit me the hardest was the tension between our perceived right to justice yet we can never fully understand the motives of another. That we are more interconnected than we think. It’s a powerful story. HBO has bought the rights and has aired the first part. It’s good. The game is better.
That's an insightful observation, Kerry. I didn't read books that gut me for a long time after getting divorced either. Storytelling in gaming has come a long way since the early days, that's for sure.
I'm a fan of Bukowski too. I used to read excerpts of his work when I was teaching in Peru. It's interesting how captivating his words were even to non-native speakers. I always read fantasy growing up. It was easy to visualize because I lived in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere. Watership Down is one of my favorites.
Oh man, Walter. I have not read Watership Down since school. I should reread that one. I think Bukowski taps into visceral emotion so well that I'm not surprised it resonated with non-English speakers. Ham On Rye affected how I write. I think it taught me something about really seeing the world around us instead of editorializing, which is the curse of so many writers.
Yes! I think in one of his poems, Bukowski says an artist is somebody who can say something complex in a simple way, and that's a great way to describe his work. He gets right to the point. My wife never read much before she met me, and Bukowski was the first writer she took on. I used to argue his merits with pompous college professors. These were the same guys who didn't think Bob Dylan was anything special, but who immediately changed their tune when he won a Nobel prize in literature. Bukowski is the writer I recommend for people who want to learn how to write in a way that appeals to a large audience. Writing like Bukowski is a great way to appeal to readers who don't normally read.
I love that concept. It's so true. Anyone can take a simple thing and spin it out. But to take a complex thing and strip it to the bare elements, that's something else entirely. It's what Bukowski did so well. Such visceral writing. The funny thing is that people try to emulate what he does, but often they miss the heart of it. They don't see first. If people actually saw, there would be no purple prose. You know? Actually seeing is a prerequisite for strong writing. Which I know you know.
Oh God, Jan. Anything by Ishiguro guts me. I have not read The Buried Giant. Have you read Never Let Me Go or Klara and the Sun? Both of those just gutted me. And he saves it all up to the end. About halfway through you start to feel it winding up. And then at the end? Wham. Man he is such a strong writer.
Reading The Trial (Kafka) for U.C. Berkeley summer school left me feeling uniquely understood for the first time in my life. The other books in that modern literature course (Mrs. Dalloway, Ulysses, Tar Baby, etc.) were distant seconds.
Ooh Holes by Louis Sachar stands out in my mind. Also E.B. White's Charlotte's Web. There were also a lot of Chinese martial arts novels that moved and shaped me.
After high school, I went to college (‘cause that’s what you just did, right?), but it was mostly white noise. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I grew up, but I knew enough to know this wasn’t it. I’d read William Least-Heat Moon’s ‘Blue Highways,’ and had resonated deeply with me. I dropped out (more like faded away), bought a carton of cigarettes and hit the open road. I didn’t know what I was looking for; I figured I’d know it when I saw it. And i spent a lot of time roaming around the forgotten parts of the American west. There’s a whole world out there that doesn’t touch the interstate, and a lot of interesting people doing the best they can.
That's fascinating, Kevin. I kind of love that a book sent you out onto the open road. For how long? I'd really love to know more.
This was off/on for a couple of years. I’d go for a little bit, come back, get wanderlust and go again. There were also a few “inbetween” trips where I did things like help friends move. Later on, I got a job with an airline, and I would fly somewhere to start another trip (ie fly into Boston, and spend awhile driving around the Eastern Seaboard with no set plan, or to Dallas and do the same with the Texas/ the desert SW). When I lived in Memphis, I would go get lost in the Mississippi Delta and take the long way home. There were also some road trips built in as I transferred between stations.
My sister did that, years ago. Read some book and said she has to go to Portugal. Has to see the stuff she read about. Gave notice at her apartment, put her stuff in storage and left for 2 years. Books can get right under our skin. I love knowing you did a similar thing, Kevin.
It’s been a long while since I read anything powerful, Linda. I read a lot of bon bon books, the literary equivalent of popcorn movies. One book that rocked my world was Peter and Wendy, the book upon which the play Peter Pan is based. For the first time, it became shockingly clear to me that I would grow up and that it would not always be pleasant. The yolk of responsibility would fall on my shoulders and my options would narrow. I would one day be cast out of childhood’s Eden. Barrie’s brilliance is that he uses fantasy to expose a harsh reality and yet leaves hope that, if we are mindful, we can carry a spark of the child we were within us.
Omg, Denise, you just introduced me to a book I've never heard of. Do you know how rarely that happens? I'm going to have to look that one up
I was wrong. The book is based on the play, although the character of Peter Pan first appeared in his novel The Little White Bird, which was written for adults. That’s one I’ll have to check out.
Oh, I have not read that either. God, I wish someone would just pay me to read books I want to read. I loved Peter Pan as a kid but I was unaware of these. So going to look up both of them.
You gave me a new way of categorizing books: the ones that gut us. Those volumes compel us to dig deep into who we are and what we believe. You do what I admire most in a writer. You leave me thinking.
I love your comment, Kathryn. I do so enjoy making people stop and think or look. :)
It’s been a long time since a book gutted me. Partly because reading has become hard after surviving a very abusive relationship. Recently, I finally gotten back into books, but it’s been a slow process.
To cope, I discovered storytelling in gaming. My sons bought me a PS5 and several games rated the best at storytelling. That’s how I found The Last of Us. This two-parter’s plot arc is amazing. The ending gutted me, and I just sobbed.
The thing that hit me the hardest was the tension between our perceived right to justice yet we can never fully understand the motives of another. That we are more interconnected than we think. It’s a powerful story. HBO has bought the rights and has aired the first part. It’s good. The game is better.
That's an insightful observation, Kerry. I didn't read books that gut me for a long time after getting divorced either. Storytelling in gaming has come a long way since the early days, that's for sure.
I'm a fan of Bukowski too. I used to read excerpts of his work when I was teaching in Peru. It's interesting how captivating his words were even to non-native speakers. I always read fantasy growing up. It was easy to visualize because I lived in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere. Watership Down is one of my favorites.
Oh man, Walter. I have not read Watership Down since school. I should reread that one. I think Bukowski taps into visceral emotion so well that I'm not surprised it resonated with non-English speakers. Ham On Rye affected how I write. I think it taught me something about really seeing the world around us instead of editorializing, which is the curse of so many writers.
Yes! I think in one of his poems, Bukowski says an artist is somebody who can say something complex in a simple way, and that's a great way to describe his work. He gets right to the point. My wife never read much before she met me, and Bukowski was the first writer she took on. I used to argue his merits with pompous college professors. These were the same guys who didn't think Bob Dylan was anything special, but who immediately changed their tune when he won a Nobel prize in literature. Bukowski is the writer I recommend for people who want to learn how to write in a way that appeals to a large audience. Writing like Bukowski is a great way to appeal to readers who don't normally read.
I love that concept. It's so true. Anyone can take a simple thing and spin it out. But to take a complex thing and strip it to the bare elements, that's something else entirely. It's what Bukowski did so well. Such visceral writing. The funny thing is that people try to emulate what he does, but often they miss the heart of it. They don't see first. If people actually saw, there would be no purple prose. You know? Actually seeing is a prerequisite for strong writing. Which I know you know.
Kazuo Ishiguru's "The Buried Giant" — slow and subtle yet piercing. A quiet ice-ax for sure.
Oh God, Jan. Anything by Ishiguro guts me. I have not read The Buried Giant. Have you read Never Let Me Go or Klara and the Sun? Both of those just gutted me. And he saves it all up to the end. About halfway through you start to feel it winding up. And then at the end? Wham. Man he is such a strong writer.
I haven't read Never Let Me Go (yet) but I did read, and was mesmerized by, Klara and the Sun. His books are haunting, in the best sense of the word.
They really are. Never Let Me Go is one of those books people love or hate. I loved it.
Yes, Ishiguru's " never let me go".
Glad to hear another vote for that one. Powerful story.
Reading The Trial (Kafka) for U.C. Berkeley summer school left me feeling uniquely understood for the first time in my life. The other books in that modern literature course (Mrs. Dalloway, Ulysses, Tar Baby, etc.) were distant seconds.
His work was so powerful. Such a shame he died thinking it all sucked. I should write about that.
Ooh Holes by Louis Sachar stands out in my mind. Also E.B. White's Charlotte's Web. There were also a lot of Chinese martial arts novels that moved and shaped me.