She was born Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, but she was mostly raised in Stamps, Arkansas by her grandmother. From her grandmother, Maya learned spirituality, and the importance of family, faith, and the celebration of life. Living in the rural south, she also experienced racial discrimination and being raped at the age of seven by her mother’s boyfriend. Fortunately, she overcame the horrors of her past and has become a national treasure, sharing her insights and life lessons through her work and art.
Angelou’s official website provides details about her and lavels her “a global renaissance woman.” A Biography Website provides a short video, giving a quick review of her life and work. The specifics of Angelou’s life are impressive, but even the highlights help show the full range of all she has done. During WWII, she moved to San Francisco, where she won a scholarship to study dance and acting. She also worked at a range of jobs, including being the first black female cable car conductor. Her son Guy was born in 1944. From the mid-1950s on, she was an actor, dancer, writer and civil rights activist. In the 1960s, she traveled extensively and became more involved with the civil rights movement back in the United States.
She wrote her most popular work, the first of several memoirs, in 1970: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. This was the work that introduced me to this impressive woman. But her talents do not stop there. Her creativity continues to be expressed through acting, writing, directing, and lecturing. In 1971, she was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her collection of poetry Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Die. Since 1982, she has held the first lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies at Wake Forest University. Angelou mentions accepting this appointment during the following interview on the Merv Griffin Show in 1982.
In 1993, she composed and recited her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at President Clinton’s inauguration; she was the first poet to be invited to read at this event since Robert Frost read at JFK’s inauguration in 1961. The poem’s themes focus on change, inclusion and responsibility. In 2000, Angelou was awarded the Presidential Medal of Arts and in 2008 the Lincoln Medal. Angelou continues to write and to present lectures across the country. She has become a more familiar face to many because of her friendship with Oprah Winfrey, which included several visits on Oprah’s show. Oprah praises Angelou as a friend and mentor, a role Angelou plays informally for the country through her writings and insights about life. In the following video, Oprah shares one of the lessons Angelou shared with her that Oprah now shares regularly with others: “When you know better, you do better.”
“Phenomenal Woman” is my favorite poem of those written by Maya Angelou. It was first published in 1978 along with the poem “Still I Rise.” However, they were also included in a book that was published in 1995: Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women. This poem shows her strength, her spirit, her confidence, even if she does not fit society’s norms. Her strength and confidence, which are so very justified, can give us all hope for ourselves and society. I wish Maya Angelou, a truly phenomenal woman, a great birthday today as she continues to voice confidence and celebration for all of us. Her website is right when it states, “Dr. Angelou’s words and actions continue to stir our souls, energize our bodies, liberate our minds, and heal our hearts.”
The following video gives a musical version of “Phenomenal Woman,” some tidbits about her life, and at the end a reading of “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou herself. “Phenomenal Woman” as well as a few other quotes are presented after the video.
Phenomenal Woman
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
‘Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
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SOME WORDS OF WISDOM FROM MAYA ANGELOU
I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return.
I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.
My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors.
It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.
Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.
Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.
Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.
If you don’t like something, change. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.
A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.
History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.
“Quotation, n: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another.” Ambrose Bierce
“A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought.” Dorothy L. Sayers
“[A] quotation is a handy thing to have about, saving one the trouble of thinking for oneself, always a laborious business.” A. A.Milne
I chuckled when I read the above three quotes, but I sure hoped they were not accurate 100% of the time. I love quotes—and use them often. Fortunately, not everyone agrees with Birece, Sayers, and Milne. Abraham Lincoln, for example, said, “It is a pleasure to be able to quote lines to fit any occasion.”
Geoffrey O’Brien agrees with Lincoln. O’Brien is the general editor of the 18th edition of Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. It, therefore, seems fitting that he values quotations and even speculates about the use of quotes as we communicate with each other. In a New York Times column, he suggests some practical reasons to use quotes: enhance a speech, bolster an argument, fill a void in dull conversations, perhaps serve as an outline for writers. But ultimately he says quotes give a glimpse into ourselves and our cultural history. For O’Brien, “In a real sense, we are what we quote — and what can any of us hope to be but a tiny component of that hubbub of voices distilled by books of quotations and epigrams?”
I am not an editor of books of quotations, but I am a writer, teacher, and friend who has loved and used quotes since I was a kid. I learned to collect quotes from my mom, and I won my first essay contest in 6th grade building an essay on America around a quote from John F. Kennedy. I still use quotes in essays, blog posts, and classroom writing assignments; I share them with friends and family. I even collect books of quotations on a wide range of subjects, such as teachers, courage, and leadership. My copy of Bartlett’s is the 15th edition that was published in 1980.
For me, quotes capture the truth about life, about lessons learned, about actions to take to make things better, and about ideas that motivate and inspire. O’Brien offers this observation: “Quotes are the actual fabric with which the mind weaves: internalizing them, but also turning them inside out, quarreling with them, adding to them, wandering through their architecture as if a single sentence were an expansible labyrinthine space.” It would be a real challenge for me to give up using quotes, sharing them, reflecting on them. They give me a way to put life into perspective that I can share with others.
How about you? Do you use quotes or avoid them? What are your favorites?
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
SOME OF MY FAVORITE WORDS TO LIVE BY
“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” Will Rogers
“If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” Henry Ford
“Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.” Sir William Dewar
“If you don’t like something, change. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.” Maya Angelou
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead
“Learning is the discovery that something is possible.” Fritz Perls
“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” Mother Teresa
“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” Robert Brault
“We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi
“The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.” Mark Twain
“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do.” Helen Keller
I read a lot and even have some favorite authors. For escape, I tend to read murder mysteries. Some of my go-to murder mystery writers are Janet Evanovich, James Patterson, Alexander McCall Smith, and Tony Hillerman. I also read novels by such authors as Jodi Picoult, Ursula Le Guin, Jane Smiley, and Anne Tyler. But one of my favorite authors is Barbara Kingsolver. I have read most of Kingsolver’s books and enjoyed them all.
My First Introduction to Kingsolver
My introduction to Kingsolver was through her third novel Pigs in Heaven (1993). It technically was a sequel to her first novel The Bean Trees (1988). Both novels can stand alone, but they do share characters and a progressive story line. Pigs in Heaven follows the journey of a single white woman Taylor who has informally adopted a young Indian girl called Turtle. All is well, until the tribe learns of the situation and works to intervene and return the child to the Cherokee Nation and reservation life. As the story unfolds the reader sees the emotion and turmoil of the matter from all sides: mother and child, individual and tribe/reservation, different cultures, and even grandparents on both sides.
The characters are vivid, authentic, and a bit quirky; the dialog rings true and moves the story forward; the social concern is explored from all sides; and the changing countryside enhances the story and feelings that are unfolding. As the characters move toward resolution they pass through the Tucson desert, rural Oklahoma, and even Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam. The secondary characters—like Jax, Taylor’s boyfriend, and Barbie, the fellow traveler they meet up with who aspires to be just like the Barbie Doll—add humor and counterpoint to the other relationships in the story. Taylor’s mother Alice opens and ends the novel, serving as a firm anchor for the individual vs. the family dichotomy being explored. Other issues that are woven throughout the novel include the value of family and community, the problems and benefits of interracial adoptions, and the inability of social services to really fix things.
The reviews of Pigs in Heaven offer praise that could easily apply to any of Kingsolver’s novels:
“Very few novelists are as habit-forming as Kingsolver. . . .Pigs in Heaven succeeds on the strength of Kingsolver’s clear-eyed, warmhearted writing, and irresistible characters.” Newsweek
“Kingsolver makes you care about her characters to the point of tears; she is bitingly funny—and she writes like a dream.” San Francisco Chronicle
“That rare combination of a dynamic story told in dramatic language, combined with issues that are serious, debatable, and painful. . . [it’s] about the human heart in all its shapes and ramifications.” Los Angeles Times Book Review
Kingsolver’s Life
Kingsolver Cover Photo
The focus in Pigs in Heaven on Indian culture—specifically the Cherokee Nation—fascinates me; it is one reason I was drawn to the novel. That same interest made me curious about the author, her background and experience. All the book jacket says about Kingsolver is that she was born in Kentucky but now resides in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband and two children. Since then she has moved to southern Appalachia.
Kingsolver understands that readers may be curious about her life, so she provides an official website. However, she does “not believe this information improves the understanding of [her] books, in any way.” Since others will tell her life story if she does not, she provides the website to make certain her truth is out there, noting that her version is “less entertaining than some of the others, but has the distinction of being true.”
When asked if her works are in anyway autobiographical, her answer is a resounding, “No!” Yes, she has lived in some of the places used as locations in her work and conducts extensive research, but the stories and characters are all imagined, unless prominently displayed as historical. She does pride herself on being fully immersed in the various locations, knowing that the details—the smells, the sounds, even the feel of the land—help the places become real for the reader and her characters. This realism regarding nature and location is part of what makes Kingsolver’s work so vibrant, alive, believable. But she has never adopted a child, worked as a forest ranger, been the daughter or wife of a missionary, or been an illegal alien trying to survive.
Still, it is entertaining to read Kingsolver’s review of her life. She comes across as observant and self-effacing with a liberal mix of adventure, conscience, and humor thrown in. She was born in 1955 and grew up in rural Kentucky, especially enjoying her time outdoors. At various times her father’s work as a doctor volunteering his time to those in need moved the family to remote locations such as the The Congo when she was 8 years old. Early on she was exposed to social consciousness as well as the dichotomies so often evident in life: rich vs. poor, outsider/stranger vs. family/group, and many different cultures and languages.
She started college as a music major studying piano in 1973, but she shifted to a biology major, hoping to actually find a job upon graduation. Although she kept a journal since she was about 8, enjoyed writing in grade school, and dabbled at creating short stories and poetry, she did not see herself as a writer—that passion seemed about as possible as becoming a movie star. She moved to Tucson in 1978 and worked for two years as a lab technician before beginning graduate work in advanced biology at the University of Arizona. While taking classes, she started teaching a bit and worked more and more as a technical writer.
She kept writing fiction but never shared it with anyone. By the mid-1980s, she was married and earning a living on her freelance technical writing. Just before her first daughter was born in 1987, she undertook what she calls “extreme housecleaning.” As she sorted through one of her closets, she found the draft of her first novel. She decided those pages had either to be thrown out or forwarded to someone—she sent it on to an agent. The Bean Trees was published the next year with good reviews. The Los Angeles Times called her first novel “the work of a visionary.” The New York Times Book Review said, “As clear as air. It is the southern novel taken west, its colors as translucent and polished as one of those slices of rose agate from a desert shop.” Kirkus Reviews said, “Lovely, funny, touching, and humane.”
Kingsolver Cover Photo
From then on, Kingsolver has been a published author, but that status still surprises her a bit. With each new book she wonders if readers will come along on the journey. From then on personally, she was divorced, traveled extensively, remarried, had another daughter and eventually moved to Virginia, residing now in Appalachia. Her published work includes novels, short stories, poetry, essays, and other works of non-fiction. Her work continues to impress critics and amaze her readers. And her life continues to unfold, not just as an author but as wife, mother, neighbor, farmer, and citizen of the world. Kingsolver recently wrote an article for More Magazine about how growing older is not so bad: “The Upside of Acting Your Age.”
Kingsolver has won several awards including the National Humanities Medal awarded by President Clinton (2000) for exemplary service through the arts, United Kingdom’s Orange Prize for Fiction (2010), and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize’s Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award (2011). She has also won various other awards from the American Booksellers and American Library Associations, was named one of the most important writers of the 20th century by Writers Digest, and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Her work has been frequently anthologized and is routinely taught as part of standard school curriculum. She especially appreciates the ongoing responsibility of serving on the review panel for American Heritage Dictionary. As she explains: “One of my kids learned early that any playground shouting match over ‘my-parent-is-better-than-yours” could be ground to a halt with: ‘My Mom writes the dictionary!’”
Kingsolver established the Bellwether Prize for Fiction in 1998. This award is the nation’s largest prize for an unpublished work, and it helps establish the career of new literary voices. Recently, this award has become the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. Her involvement with this award makes perfect sense, given the social commentary that is an integral aspect of all of her work. The prize is awarded in the even-numbered years to an American author with a social conscience that is given voice in print. Kingsolver provides the $25,000 prize, and the winning author’s work is published.
Kingsolver’s Works
Kingsolver writes poems, short stories, novels, essays, magazine articles, and non-fiction books. Her full bibliography can be seen on her website. Her short stories—Homeland—and essays—High Tide in Tucson and Small Wonder—maintain her enthralling use of nature and her vivid characters and dialogue. She is probably best known for her seven novels. A search of the Kirkus Reviews Website provides a review of most of her books, but especially each of her novels: The Bean Trees (1988), Animal Dreams (1990), Pigs in Heaven (1993), The Poisonwood Bible (1998), Prodigal Summer (2000), The Lacuna (2009), and Flight Behavior (2012).
Pigs in Heaven was the first novel that achieved bestseller status, and it remains popular and in print in many languages after 20 years. The Poisonwood Bible is perhaps the best known since it was nominated for the Pulitzer and was named as part of Oprah’s Book Club. This novel is set in the Belgian Congo, where a minister has brought his wife and four daughters as he pursues his ministry. The women tell the story, offering their varying perspectives. Kirkus Reviews simply calls this novel “A triumph.” The New York Time Book Review says, “Haunting. . . .A novel of character, a narrative shaped by keen-eyed women.” For me, her novel is reminiscent of Faulkner through her engaging use of character and perspective to explore perception and reality.
When asked how she starts writing a book, Kingsolver explains that she focuses on questions and then a devises a story that will present some answers. For her novel The Lacuna, her primary question was, “Why is the relationship between art and politics such an uneasy one in the U.S.?” The novel then introduces the readers to Harrison Shepherd, a developing author who lives in Mexico for a time, meeting the likes of Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Lev Trotsky, and then moves to Ashville, North Carolina, during the time of Pearl Harbor, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Red Scare. The collision of art and politics is presented against a backdrop of real people and real events, some of which are not mainstream stories.
Kingsolver explains how the title of The Lacuna underscores the theme: “The theme arrived long before the word. I worked on the novel for six years under a different title, which wasn’t a very good one. I was near the end of a first draft when one day I thought about this amazing word, lacuna, with all its intertwined meanings that unlock the inner workings of my story. I typed it, stared at it, and actually may have smacked myself on the forehead. It must have been lurking in my unconsciousness for a while, because everything came together around that word, once I committed it to the page. This novel is about all the important things you don’t know – the other side of the story, the piece of history that’s been erased. The plot is elaborately drawn around this idea in dozens of different ways.”
This novel, not surprisingly, was well received by critics and readers. The United Kingdom’s The Independent said, “Every few years, you read a book that makes everything else in life seem unimportant. The Lacuna is the first book in a long time that made me swap my bike for public transport, just so I could keep reading.”
Two critics compare The Lacuna to The Poisonwood Bible, praising both:
“As in The Poisonwood Bible, Kingsolver perfects the use of multiple points of view … This [The Lacuna] is her most ambitious, timely, and powerful novel yet.” Library Journal
“Before reading [The Lacuna], I would have sworn that 1998′s The Poisonwood Bible was her masterpiece, not to be surpassed; it was as close to a truly perfect book as I’ve ever read. This one’s even closer to that lofty goal.” Dallas Morning News
I have read most of Kingsolver’s novels, and each captivates me through her vivid, engaging characters and a strong sense of place that lends credence to the action that unfolds. My favorite novel of hers is Prodigal Summer. I admit it may be my favorite because it is the one I read most recently. This novel carefully weaves the stories of three main characters together in ways that are first subtle but become more apparent page after page. The characters are a female forest ranger living alone in the wild and her somewhat accidental lover, a young city woman who studies biology and marries and then quickly becomes a widow while living on the late husband’s family farm, and a retired widower and his almost friendly bickering with a neighbor woman who is younger but not young. Their stories are interwoven chapter by chapter under the headings “Predator,” “Moth Love,” and “Old Chestnuts.”
The fourth character in the novel is Nature itself, the valleys and canyons, mountains and fields of southern Appalachia. But Nature is more than the location. It is a breathing living presence that each character builds a relationship with. Lusa, the young widow learning farming, points out the personality of Nature she is coming to know: “People in Appalachia insisted that the mountains breathed, and it was true: the steep hollow behind the farmhouse took one long, slow inhalation every morning and let it back down through their open window and across the evening—just one full deep breath each day.” She doubted this insistence at first, but finally came to accept the life and companionship of the Nature around her. “She learned to tell time with her skin, as morning turned to afternoon and the mountain’s breath began to bear gently on the back of her neck. By early evening it was insistent as a lover’s sigh, sweetened by the damp woods, cooling her nape and shoulders whenever she paused her work in the kitchen to lift her sweat-damp curls off her neck. She had come to think of Zebulon [Mountain] as another man in her life, larger and steadier than any other companion she had known.”
In Prodigal Summer, Nature is a constant for all the characters as well as a connection between them. Through their relationships with Nature the social concerns of conservation and preservation vs. hunting, saving farms and meeting increased food production demands, and living with nature in every way are explored. Of course the novel also explores life and death, love and loss and growing old, and strength of independence and the comfort of family and community. As the Newsweek review noted, “A warm, intricately constructed book shot through with an extraordinary amount of insight and information about the wonders of the visible world.” The paperback edition’s second cover page suggests some of the vibrancy of the nature presented in the novel.
My Recommendation
If you have not yet read anything by Barbara Kingsolver, pick up one of her books. I guarantee you will be impressed. I have not read everything Kingsolver has written, but what I have read I’ve liked. And I am working on the rest. Small Wonder (2002) is a collection of essays that is on my nightstand, ready to be read. Her most recent novel Flight Behavior (2012) will be available in paperback in June. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (2007) is a non-fiction narrative that recounts how her family experimented for a year living mainly off food grown locally—it sounds like it will be a fun read. As Washington Post Bookworld says, “Charming, zestful, funny and poetic. . . . The authors [Kingsolver, her husband and older daughter] . . . add three powerful voices. . . to the swelling chorus of concern about the food we grow, buy, and eat.” The following video is an interview with her about this book and the experience it chronicles.
Kingsolver’s Words
About writing
“What keeps me awake at the wheel is the thrill of trying something completely new with each book. I’m not a risk-taker in life, generally speaking, but as a writer I definitely choose the fast car, the impossible rock face, the free fall.”
“Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.”
“A novel has to entertain — that’s the contract with the reader: you give me ten hours and I’ll give you a reason to turn every page.”
“Beginning a novel is always hard. It feels like going nowhere. I always have to write at least 100 pages that go into the trashcan before it finally begins to work. It’s discouraging, but necessary to write those pages. I try to consider them pages -100 to zero of the novel.”
“If we can’t, as artists, improve on real life, we should put down our pencils and go bake bread.”
“Literature duplicates the experience of living in a way that nothing else can, drawing you so fully into another life that you temporarily forget you have one of your own. That is why you read it, and might even sit up in bed till early dawn, throwing your whole tomorrow out of whack, simply to find out what happens to some people who, you know perfectly well, are made up.”
From her books
“The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. The most you can do is live inside that hope, running down its hallways, touching the walls on both sides.” Animal Dreams
“Fiction cultivates empathy for a theoretical stranger by putting you inside his head, allowing you to experience life from his point of view.” Small Wonder
“Don’t try to make life a mathematics problem with yourself in the center and everything coming out equal. When you’re good, bad things can still happen. And if you’re bad, you can still be lucky.” The Poisonwood Bible
“If it crosses your mind that water running through hundreds of miles of open ditch in a desert will evaporate and end up full of concentrated salts and muck, then let me just tell you, that kind of negative thinking will never get you elected to public office in the state of Arizona. When this giant new tap turned on, developers drew up plans to roll pink stucco subdivisions across the desert in all directions. The rest of us were supposed to rejoice as the new flow rushed into our pipes, even as the city warned us this water was kind of special. They said it was okay to drink but don’t put it in an aquarium because it would kill the fish.
“Drink it we did, then, filled our coffee makers too, and mixed our children’s juice concentrate with fluid that would gag a guppy. Oh, America the Beautiful, where are our standards? ” Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
“But kids don’t stay with you if you do it right. It’s the one job where, the better you are, the more surely you won’t be needed in the long run.” Pigs in Heaven
“The most important thing about a person is always the thing you don’t know.” The Lacuna
“’I lost a child,’ she said, meeting Lusa’s eyes directly. ‘I thought I wouldn’t live through it. But you do. You learn to love the place somebody leaves behind for you.’” Prodigal Summer
“Every one of us is called upon, perhaps many times, to start a new life. A frightening diagnosis, a marriage, a move, loss of a job. . . . And onward full-tilt we go, pitched and wrecked and absurdly resolute, driven in spite of everything to make good on a new shore. To be hopeful, to embrace one possibility after another—that is surely the basic instinct. . . . Crying out: High tide! Time to move out into the glorious debris. Time to take this life for what it is.” High Tide in Tucson
“It’s terrible to lose somebody, but it’s also true that some people never have anybody to lose, and I think that’s got to be so much worse.” The Bean Trees
Susan Glaspell (1876-1948) wrote “A Jury of Her Peers” in 1917. The story is a fictionalized account loosely based on a true crime story Glaspell covered in 1900 when she was a reporter for the Des Moines Daily News. In that true story a farmer’s wife—after being convicted for the murder of her husband with an axe—was released on appeal for lack of evidence.
Many years later, after leaving journalism to become a fiction writer, Glaspell first wrote her account inspired by this factual murder in a play for Providence Players called Trifles (1916). The next year, she turned the play into the short story “A Jury of Her Peers.” At the time of publication, the story was considered both controversial and disturbing.
The story itself is not a fast-paced thriller. The main action—the murder—is never seen. Instead, one character simply reports what he saw when he discovered the scene. Later, he and his wife, the sheriff and his wife, and the county attorney return to the household where the murder occurred looking for evidence of a motive. The men investigate, and the women mainly stay in the kitchen tidying up and pulling together a few items (apron, shawl, jar of preserves) to bring to the wife/suspect as she awaits charges.
The main story develops from what the women find and share. The attorney, however, condescendingly dismisses anything the women might observe or think with such statements as “Women are used to worrying over trifles” and “But would the women know a clue if they did come upon it?” You can access the full story online—it is a good read.
I first discovered this story when I was teaching back in the 1980s. I used it in class to teach writing and critical thinking. [I was not teaching literature courses at the time but always tried to add something literary into every course I taught anyway.] Student writers can see the importance of detail—what is and what is not noticed by the various characters in the story as well as the form and punctuation of dialog.
Young critical thinkers can use those descriptive details and the telling dialog to draw inferences, explore the assumptions of the various characters depending on their role in the story, and make their own assessment about what actually happened. Lively discussions ensue especially if there is wide diversity of students represented in the class, as there usually is: men and women; older and younger; married, single or divorced; and perhaps even city dweller and country dweller. Sometimes the students are asked to take on the role of prosecutor or defense and make the case for a jury.
If I use the story in March, then I could also explore its historical and sociological details as an homage to Women’s History Month. What was life like in the early 1900s? What were societal attitudes toward women and the options open to them: stay single, work outside the home, divorce? What was transportation and communication like without cars, phones, neighbors? Glaspell is considered an early voice for feminism. Students can research these areas or guest speakers can come to class and help the students practice taking notes.
A blogger named Jennifer posted her analysis of the story a few years ago and offered this observation: “In this era women didn’t get divorced. Minnie was forced to be with this cold, hard man. He was such a cold person that most people didn’t want to be near him. Minnie was completely isolated and cut off from her happy youth. In a sense she was a caged bird. I don’t know how she endured all of this for twenty years.” The short story generates some good discussion as well as writing opportunities.
FURTHER READING:
If the students are intrigued by the story and want to read further—or have an assignment to read a novel or other short stories for class and write a report—they might be interested in reading more works by Glaspell. She was an accomplished author. In fact, although this story was a bit controversial and most of her works looked at social issues, Glaspell’s fiction was well received. Her first novel (1909) won rave reviews and was a national best seller, and her play based loosely on the life and family of Emily Dickinson won a Pulitzer Prize (1931).
Other authors from the early 1900s the students might explore are F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, Eugene O’Neill, Sherwood Anderson, Gertrude Stein, and Willa Cather. A short story with a comparable theme was written by Kate Chopin: “The Story of an Hour.” Although written a bit earlier (1894), this story builds on the options available to and assumptions about women and marriage at the time. It is really, really short—just a few pages—so can easily be used in class for further discussion.
I hope you are intrigued enough to read this provocative short story. Alfred Hitchcock found it fascinating enough to use it as an episode for his show Alfred Hitchcock Presents. His version of “A Jury of Her Peers” first aired in December 1961. The editorial comments that frame Hitchcock’s dramatization are not fully grounded in the details from the story—and the presentation shows the wife/suspect as an actual character, but otherwise it is true to the story.
Opening Note: In past posts, I wrote about some other “H” topics you might enjoy: Hummingbirds and Haiku.
TOPIC H: HARRY POTTER
SOME BACKGROUND:
I have to admit, I love Harry Potter. No, I do not have kids or grand kids who enticed me into reading the books. What caught my eye were the kids of the world who just loved the books and then the movies. It was interesting to see news coverage of kids standing in line to see the opening of one of the Harry Potter movies. But the impressive part was that most of the kids were carrying the books. Occasionally one would be asked by a reporter to make a comment. Invariably, a kid about 10 years old would say something like, “Well, the books are better, but I am excited to see the movie.” It became obvious that kids—lots and lots of kids—were reading these books that were each 400 pages or more. I decided I better take a look.
Still, I did not rush out to get a copy and start reading. I did start hearing that some people want to ban the books because they are anti-Christian and offer enticements into witchcraft. It seemed unlikely to me that this children’s fantasy series would have such a dire intent, but the concerns were being raised. An incident in New Mexico even had a minister literally burning copies of Harry Potter books along with other items such as Ouija boards. It was reported, however, that that minister admitted he had not readany of the books. I so hate hearing things like that! I heard the characters are witches, so the books must be a manifesto for Wicca? Maybe these complainers never watched Bewitched either.
Of course, J. K. Rowling, the author of Harry Potter, denies that the intent of her stories is to lure young readers into witchcraft. In an interviewin 1999 with CNN, Rowling offered this comment: “I absolutely did not start writing these books to encourage any child into witchcraft. I’m laughing slightly because to me, the idea is absurd. I have met thousands of children and not even one time has a child come up to me and said, ‘Ms Rowling, I’m so glad I’ve read these books because now I want to be a witch.’” Of course, I suppose, if she were trying to recruit young readers to witchcraft, she might not admit it.
In response to the complaints about Harry Potter and the move to ban the books at various schools, a website sprang up where young students could have a voice about their first amendment rights. How cool is that? That site has since grown into Kidspeak.org, “Where kids speak up for free speech.” One article reported that a fifth grader came up with a good idea when her school was contemplating banning the books for all students. Her idea was to have children seven or under have written permission from their parents to read the books. If the parents of children eight or older had complaints, “the principal should just talk to them and tell them that it’s just fantasy.” If kids were actually weighing in on the conversation, I more than ever wanted to read these books.
I first just read one book to see how it was—and it was great: Well drawn characters, fun plot twists as the witches and non-witches (known as Muggles) interacted, and an engaging plot about a young boy growing up. I also caught one of the movies and enjoyed the adaptation. So finally I read all of the novels in order. Then I watched the films in order as well.
Photo from Huffington Post Article
The Books/Movies:
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone, 1998 (movie: 2001)
Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets, 1999 (movie: 2002)
Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban, 1999 (movie: 2004)
Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, 2000, (movie: 2005)
Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix2003, (movie: 2007)
Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince, 2005 (movie: 2009)
Harry Potter & the Deathly Gallows, 2007 (movies: Part I, 2010 & Part II, 2011)
It’s an impressive series. And the kids are right: the books are better than the movies, offering much more complexity, character development, and extended storylines. But neither avenue made me want to become a witch—and no one I know has kids who are exploring witchcraft after reading the books or seeing the movies. Maybe I just do not know the right people.
At this point, I am not an expert by any means, but I know the Harry Potter series. I could give detailed summaries of each novel and talk about Gryfindors vs. Slytherins, Dumbledore vs. Voldemort, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Quidditch, and hundreds of other details. But I am not going to. If you’ve read the series, you know all that stuff. If you haven’t yet, part of the fun is being surprised by it all. Instead, I will simply share what I like about Harry Potter.
THE THINGS I LIKE ABOUT HARRY POTTER:
1. I really like the author J. K. Rowling.
Rowling was a single mom living on England’s equivalent of welfare, but she kept writing a little at a time. This story about Harry Potter was in her, yearning to get out! This seven-book series made her a multi-million dollar author many times over. She refuses, however, to move herself or her money off shore where she could find a better tax deal. Her reasons? The system helped her and she wants to pay back, and she wants her kids to have a sense of past and community. She also explains why she contributes extensively to charities: “I think you have a moral responsibility when you’ve been given far more than you need, to do wise things with it and give intelligently.”
Overall, Rowling just seems like a friendly, level-headed person who it would be nice to sit down and chat with. She seems to like that kids are reading and learning through her books. She even does not take people to copyright task for parodies and educational uses of her material. In 2008, she was the graduation speaker at Harvard. She talked about the value of failure and the importance of imagination. Her dominant message: “We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.” Here is a video of her Harvard Graduation Speech:
2. The Harry Potter books are immensely popular, especially with kids.
Overall, Rowling’s seven books have sold over 400 million copies and have been translated into 67 languages. One blog notes that in the United States, “over half of all children between the ages of 6 and 17 have read at least one Harry Potter book.” A study in the United Kingdom credits Harry Potter with positive improvements in children’s literacy. Students, parents and teachers applaud the book because it engages the students, creates a sense of community among the readers, and can be used as a teaching tool and resource in the classroom.
Of course, the concern some parents have about inappropriate themes and messages within the series is still there. But most seem to agree that for children roughly 10 years old or older, the books are a great reading incentive. A site called Reading Rocket explores the controversy surrounding and the positive impact of the Harry Potter series, but it also gives parents some tips on checking if the reading level and themes are appropriate for their children.
3. The Harry Potter series offers good moral lessons for its readers.
The basic plot line through all seven Harry Potter novels is the maturing of Harry Potter and his two side-kicks Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. They age appropriately through the novels, allowing the readers to grow with the characters. These youngsters experience typical childhood problems like bullying and dating and finding one’s own voice and place in the world. The back drop to the characters’ lives and growth is a moral struggle unfolding between good and evil. As the teens age, they must accept the consequences of their actions, decide what they believe in, and show a willingness to act on what they believe. They learn to work together for the betterment of the whole. These are great lessons for the readers to watch play out across the pages.
Other characters and storylines surface in the novels, even if they do not always make it to the films. Luna and Neville are two characters portrayed in both mediums. Neville is the clumsy kid in class who can never do things right, but he transforms into a courageous young leader. Luna can seem to be the space cadet or hippie of the group; she sees things that others do not see and does not have the typical social skills needed to fit in. Still, Luna is insightful, gives excellent advice, and becomes a valued member of the group of teens who fight to save their world. One storyline that does not make it into the films in any detail is Hermione’s efforts to help the House Elves who are treated little better than slaves. Dobby is one house elf we meet, and Harry is instrumental in freeing him from his wicked master.
Throughout all the characters and subplots, one dominant lesson surfaces again and again throughout the novels: it is up to each person to make effective choices. At one point Harry is told not to worry about any potential similarities he may share with evil-doers; what sets each person apart is the choices he makes. Another character—Sirius Black godfather to Harry—says, “We have all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the power we choose to act on. That’s who we really are.”
Some reviewers even note that much of the symbolism presented in the novels might in fact be a Christian allegory—good and light win over evil and darkness. One critic offers this conclusion: “Christian parents ought not to get hung up on the outward packaging of the Harry Potter novels—on the contrary, I think they should enjoy the magical packaging as interesting and fun. Rather, they should grasp the symbolism of the stories for what it is, and enjoy the familiar yet rich theological message that lives beneath the surface.”
4. The world Rowling created in the Harry Potter series is fun!
Juxtaposing the wizard world against the non-wizard world is a brilliant device used in the Harry Potter novels. Harry, the main character, is a wizard, but he was raised for his first 11 years in the non-wizard world of Muggles. He becomes the eyes for the readers/Muggles since he constantly has to ask how to walk through walls to find hidden train platforms and how such mysteries as flue-powder and port keys work. At the same time, the wizards are flummoxed by subway tokens and telephones. Ron’s father at one time seriously asks Harry to explain rubber duckies. That everyone needs to learn something about the world they live in makes it okay not to know everything—an attitude that is rather comforting.
Another fun aspect of the novels is the elements of the wizard world that it would be great to have in the real world. In the Weasley household, we see knitting needles working themselves to create scarves and dishes being washed and put away on their own ala an episode of Bewitched. Mrs. Weasley has a wall clock that shows not the time but the location of all members of the household. Hermione has a purse that with the right spell can literally hold everything—books and changes of clothes and tents! And there are many ways to zip from place to place. Even with these wonders, however, these characters still need to find the courage to ask someone out, worry about being yelled at by parents, feel lonely over the holidays, have to study for finals, and need to make decisions about their futures. The gadgets do not help. The characters (and the readers) must find it within themselves to grow up and do the right thing.
There are other elements of the wizard world that are just fascinating. One of my favorites is the active nature of pictures, news photos and even trading cards. We first see this “active” side of these items when Harry opens a packet of candy and finds a trading card. The picture on the card moves and talks like a little video. When Harry looks at his card a second time, the person pictured on it is gone. Ron says something like, “You can’t expect him to stand around all the time.” The same notion has persons in portraits stepping away from their frames and photos in newspapers being animated. There are disappearing houses, buses that can change shape to get through traffic, and potions that can disguise you as someone else. Of course, every witch also has a broom and a wand, although their effective use takes learning and practice. At every turn, there is something new to startle and amaze the reader.
5. There are several Harry Potter gadgets I want!
The gadgets in the Harry Potter series are numerous. Of course, it would be a hoot to have a broom and a wand. But those are not my favorite gadgets. I have already mentioned Hermione’s purse that can hold everything. Technically, however, what makes that trait possible is not a gadget—it’s a spell: Undetectable Extension Charm. She uses the spell on her purse, so she can carry everything she needs with her, and Mr. Weasley uses it on the tent when they are camping so there is enough space for everyone. Being able to use that spell would be terrific. And some days I really would love dishes that clean themselves. But those actions again are brought on by a spell. I am focusing on gadgets, especially the following that I would love to own:
Invisibility Cloak: Harry receives the Invisibility Cloak as a gift in the first novel, and he makes use of it several times throughout the series to sneak into places he shouldn’t be and to overhear conversations. He’s a teenager finding ways to get into trouble. Having a cloak that literally makes you invisible to those around you is a great trick. I do not so much want to go places without being seen to hear things I shouldn’t hear, although knowing what colleagues really think about me and my ideas might be helpful—or crazy making. Instead, I love the idea of being able to get work done in my office without everyone who wanders by and sees me at my desk stopping in to say hello. And imagine this: Sitting at home on the couch for over an hour reading a novel or taking a nap with no one bothering you, even if they are home. Because they do not realize you are home. Sounds ideal to me!
Time Turner: The Time Turner looks like a necklace, but in reality allows the wearer to go back in time and repeat an hour or two as needed. Hermione is given this wondrous gadget by a teacher, so Hermione can take two classes at the same time. This gadget eventually helps her and Harry actually save a couple lives in the second novel. I am enamored of it for the simple fact that it would let anyone have more than 24 hours in a day! You could sleep in and get up on time. You could go out to dinner with friends and study. Of course, like Hermione, you could attend two meetings that happen to be going on at the same time, but I would caution not to get too extravagant with its ability to help its user get more work done.
Pensieve: This gadget is impressive and ties in thematically with the well-known adjective pensive. In the movies it looks like a big bowl (well, I suppose I should say cauldron) filled with a silvery blue liquid that eventually presents words and images much like a movie. But these “movies” are memories of your own or others captured accurately for later review. Or they could be the concerns and details that tend to drive you crazy as they keep running around in your mind not letting you sleep. You need a wand for this, but you get to extract those annoyances from your mind and place them in the pensieve for later review. How great is that?
There would certainly be applications involving the pensieve in courtrooms. But I am thinking of more personal uses. You know those arguments you have with loved ones, where you incredulously say, “What do you mean you don’t remember X!?” Now, you could show them! I have four older sisters, and I swear we each remember the same incident from our past in different ways; with the pensieve they could see that I am right. I want one of these!
There are some other “things” in the novels that would be fun to have, but they are enchanted with a spell or are a potion that you have to drink. The Marauder’s Map lets you see who is wandering around the place, so you could be careful about who to avoid. There is also Liquid Luck, a potion that makes certain things happen in the best way for you throughout the day. Of course, when Ron just thinks he has taken the potion he does miraculous things on the playing field all on his own, so maybe confidence and positive expectations would work just as well.
There are also sorting hats that tell you what groups to join, wardrobes you can walk through to get to another location, mirrors to look in to see your heart’s desire, and enchanted journals that let you talk to people from the past, among other things. But these “things” carry some problems and complications that make them a bit tricky to work with. So I will just settle for the three gadgets I really, really like. I do not want to be greedy.
So have you read or watched Harry Potter? What do you think? Anything from the series you would like to bring into your life? And I am dying to ask but it would probably be tacky or at least impolite: Are you a witch, yet?
I never expected to like the book even with its intriguing title: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (published 2005, in English 2008). From what I had heard, the book focused on violence against women and the back story explored corporate level finances and corruption. Even though a friend was recommending it, I was doubtful that I would find the book engaging. As I started reading, I kept thinking my prediction was right—I was having trouble getting into the story. But then, in a flash, I was hooked and voraciously read for hours and hours until I finished all 590 pages.
And not only did I enjoy the book, I immediately sought out the next two books in the trilogy: The Girl Who Played with Fire (2006, in English in US January 2009) and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (2007, in English in US May 2010). Stieg Larsson is the author of this masterful trilogy. The novels were all translated from Swedish into English by Reg Keeland. One source says that 40 million copies of the series sold internationally in 5 years. Not all reviews were favorable, but that did not keep each book—as soon as it was published—from speeding to the top of various best seller lists. The author won various awards for his efforts. As noted in The Sunday Times (London), “The completion of the trilogy confirms Stieg Larsson as one of the great talents of contemporary crime fiction.”
Larsson lived in Sweden and worked as editor in chief of the magazine Expo and was a leading expert on antidemocratic, right-wing extremist and Nazi organizations. He used this experience and expertise in creating one of his main characters and in building the complex back stories within the novels. Unfortunately, these novels are Larsson’s only fictional contributions. He died in 2004, after submitting the manuscripts for all three books. The novels were all published posthumously, first in Swedish and then later in English (first in the United Kingdom and then also in the United States) and in many other languages. The books are being made into movies in both Sweden and the United States, but I have not yet seen any of these films.
Larsson’s three novels—often collectively called the Millennium Series—received widespread commercial and critical acclaim. Wikipedia does a good job giving a detailed summary and general report on basic response for each book—see the links earlier in this review. Spoiler Alert: If you are planning to read the novels, avoid the summaries—they give away all the mystery! Two reviews—one by David Kamp, NY Times and the other by Kate Mosse, The Guardian—give a good overview on the novels as well. I read these sources after I finished reading the novels and drawing my own conclusions on their merits.
The basic consensus about the trilogy is offered below though three review excerpts quoted on the third novel’s dust jacket:
“Larsson’s vivid characters, the depth of the details across the three books, the powerfully imaginative plot and the sheer verve of the writing make the trilogy a masterpiece of its genre.” The Economist
“Larsson entertain[s] readers royally: creating characters who are complex, believable and appealing even when they act against their own best interest. . . Consistently enthralling.” The Washington Post
“Just when I was thinking there wasn’t anything new on the horizon, along comes Stieg Larsson with this wonderfully unique story. I was completely absorbed.” Michael Connelly
My Review:
Each novel within Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy is a good read. But taken together, they become an even more carefully structured story. The characters are memorable and the back stories offer social criticism that can transcend cultures. The dominant lessons throughout the novels focus on friendship, loyalty and morality—important lessons for today’s society.
The characters in the novels are strong and believable. The title character is Lisbeth Salander, but she is not a girl no matter how she looks. She is 24 at the start of the first novel. She is small and petite and looks and feels like an outcast of society. She has numerous tattoos and body piercings and refuses to interact with most of those around her. She appears eccentric, sullen, mysterious. She is also a computer genius with a photographic memory who can easily uncover useful research on almost any topic.
As soon as Lisbeth enters the first novel, the reader is hooked to see how her life will unfold. In the first novel she is an indispensable researcher who saves the day; by the second novel she is part of the main action and eventually a murder suspect. In the third, her defense and trial are underway. As the novels progress, Lisbeth shows her violent streak but also her own sense of fierce loyalty and morality—based on her own rules. In the first novel, Larsson introduces the surface mystery of Lisbeth and then reveals some of the truths of her life and background in the second novel. By the third, this “girl” is maturing as she learns to accept friendship and help from others.
The protagonist of the novels is Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist and part owner of a magazine called Millennium. The first novel opens when he is being convicted of libel for a story he wrote and published for which he did not provide proof. This circumstance allows/forces him to take a special assignment, exploring a 30-year old case for an elderly corporate magnate. Lisbeth becomes his researcher, and together they piece together the tale of a serial killer from the past that is still in action in the present.
As the story unfolds, we see that Mikael is driven and meticulous as a journalist, but he is friendly and engaging as a man. He builds easy rapport with women that often turns into easy sexual encounters. Although he does not readily commit to anyone, he honestly likes and respects the women in his life. He is a handsome 40-something guy who may actually be contemplating commitment by the end of the third novel. His growth is not as evident as Lisbeth’s.
There are many other characters in the novels. Several appear in all three because of their relationships with the two primary characters. Erika Berger is Mikael’s business partner and sometime lover in the magazine they co-won, and his sister Annika Giovanni becomes Lisbeth’s lawyer in the third novel. Two men are closely and positively associated with Lisbeth; they both see beyond her appearance and value her worth and abilities. One is Holger Palmgren, her state-appointed guardian, and the other is Dragan Armansky, her sometime boss who hires her to conduct research for his security company. These characters give the reader a way to view the different sides of the two main characters, adding depth to each characterization as new details unfold.
Other characters surface as needed, some appearing in several novels. There are cops and doctors and friends of Lisbeth, including some unique computer hackers. There are tormentors of Lisbeth as well as we see her abused in the past and the present. Most of the characters are realistic and well-drawn. A few seem one-dimensional, but their weak persona do not undermine the story’s action or the credibility of the primary characters. Several—Modig, Linder, Figuerola, even Mia and Harriett—are strong women! The array of characters presented throughout the three novels help make the stories come to life.
The stories themselves are well crafted. The overall story is told chronologically with the pacing moving faster and faster as the novels progress. Between novel 1 and novel 2, several months have passed. Between novel 2 and novel 3, barely an hour of time has passed. Most of the action is bold, vivid, dramatic and compelling. Some parts—typically the attempts to tie up loose ends—seem a bit sluggish. Also, a few plot points seem almost too coincidental. At one point, Lisbeth just happens to see a name from her past in someone else’s email and that draws her further into the action. Although a bit contrived, such coincidences do not undermine the story’s forward progress or the reader’s engagement with the story and characters.
In fact, Larsson is masterful in presenting each novel’s plot. Once you have read all three, you can look back and see the breadcrumbs Larsson dropped, enticing the reader’s curiosity about characters, issues, and story line. The reader wants more and more. This expectancy is further heightened as Larsson moves at a fast pace back and forth between chapters devoted to each character and his/her part of the story. The interplay is seductive and keeps the reader turning the page to see how things turn out. What Entertainment Weekly noted about the second novel truly pertains to all three: “A gripping, stay-up-all night read.”
Perhaps a comparison to television crime dramas would help place these novels in the crime genre. The first novel could be seen as an episode of Cold Case, the TV show that explored past crimes that had never been solved. For Larsson, the crime is solved, but its outcome never quite gets turned over to the police. The past events become as vivid and alive as the present-day details that get mired in their own mystery. The second and third novels present the two classic sides of the original Law & Order series. Crimes are committed, police (and journalists) investigate, and eventually there is a trial to bring things to some sense of closure. Violence against women as a recurring concern brings Law & Order SVU into play, and the exploration of motives and compelling circumstances of the criminals is reminiscent of Law & Order CI.
Each novel also has at least one back story that explores a societal concern. The first has Mikael concerned with financial fraud on a grand scale but also looks at crimes against women through the cold case being solved. The second novel has two researchers telling the story of women being sold through sexual trafficking which ultimately has a subplot of espionage and misconduct by Sweden’s secret police. The third novel looks at the secret police, the judicial system and its treatment of those who should be protected, and in a more limited way cyber bullying. The journalists and researchers are the heroes who work to bring truth to light about these various back stories.
Finally, when Larsson presents these societal concerns together with his strong characters, he creates a moral core that is interwoven throughout all three novels. Part of his message is the problems in society that need to be exposed and corrected. But Larsson constantly looks at how these broad problems impact the individual. For Larsson, his journalist characters—especially Mikael, the character most like himself—are the heroes, constantly looking for truth. But the characters also demonstrate integrity and morality, even if their actions do not always serve them well.
Mikael actually defines friendship at one point, emphasizing the trust and respect that must be evident for there to be true friendship. Lisbeth, who is often violent and reactive, is also very moral, even if she is following her own set of rules. One lesson she learned well from her guardian Palmgren is the need to be mindful of consequences as she decides what action to take—and to be prepared to accept those consequences. Through his quirky characters and the often salacious elements of his story—rape, fraud, conspiracy, murder, police cover-up, abuse of child labor, sexual trafficking—Larsson is actually championing a more moral society.
Overall, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy is a good read. But if you plan to give the first novel a shot, plan on reading all three. And plan on having the other two available as soon as possible after you finish the first novel. You’ll be hooked and will want to keep reading to see how things turn out for Libeth and Mikael. As Time Out New York concludes, “Larsson’s novel[s] could serve as the definition of page-turner.”
HAVE YOU READ THE TRILOGY? WHAT DO YOU THINK? WHAT ELSE ARE YOU READING?
It is just that the most recent Fall and Winter seem to be lasting a bit longer than usual. It started in November 2012 when Mom died. Since then, a long-term problem is still unresolved, friends have experienced falls and unexplained pains, and others are undergoing surgery or grieving over the loss of loved ones. Add to that the agony of such senseless acts as the Sandy Hook Shootings and the recent Ex-Policeman Turned Vengeful Sniper in CA. Then the Blizzard of 2013 hit and is still impacting lives on the East Coast.
I am not complaining. I am just tired, weary of the ongoing gloom. The Vernal Equinox is still over a month away. I saw a few hummingbirds the other day, tough hold-outs who did not move on to warmer climes for the winter. And they so lifted my spirits. It was then that I realized I was eager for spring! I think it is the hope of Spring that I am anxious to embrace. As Margaret Elizabeth Sanger says, “Never yet was a spring time when the buds forgot to bloom.”
So I made a decision.
I decided to immerse myself in an early spring by sorting through some of my flower pictures. They come from gardens and road sides and deserts and national parks. But they are all gorgeous in their own ways. And they will tide me over until actual signs of spring start busting forth all around us.
After all, the Vernal Equinox will be here before we know it. In the next few weeks more and more flowers will start to bloom. And I even promise to slow down enough to actually notice the blossoms that brighten the world around me when they do arrive. As Ralph Waldo Emerson laments, “Many go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it.” I vow not to be one of the “many.”
How about you?
The beauty of flowers, their elegance of shape, the exquisiteness of their colors and patterns are an endless source of delight. . . . David Attenborough
Just living is not enough—one must have sunshine, freedom & a little flower. Hans Christian Andersen
Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads. Henry David Thoreau
Cover my earth mother four times with many flowers. Zuni Song
Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson
If my soul could get away from this so-called prison . . . , my first journeys would be into the inner substance of flowers. John Muir
In 1997, Robert Strand published Seeds from a Birch Tree: Writing Haiku and the Spiritual Journey. When you first browse through this little volume, it seems simple, easy. And on many levels it is. Its 188 pages are comprised of short, easy to read chapters that capture anecdotes, historical details, and direct instruction on writing haiku. Even its cover is simple, sparse–offering black on white to capture a snippet of birch trees.
Its seeming simplicity, however, is actually its magic. And that magic becomes the true lesson of the book. Two authors quoted on the jacket cover explain the book’s true essence:
“An old but true rule for good writing is ‘show, don’t tell.’ With the directness and simplicity of the art itself, Clark Strand ‘shows’ haiku in a way that tells more about nature, humanity, writing, and Zen than one would think possible in such a concise volume. Like a good haiku, this book is an acorn in which you can see the whole tree.” D. Patrick Miller, author of The Book of Practical Faith
and
“By means of haiku and his own simple heart, Zen Buddhist monk and haiku teacher Clark Strand shows us not only a way into nature but how to make a way through nature into the heart. Seeds from the Birch Tree is a vade mecum of spiritual wisdom, a small book that, like a haiku poem, keeps opening the more we journey there.” Father Murray Bodo, author of Francis, The Journey and the Dream
I received this book as a gift not long after it was first published. I read it then—and enjoyed it. But I re-read it recently, and it resonated with me in a much deeper way. There are three parts to the book: The Way of Haiku, The Haiku Mind, and The Narrow Road. Threaded throughout these parts are elements that prove both useful and instructive. One thread—Strand telling about his journey of becoming a Zen Buddhist monk and a haiku writer—helps the reader see that struggles are part of the journey, not a reason to end the journey. Other threads include pieces of the history of haiku as an art form, anecdotes about others as they work to write haiku, and samples of actual haiku—both from masters and novices.
Of course, instructions are also given to start the reader writing her own haiku. The haiku’s structure of 17 syllables (three lines, one each of 5-7-5 syllables) gives each author a way to capture the moment. It is the moment, the capture—not the poem—that leads to the lessons about life. Strand explains that by venturing deliberately into nature with an eye toward observing the moment and perhaps capturing it in a haiku, the reader gains an appreciation for nature and life itself. But Strand cautions not to get too mired in the form and technique—that path leads away from haiku and spirituality. For him, “It is better to retain the wakeful, open mind of a beginner than to accumulate mere knowledge about technique.” This concern does not mean that writing haiku does not take practice or does not honor form—it does. But technique and structure will not create a poem.
For me, the central core of Seeds from a Birch Tree is the reminder to stay open—to life, to nature, to writing haiku. Openness is both the process and the product, the journey and each step, nature in the moment and the poem. Strand offers this explanation on “Openness”:
“I often say that haiku come out of the place where objective description overlaps the heart. In other words, where the image itself expresses precisely how we feel. At such moments we do not know whether nature came first, and then the feeling, or whether the feeling was there already and simply found its proper expression in a scene from nature. In either case, it is important to realize that this can only happen when we make space enough in the heart for nature to overlap it, and space enough in nature for the play and exercise of the heart.”
MY RECOMMENDATION
If you want to travel a spiritual path, learning life lessons from slowing down and observing nature, then this book is for you. If you want to learn about haiku and begin writing your own, then this book is for you. If you want a glimpse into the journey of a Zen Buddhist monk, then his book is for you. The wonder of this book is that it blends instruction on the technique of writing haiku with guidance on pursuing your own spiritual journey through nature. The book is provocative and creative, insightful and thought provoking. It’s a good read. Give it a try!
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While I was writing this book review, I needed a break so took a little walk outside. Having started the practice of being mindful in nature, experiencing the moment, and thinking more and more in the structure of haiku, I wrote the following poem. It is not terrific, but it is going into my haiku journal.
A chirp brushes by,
A red flash darts around trees.
Then, a hummingbird.
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OTHER BOOKS BY CLARK STRAND
The Wooden Bowl: Meditations for Everyday Life (2000)
Meditation without Gurus (2005)
How to Believe in God: Whether You Believe in Religion or Not (2009)
ELEPHANTS. That’s what first came to mind when I looked for a topic to represent the letter “E” as I address my personal A to Z Topics Challenge. Of course, I tend to always think of elephants. In fact, I already posted about elephants. Even though there is always more to say about them, I decided I would find another “E Topic” to write about.
Topic E: The Elements of Style & Eats, Shoots and Leaves—Tools for the Frustrated English Teacher
I think I will always consider myself an English Teacher. I started my official career in academia teaching a full load of composition and literature courses at Purdue University while I studied for my Master’s degree. After that, I taught for over 20 years at a variety of universities and community colleges. Helping students learn to improve and then control their writing and to realize the connections between reading, writing and thinking are always gratifying activities.
However, long before officially being called “teacher,” I helped people with their studies. In 8th grade, for example, I formed a student group at my elementary school called Los Profesores, so we older students could work with the kindergarten kids on building reading vocabulary. Teaching just seemed like the right path for me from the beginning —and it still does. In 2002, I left the classroom for a dean’s office, but I still continued teaching, just one on one through the occasional tutoring of individual students, friends and neighbors.
Now, ten years later, I really miss the students. That is why this week I started a class on how to teach online, so I can eventually accept an adjunct teaching position. If I could put evenings and weekends into writing my dissertation, I can put some time into teaching an online course as well. Since all the courses in my doctoral program were online, I understand the basic mechanics of the online learning environment and how such courses can truly engage students. I am excited about possibly moving back into the classroom.
This possibility of teaching an online course as an adjunct professor has me thinking about what books to use for my upcoming students. Two of my favorites about writing will not really be the best options for the developmental level of students I will undoubtedly be working with. But they are useful books for the intermediate writer and above, the writer who is fairly independent but needs some reminders and style insights to improve her craft.
The Elements of Style by Strunk & White
The Elements of Style is considered a classic by most, albeit a bit old-fashioned by some. I was assigned it as a textbook when I was first in graduate school. Since then, it has been an effective reference guide and a useful tool for me and for select students. The students who tend to appreciate this little book are serious about learning to improve their writing for academia. These students do not want to write poetry or fiction, and they may not even be contemplating writing a blog. No, these students want to produce a basic academic essay that is intended to inform or persuade, and they want to make certain their presentation is as clear, direct, and logical as possible. This little tome gives these students some good advice.
The Elements of Style—often simply referred to as “Strunk & White”—gives a short review of the basics of clear writing. The purpose of the book is simple: “This book aims to give in brief space the principal requirements of plain English style.” This aim is accomplished by sharing information in the following main chapters: Introductory, Elementary Rules of Usage, Elementary Principles of Composition, A Few Matters of Form, Words & Expressions Commonly Misused, and Spelling. A final section called “An Approach to Style” was added by White in the 1959 edition.
Chapters II and III are the heart of the book and give the most specific instruction on details such as using possessives and commas correctly as well as the most salient points about paragraph construction, active voice and attention to verb tense and parallel constructions. Perhaps the two most oft repeated bits of advice are the seemingly simple points “Make every word tell” and “Omit needless words.” The authors also address a concern often raised by students who complain that accomplished writers often break the rules the book says to follow. The book’s advice is sound: “Unless [the writer] is certain of doing well, he will probably do better to follow the rules. After he has learned, by their guidance, to write plain English adequate for everyday uses, let him look, for the secrets of style, to the study of the masters of literature.”
Those who criticize this book emphasize that it is antiquated. On the surface, that concern seems valid, especially given that it was first written so long ago. A review of the book’s history may help you decide if it is worth your time and effort. William Strunk wrote the first 43-page volume in 1918 for use by his students at Cornell University. The book was later revised in 1935. In 1957, E. B. White—yes, that E. B. White, the author of Charlotte’s Web—was reminded of what he called the “little volume” he had studied from in 1919 as one of Strunk’s students. He remembered the book at a “summation of the case for cleanliness, accuracy, and brevity in the use of English” and wrote a feature about Strunk and his commitment to lucid prose in The New Yorker.
Strunk had died in 1946, so when MacMillian and Company wanted to publish an updated version of The Elements of Style in 1959, they turned to White for help. That 1959 version was modernized and expanded by White into a slightly bigger but still little volume of less than 90 pages. This version sold 2 million copies that first year; in the next 4 decades, 8 million more copies were sold. The fourth edition (2000) finally changed the advice about masculine pronouns and their antecedents.
In 2002, Geoffrey Pullium, faculty member at Edinburgh University with his own grammar book on the market, criticized The Elements of Style for “its toxic mix of purism, atavism, and personal eccentricity” as well as its practice of “often flouting its own rules.” In 2005, a review in The Boston Globe labeled it “an aging zombie of a book” that presented “antiquated pet peeves.” A 50th Anniversary Edition of the two-authored book was published in 2009. Two years later, Time magazine listed The Elements of Style as one of the 100 best and most influential books written in English since 1923.
Is this little book right for you? Maybe. It is a good book that offers advice that is still timely for certain writers. If you want to write poetry or fiction, this book is not for you. If you are content with your presentations and just want to double-check commas rules or figure out how to stop avoiding the use of semi-colons, this book is not the best fit for you either. However, if you are writing to share information and to present arguments logically and if you have the basics of writing under some control but want to streamline and perfect your presentation, then The Elements of Style should be able to meet your needs. If applied, the rules presented in Strunk and White will help an individual writer improve his/her writing.
I’ll conclude my comments on this book by sharing this little video that tries to capture the heart of the volume for a more modern audience. Not sure if it will entice you to give this book a chance or not. Oh well.
Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
Eat, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation was first published in 2003 with an American edition coming out in 2004. This unassuming little book quickly rose to the top of the New York Times Bestseller List. Lynne Truss, its author, was praised as being witty and droll and for drawing attention to the vast misuses of punctuation evident in the world at large. Not all praised Truss for her efforts. One critic in The New Yorker pointed out punctuation errors in her own work; another critic—this one a teacher—charged that her concerns would not allow the language to grow and change. I dare say, however, that most who read her book get a good chuckle and even learn a thing or two about punctuation.
Of course, her primary audience is others who see themselves as Punctuation Sticklers like herself. I include myself in that group. We are the ones who cringe with every spelling error and misplaced apostrophe seen in ads, store windows and movie marques. As Truss explains, “Everywhere one looks, there are signs of ignorance and indifference.” She then expands her comments, noting how frustrated Punctuation Sticklers feel in the face of so many errors. “Part of one’s despair, of course, is that the world cares nothing for the little shocks endured by the sensitive sticklers while we look in horror at a badly punctuated sign. The world carries on around us, blind to our plight.”
Truss has written this book to let other Punctuation Sticklers know they are not alone. But she also wants to instruct all readers in the power of correct punctuation. This primary educational purpose is simple: “The reason to stand up for punctuation is that without it there is no reliable way of communicating meaning.” Her goal is clear and lucid prose, much like the goal of Strunk and White. She just focuses on punctuation! In addition to her introductory comments and a bibliography, her chapters are the following;
The Tractable Apostrophe
That’ll Do, Comma
Airs and Graces
Cutting a Dash
A Little Used Punctuation Mark
Merely Conventional Signs
Truss fills her chapters with numerous historical points and pertinent anecdotes about punctuation and its role in clear communication. Her best feature, however, is the myriad examples she provides that prove her point about misused punctuation confusing meaning. The back cover of her book tells the story that illustrates the confusion inherent in her title:
“A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air. ‘Why?’ asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes toward the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.
“’I’m a panda,’ he says at the door. ‘Look it up.’ The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation. ‘Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.’”
Yes, that errant comma has caused all the grief. As Truss concludes, “Punctuation really does matter even if it is only occasionally a matter of life and death.” Her numerous examples throughout the book are what make this a good learning tool for students. If they can see subverted meaning, then they are more likely to be cautious about their own punctuation use. This book would not necessarily be the one to use to instruct college students in the rules of grammar and punctuation; a more classical handbook gives a fuller review of all the rules.
I would recommend Eats, Shoots and Leaves for the student who is ready to take her own writing more seriously and thus needs to perfect her use of punctuation in support of clearer meaning. I would also recommend this book to teachers, writers, and general Punctuation Sticklers. Seeing the book’s value as an educational tool, Truss has published versions geared toward younger students, hoping to teach them attention to correct punctuation from the beginning. In 2008, for example, she published Twenty-odd Ducks: Why, Even Punctuation Marks Count! for kids six years old and up.
If you have not yet seen this fun little book, give it a look. Even if you are not a Punctuation Stickler, I think you will chuckle over the examples and be able to see how correct punctuation can enhance clarity in all writing. The following example from Eats, Shoots and Leaves gives two versions of the same note, altering the meaning dramatically by altering the punctuation. It is my favorite example that Truss provides!
VERSION I: JACK IS GREAT
Dear Jack,
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I can be forever happy—will you let me be yours? Jill
VERSION II: JACK IS MAYBE NOT SO GREAT
Dear Jack,
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men I yearn! For you I have no feelings whatsoever. When we’re apart I can be forever happy. Will you let me be? Yours, Jill
Now how fun is that? See how some students would be able to appreciate this book?
I’ll conclude my comments on this little book by sharing a video that gives a Punctuation Stickler’s exuberant recommendation of Eats, Shoots and Leaves. Enjoy.
It is not only a new day, but a whole new year. It is a perfect time to reflect, dream, plan, move forward. Of course, all those actions require change—and change is not easy! That is one reason I expect new year’s resolutions have such a bad reputation about being hard to keep. I personally know how hard it is to stick with a new program or plan to meet new year’s resolutions. I will review my own actions from last year—successes and failures—later in the month when my birthday comes around. Right now, as I start reflecting and dreaming, I am hopeful for a bright new year.
As you decide what you wish to accomplish in the new year, think about what is most important to you—the things that bring you joy, happiness, love, friendship, community. Also acknowledge your skills and creativity; they can so often be the pathway to success! Commit to your plans with confidence, courage, and enthusiasm. Also, remember that actions—new or ongoing—do not need to be huge and grandiose; sometimes the small things make the biggest impact. Trust your heart!
As I contemplate the challenges I will face in 2013 and thus make some decisions about the goals I will make to keep moving forward, I look to nature and to favorite quotes for inspiration. I will share some below, hoping they give you some insight or ideas as well.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
To begin, it is important to remember that life is change and vice versa. So it is best to embrace change and enjoy life for all its unexpected pleasures. And remember that life, too, can be fleeting, so enjoy each and every day. Tell family and friends how much you love them. Be kind to all, even strangerss. Just get started. You cannot soar if you never stretch your wings!
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” Robert Frost
“That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.” Emily Dickinson
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” Helen Keller
“Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward, bend to the winds of heaven, and learn tranquility.” Dedication from Father of the Trees
“Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no bird sang there except those that sang best.” Henry Van Dyke
“Never yet was a spring time when the buds forgot to bloom.” Margaret Elizabeth Sangster
“You are built not to shrink down to less but to blossom into more.” Oprah Winfrey
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Lao-tzu
Finally, as the first day of a brand new year draws to a close, I hope each and every one of you has made some plan for tomorrow, for next week, for the new year. Remember, your plan does not have to be huge or grand. It is just important to get started.
“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do.” Helen Keller
“We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” Ghandi
“Five years from now you will pretty much be the same as you are today except for two things: the books you read and the people you get close to.” Charles Jones
“Suceess is the sum of small efforts—repeated day in and day out.” Robert Collier
So how will you make 2013 a better year for yourself, your family and friends? I wish us all the courage to get started and the perseverance to keep going.
She wrote her most popular work, the first of several memoirs, in 1970: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. This was the work that introduced me to this impressive woman. But her talents do not stop there. Her creativity continues to be expressed through acting, writing, directing, and lecturing. In 1971, she was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her collection of poetry Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Die. Since 1982, she has held the first lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies at Wake Forest University. Angelou mentions accepting this appointment during the following interview on the Merv Griffin Show in 1982.
“Phenomenal Woman” is my favorite poem of those written by Maya Angelou. It was first published in 1978 along with the poem “Still I Rise.” However, they were also included in a book that was published in 1995: Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women. This poem shows her strength, her spirit, her confidence, even if she does not fit society’s norms. Her strength and confidence, which are so very justified, can give us all hope for ourselves and society. I wish Maya Angelou, a truly phenomenal woman, a great birthday today as she continues to voice confidence and celebration for all of us. Her website is right when it states, “Dr. Angelou’s words and actions continue to stir our souls, energize our bodies, liberate our minds, and heal our hearts.”
Phenomenal Woman 
