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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
Beautifully written. Little vignettes looking back through parts of her life. Thoroughly enjoyed.
It was okay. I like the changes in perspective and a couple vignettes stuck with me.
Sooo sooo lovely. I am so glad I read this book. It was the perfect kind of memoir, snippets or stories, narritves that are moments. It is the kind of book that makes me want to write again, that makes me miss it, and those are the best kinds.
like a really moving little scrapbook. tasty morsels.
A friend and writer that I greatly admire gave me this book as a gift, and it was a lovely gift--like receiving something delicate and beautiful and meaningful.
At first, I would open it randomly and read one of the short vignettes, and it was like savoring a small but rich piece of candy. Just a little tidbit; nothing that was meant to make sense in the grand scheme, but just to be appreciated for its own words, metaphors, and images.
Reading it as a whole was completely different, though. I read it straight through in one sitting and I found it both subtle and helpful how each vignette linked to the next. A small reference or tiny allusion could set the tone or context for the next chapter, and the reader would smoothly transition from one fragment to the next. It definitely made me see the memoir in a different light...it did tell the story of a life, but it didn't do it through a chapter-by-chapter play-by-play, but rather through a series of brief snippets that were "in order" in some ways, but "out of order" in others. Regardless, it worked.
It was also nice to read a memoir that did not rely on excessive drama to move it forward; this woman's life has not been so far removed from many women's lives. She has loved and lost, adored and struggled with her children and grandchildren, and grappled with her identity as a woman. Nothing overly dramatic. Nothing particularly extraordinary in terms of events. However, her extraordinary and poignant insight is what makes it worth reading.
For obvious reasons, one of my favorite vignettes is about teaching writing. She claims that you can't really "teach writing" (she teaches at the New School in NYC). But, what you can do, she claims is "point out the promising...encourage and allow and permit and make possible...give assignments so nobody has to face the blank page alone with the whole blue sky to choose from" (154). Like many brief insightful passages, I found this both true and eye-opening, familiar and enlightening.
At first, I would open it randomly and read one of the short vignettes, and it was like savoring a small but rich piece of candy. Just a little tidbit; nothing that was meant to make sense in the grand scheme, but just to be appreciated for its own words, metaphors, and images.
Reading it as a whole was completely different, though. I read it straight through in one sitting and I found it both subtle and helpful how each vignette linked to the next. A small reference or tiny allusion could set the tone or context for the next chapter, and the reader would smoothly transition from one fragment to the next. It definitely made me see the memoir in a different light...it did tell the story of a life, but it didn't do it through a chapter-by-chapter play-by-play, but rather through a series of brief snippets that were "in order" in some ways, but "out of order" in others. Regardless, it worked.
It was also nice to read a memoir that did not rely on excessive drama to move it forward; this woman's life has not been so far removed from many women's lives. She has loved and lost, adored and struggled with her children and grandchildren, and grappled with her identity as a woman. Nothing overly dramatic. Nothing particularly extraordinary in terms of events. However, her extraordinary and poignant insight is what makes it worth reading.
For obvious reasons, one of my favorite vignettes is about teaching writing. She claims that you can't really "teach writing" (she teaches at the New School in NYC). But, what you can do, she claims is "point out the promising...encourage and allow and permit and make possible...give assignments so nobody has to face the blank page alone with the whole blue sky to choose from" (154). Like many brief insightful passages, I found this both true and eye-opening, familiar and enlightening.
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Beautiful short bits of a life in first, second, and third person. Like the 3 husbands depicted.
One of the best parts of about studying English in college is that you get to read some really good books. That, and having very few marketable skills.
Anyway the book is a collection of very short chapters about Thomas’s life. I love the mosaic effect, and how it paints a picture (and maybe not a full picture, but I don’t really need that to enjoy a story) of her life. I like how so many small moments can explain so much about a person.
And one of the best lines I’ve ever read is in here. Maybe it’s not the best ever, but when I read it my heart broke.
Anyway the book is a collection of very short chapters about Thomas’s life. I love the mosaic effect, and how it paints a picture (and maybe not a full picture, but I don’t really need that to enjoy a story) of her life. I like how so many small moments can explain so much about a person.
And one of the best lines I’ve ever read is in here. Maybe it’s not the best ever, but when I read it my heart broke.
I just love reading her writing. Little snapshots, vividly described and felt. There were many moments where I had this inner bomb of knowing or recognition or admiration explode as I read a moment captured in unexpected, perfect words.
Read this after A Three Dog Life. Fun to read a later book and having that knowledge read this one.
I turn 40 this year and feel like the bulk of my contribution is still coming. She is one of my mentors on this path. No matter the year of your life, you just begin. Period.
Read this after A Three Dog Life. Fun to read a later book and having that knowledge read this one.
I turn 40 this year and feel like the bulk of my contribution is still coming. She is one of my mentors on this path. No matter the year of your life, you just begin. Period.
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced