(Far from a review of) Heroes & Villains by Angela Carter

There’s a book on my desk that I finished but can’t quite put away.  I want to blog about it but have not had time to be thoughtful, and the tapestry of its pages is still sinking into my soul.  It’s Heroes & Villains by Angela Carter.    My husband recommended it–he thought it would inspire me as I work on my new novel, because it’s  also about a young woman who loses (and maybe finds) herself in a world very different from the one she’s known.  (In my case, the protagonist has amnesia, so she doesn’t know what she’s known.)  And both lost/found young women get pregnant.  Reading this novel confirmed what I knew: I need to read much more Angela Carter.

As I read, I saw that my husband’s recommendation was eerily right on.  I am not comparing my work to Carter’s writing, but there are some similarities between my book and hers. How could I have known that the novel I’m working on has this kind of root source essence to dig into?  I read this novel too quickly; I didn’t give it the time and attention it deserved.  Now it sits prettily on my desk, wanting more of me, and me of it, but there’s no time right now.

All I can say is that it deserves more of me, and we will both have to wait.  But it will be worth the time, at least for me.

Reprinted with permission by Rebecca Kuder
Original post: http://rebeccakuder.com/2012/07/07/far-from-a-review-of-heroes-villains-by-angela-carter/

Robert Edric, author of The Devil’s Beat and The Mermaids (among many others)

 

 

Robert Edric is the author of twenty-two books, most recently The Devil’s Beat.  I had the pleasure of talking by phone with Mr. Edric on March 8, 2012.  Our conversation centered around Edric’s novella, The Mermaids, from PS Publishing.  (Special thanks to Peter Crowther from PS for arranging our interview.)

Here’s the first installment transcribed.  I will post more as time allows.

REBECCA KUDER

This spring, I’m teaching a creative writing course, and looking at a examples of well-written fiction and nonfiction, approaching reading as painters look at brushstrokes, to understand how the thing was made.  I’m assigning The Mermaids because I love it, because of its economy, and its unity of place and action.  I think it’s a great text to focus on.

ROBERT EDRIC

With regards to the actual writing itself, it was one of those books that actually got smaller and smaller and smaller. 

Read more...

reprinted with permission by Rebecca Kuder

          The Longest Way Home
       
             By Andrew McCarthy

"Through travel, I began to grow up."

In this memoir and travelogue, Andrew McCarthy explores what travel means to him, how he has traveled to assuage the loneliness within, to mature as an adult, and to find meaning and connection in his life. Opening with a brief account of his rise to fame as a teenager, McCarthy then takes the reader on a journey through the months leading up to his marriage with D in Dublin. He seeks to balance his need for solitude with the responsibilities that family life and fatherhood bring. He travels to Patagonia, the Amazon, and Baltimore on travel writing assignments, and struggles with leaving his family (D and their son and daughter) behind while embracing the solitary life travel provides. He recalls the trip to Vienna with D’s family and how this trip changed their relationship and moved them towards matrimonial commitment. Atop Mt. Kilimanjaro, the final trip before his wedding in Dublin, McCarthy experiences and recognizes a lifelong longing, and later writes: “In acknowledging that emptiness, I’m released further into my own life.”

I read this book after reading an interview with McCarthy on TheRumpus.net. I remembered him as an actor from The Brat Pack years; I had no idea that he had become a successful travel writer. McCarthy started keeping travel notes and a journal after reading Paul Theroux; upon reading that, I was excited to read McCarthy’s memoir. Theroux is an elegant, evocative travel writer—anyone inspired by his books is worth checking out. McCarthy’s descriptions of Patagonia and Kilimanjaro are haunting, and he deftly and humorously describes traveling down the Amazon riverboat with quirky and sometimes nosy and annoying fellow passengers. Woven through these travel narratives are McCarthy’s personal challenges of settling down and of connecting with those whom he loves most.

It is well-written and elegantly crafted. I’ve added The Longest Way Home to my list of excellent travel writing.

Reprinted by permission of Kathy Hart
Original post: http://katherinemhart.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/worth-reading-2-the-longest-way-home/