Spark --> Fire

I'm not much of a multitasker. When I write essays/do homework, I absolutely cannot listen to music. My problem, I think, lies in my attention to lyrics--I am just as likely to be captivated by a song with interesting lyrics as I am to interesting instrumentation. This is not to say that if a song has great lyrics, I can ignore poor instrumentation, or vice versa. The best songs have a solid balance between the two. But now I'm off on a tangent. The point is, lyrics draw my attention away from work, so I try not to combine the two.

Per the norm, creative writing deviates from my everyday practices. When I'm particularly blank, I use music to drive inspiration from whatever dank alcove in which it's managed to lodge itself. Over time (and thanks to websites like Grooveshark and Spotify, which allow me to indulge my penchant for organization, which some consider clinical) I've compiled a reliable list of songs to spark ideas. I call it my Writer's Un-Block (eloquent, I know), and I'm sharing it here on the off chance that aspects of it will similarly appeal to your muse. No particular order. Some have child-unfriendly language. I'm not going to explain why they work so well for me because 1) I'm not exactly sure how to answer that and 2) I don't want them to lose their power, over me and potentially over you.

1. Cardiac Arrest -- Bad Suns

2. The Cosmos -- Porches

3. The Way We Get By -- Spoon

4. I'm Into You -- Chet Faker

5. Rude Frindship (not a typo) -- Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt

6.  Hey Cool Kid -- The Cloud Nothings

7. Higher Love -- James Vincent McMorrow

8. Aminals -- Bath

9. Just A Song -- Girls

10. Dramamine -- Modest Mouse

11. How Come You Never Go There -- Feist

12. Metal & Dust -- London Grammar

13. Sleeping Ute -- Grizzly Bear

14. Dystopia (The Earth is on Fire) -- YACHT

15.  Kites -- Geographer

16. Run Run Run -- Phoenix

17. Avocado, Baby -- Los Campesinos!

18. What Death Leaves Behind -- Los Campesinos!

19. Candles -- Daughter

20. Breezeblocks -- alt-J

21. It's Around You -- ANR

22. Default -- Django Django

23. Petition -- Tennis

24. Origins -- Tennis

25. American Daydream -- Electric Guest

26. Good to Sea -- Pinback

27. Hero -- Family of the Year

28. Every Single Night -- Fiona Apple

29. Better Off -- Haim

30. Posters -- Youth Lagoon


I'll work on compiling these into a neat little Spotify playlist for your listening convenience in the next couple of days. Additions? Comment. I'm always tweaking.

Review: YOU SHALL KNOW OUR VELOCITY!

image courtesy of wordpress.com

If you haven't read anything by Dave Eggers, it's high time you did. Most people know him from the bestselling, semi-autobiographical A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius or the humorous quarterly McSweeney's, and these are good places to start.  Though I occasionally read McSweeney's, the content (for the most part) aren't written by him, an I read AHWOSG probably three years ago, so it's been a while since I read anything Eggerian. Then I heard about 826 Valencia, a writing and tutoring center founded by Eggers to teach children creative writing. The classes are cheap and so accessible to underserved children, and they even send tutors to schools in the area in order to reach as many students as possible. I'm not exaggerating when I say teaching there is my dream job, so when I found out that there is an 826 satellite in Boston (where I go to school) looking for interns, I naturally jumped at the chance. As I prepared my application, I decided to refresh my knowledge of Eggers and his mission to ensure that I represented it adequately.

This led me to a lesser known novel published by Eggers in 2002, entitled YOU SHALL KNOW OUR VELOCITY!. It was really an accident--I was on the lookout for new Eggers books at a local rummage sale and lo, there it lay, in nearly perfect condition, only 50 cents away from being mine.

You should understand that up until that point, I'd never read a work of true fiction by Eggers. After reading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, I had two major concerns about reading another of his books:

1) That his highly stylized voice in AHWOSG (i.e. goofy Californian 20-something) would prevent him from adopting other voices to fit a variety of characters.

2) That his use of diagrams/pictures/notes/maps/etc., though utilized perfectly in AHWOSG,  would become overbearing and/or tacky in a different context. The postmodern incorporation of visuals into novels often grates on me as a reader; I often perceive it as a gimmicky way for the author to portray himself as "innovative" and catch the bookstore browser's eye when he/she flips through the pages, without adding anything to the text. I was surprised by how effective Eggers was in employing this technique, but naturally worried that, like so many others, he'd tire it out.

So. It was with these reservations in mind that I began reading.

The plot is actually very simple for being so unique. Protagonist and narrator Will has somehow inherited $32,000. Instead of saving or spending the money, he decides to distribute it across the world (using some for airfare, hotels, rental cars, etc.) to people whom he deems worthy of it. So he gets his best friend, Hand, on board, and they do just that--but they only have a week to do it. Will tells the reader that he and Hand have recently lost their best friend, Jack, to a car accident, which may or may not have something to do with their pilgrimage. Obviously, they encounter numerous obstacles during the journey, learn much about the world they live in, etc. etc., but it's significantly more complex than that. For example, on the first page, we learn that Will is dead, and the book is his account of the two months before he died.

Photo courtesy of wikimedia

Will is damaged, but in a very private way. Often, when he converses with people, he is simultaneously holding an alternate conversation with the same people in his head. These fictitious conversations are invariably gentler and more expressive than the ones in his life, and the reader begins to wonder what exactly Will is sheltering himself from by recreating his every interaction. He chooses to give the majority of his money to children, creating treasure hunts for them and hiding cash in tire swings, because this is what he would have wanted when he was young.
The trip doesn't change him. This is not a book about character development in the normal sense. Rather, Eggers unfolds Will's character gradually, rather like one would open up a paper fortune teller--one fold at a time. Even by the last page, we are left with the impression that we understand only a small percentage of what makes Will tick.

Hand is a classic foil to Will: goofy when Will is serious, flirty when Will is reserved, reckless when Will is cautious. There is less backstory to his character, but the depth remains. At times, he succumbs to the classic "trusty sidekick" trope, but more often than not, it is him supporting Will. He recognizes the flurry in Will's head (no small feat) and keeps it at bay. He is a terrible, irresponsible, reckless caretaker,  but, like a new father, he grows into his role.

The most remarkable aspect of the friendship between Will and Hand is their nonverbal understanding of each other and the actions they will take in a given situation. Sometimes, this means that one can stop the other from making a poor decision, but frequently, one simply lets the other fall. Even when this happens, neither the reader nor the victim feels that the passivity was malicious or wrong.

The voice in YOU SHALL KNOW OUR VELOCITY! is very different yet equally as compelling as the one in AHWOSG. That fear was assuaged early in the novel for me, but at times, I did catch Eggers shining through via Hand. As to the pictures--they constituted mostly notes and postcards written by Will and blurry pictures of their journey. I didn't find them particularly effective in adding to the novel, but they weren't obtrusive, either.

Rating: 4/5--All in all, I liked this the best of the Eggers books
I have read, and it certainly holds its own in the arena of modern literature.

Favorite Quote:
"Everyone in the world knew more than us, about everything, and this I hated then found hugely comforting." -Dave Eggers, YOU SHALL KNOW OUR VELOCITY!

Introductions

Hello.
My name is Imogen. You can probably deduce my last name from this blog's URL.
I am a poetess. Whether or not I'm a successful one remains to be seen.
My social anxiety invariably botches any and all of my attempts to network, but I'm told I can be eloquent in writing (due almost entirely to the ability to edit before sharing), so blogging was a natural progression.
I will not publish my poetry here. This is solely because most literary magazines/competitions will not accept previously published work, including (but hardly limited to) dinky, obscure little blogs.
I'm as upset about it as you are; that is, if you aren't upset, neither am I. If you are, well, misery loves company and I'm willing to provide it.
I will try to compensate for the lack of poetry with content that is equally interesting/cringeworthy/sappy/strange.
This may include accounts of my personal life (depending on the day), my personal opinions (versatile), photos of my cosplays (maybe), and, hopefully, my progression from bashful, unknown second-year creative writing major to successful, established writer--whatever that ends up looking like.
There'll also be some of my views on modern poetry and explanations of my writing process (or lack thereof).
Enjoy.
Interact.
Dissent.
Correct.
Question.
At the very least, read.