What to expect in April:
Profiles of people who inspire me or I admire
Reviews of books, films, music,…blogs (leave a comment if you would like to feature!)
…and opinion pieces based on a eclectic selection of topics that I find engrossing or alarming
See you on Sunday the first of April
A Fettered Mind
Remember Those Who Starve! - 1921 Russian Poster by Ivan Simakov (1877-1925). Source: Wikipedia (public domain)
Wilkins was shocked by the devastation inflicted upon the Russian people when he visited there in the 1920’s. In a letter to his friend Yanagita he wrote:
Revolutionaries see only the end state. Their minds are rarely big enough to see how the people they hope to save cannot reach this place alone. They have to be carried. It’s like a parable my father once told me about: how Jesus carried a man through his most difficult times. We have to be the people’s Jesus if we want them to make it safely from where they have been to where we want them to be.
yumbu-lagang-monastery
People object when coerced down a particular path, even if they know it is for the better. It is primeval; they feel trapped and cannot get passed this feeling. You have to make them want to go; make the lead so soft they forget it is there.
– Sonam Dorje – 15th Dalai Lama
Over the New Year I read a paragraph of Haruki Murakami‘s new novel 1Q84 (pg. 189 HB) and found a wonderful insight to improve my descriptive writing.
An older editor, Komatsu, gave a younger writer some advice on a piece of fiction he was we-writing:
“When you introduce things that readers have never seen before into a piece of fiction, you have to describe them with as much precision and in as much detail as possible. What you eliminate from fiction is the description of things that most readers have seen.”
There is nothing more sure to stop a person reading than if you describe an ordinary scene in a clinical manner. If it is just a room, call it that; a room, and leave the reader to fill in the blanks. But if the room is imperative to the story then describe it through the eyes and tilted perception of the mind of your narrator or character.
I’d love to read a literal translation of Marakami’s original dialogue for his character Kamatsu. Please comment if you find it?
Augie March’s song Farmer’s Son came up on shuffle on my iPhone today and was reminded how cleverly they infuse their lyrics with voice. Even some of the words they use, there are so few used in a song they all have to be good, e.g. Shirk. It is one of the singles taken from their Watch me disappear album.
I’ve always enjoyed music from artists who tell stories in their songs; Billy Bragg, Paul Dempsey, Paul Kelly, Tim Friedman, Bjork, Kate Miller-Heidke, The Killers, Lisa Mitchell, Peter Gabriel… where do I stop!
For more information on the band Augie March see www.augiemarch.com.au
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A Fettered Mind 