LitLinks For The End of March
Reading Around And Finding Out
Welcome to my first LitLinks issue in which I deluge you (well, maybe not deluge, exactly) with links to literary discourse and thoughts from around the internet. Sometimes I think my first job as a writer is to be a reader. But much of that reading happens outside of books. Here, I collect the most interesting of what I find and share with other curious readers.
It’s been a decade since Gabriel García Márquez passed. His last novel, Until August has just been released, though not without some controversy. (Note: you’ll need at least an email subscription to the NYT to read the full article.) The headline is designed to provoke but the article contains nuance. After reading, I decided I’m glad the book exists. Gabriel García Márquez is one of my favorite writers and having a complete accounting of his work is valuable. Less provoking is this sort of diary about the last ten years living without Gabriel García Márquez by his friends and colleagues.
I recently finished reading Yiyun Li’s Wednesday’s Child: Stories collection. It’s a moving, memorable collection with subtle, poignant humor and observations. Her prose just grabs me with it’s effortlessness. But, as Elizabeth McCracken writes, “The primary obstacle to writing about Yiyun Li’s work is not being Yiyun Li. It shouldn’t take a genius to write about a genius…” It shouldn’t, and yet it does. I’m also not the genius Elizabeth McCracken is either, so read her review. Yiyun Li is a voracious reader and passionate about the books she loves. Here she is discussing Georges Bernanos’ Mouchette, a book that probably isn’t for me, but her insights are fascinating.
While working on the follow-up to my novel, At the End of the World, I found this article from The Marginalian on the ecstasy of eternity, which sent my notes and ideas for the novel in new directions. That essay landed at the same time I read Louise Glück’s poem, “The Queen of Carthage” in which:
… even for a short time. What difference between that and a lifetime: in truth, in such moments, they are the same, they are both eternity
And then from her poem, “Eurydice” the lines below fit my conception perfectly:
Transition is difficult. And moving between two worlds especially so; the tension is very great.
I never know where I’ll find inspiration, or enjoyable, informative reading, which is why I try to cultivate serendipity.
Lastly, I was saddened to learn of Karl Wallinger’s death. Does anyone remember World Party our The Waterboys? I listened to World Party’s “Ship of Fools” so much I thought it was going to be the title for a novel I tried to write. And “Way Down Now” was another favorite. Give them a listen. Infectious rhythm and smart lyrics.
Until next time, keep reading around…