Welcome to the Fictionista Workshop Community

July 18, 2011 Our Programs, Overview, Workshop, Workshop Information No Comments

Fictionista Workshop is a supportive community of writers, editors, and readers, hoping to assist the online writing community through various projects and programs.

The Workshop is our most intense program and offers an in-depth, twelve-week critique of a finished manuscript. Fictionista tries to run at least two Workshops a year. If you are a writer or a reader who might benefit from an intense, collaborative effort focused on a single manuscript, please read further.

People who enjoy the online writing and reading communities are eager for creative opportunities in which they can interact with others. Writing can be a lonely process, whether done in private or with others; having a ready pool of other writers, editors, and readers available for immediate discussion and feedback when needed can be extraordinarily helpful. For that reason, we developed two different programs, the Writer Collective and the Workshop. The Writer Collective is a small writing group that meets once a week with a moderator and reader to hone the writer’s skills in a non-threatening, intimate environment. The Workshop is an intensive critique of a single manuscript by a group of readers and editors.

Each program is based on volunteers who offer their time simply because they love to read and write. That is why we call ourselves the Fictionista Workshop Community. As a volunteer-run organization, Fictionista Workshop would love to welcome you to our programs.

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Fictionista Workshop

We currently have no Workshops under way at this time so that we can run a Writer Collective in the spring of 2012. We may run another round of Workshops in the late fall or winter of 2012. If you are interested in a workshop, please fill out the appropriate application below. Please note there is now an application just for writers and a separate application for all other participants, including editors and moderators. Click here to view the current applications: apply as a writer or apply as a participant.

Here is more specific information about the available workshop roles:

Participants

Participants are readers, observers, and constructive critics, offering detailed feedback in formats appropriate for the workshop setting, as well as support and encouragement. They are a crucial, integrated part of the workshop and forum activity.

Editors

Editors review, rewrite, and edit the work of writers, offering comments as needed to improve the work. An editor’s primary responsibility is to readers, writers, and workshop participants (in that order); this means that they will base their decisions on the needs and interests of these constituents.

Moderators

The moderator manages and directs operations of one or more individual forums (writing projects) on Fictionista Workshop. This role is critical to the success of a given project, essentially functioning as a workshop leader and project manager in addition to performing more traditional duties of a forum moderator, such as resolving disagreements and maintaining discussion threads.

Writers

Writers are an integral part of the workshop as a whole, and are key to the success of the workshop. Writers, editors and reader participants work together to polish a writer’s story, giving credibility to a proven process. Without writer participation, the workshop would be non-existent. Feedback from the writer and other participants assists with the completion of the writer’s story and provides assistance and ideas to others in the workshop.

The Writing Collective

January 20, 2012 Collective, Collective Information No Comments

Fictionista Workshop is a supportive community of writers, editors, and readers, hoping to assist the online writing community through various projects and programs. Writing can be a lonely process, whether done in private or with others; having a ready pool of other writers and readers available for immediate discussion and feedback when needed can be extraordinarily helpful. For that reason, we developed two different programs, the Writer Collective and the Workshop. The Writer Collective is a small writing group that meets once a week with a moderator and reader to hone the writer’s skills in a non-threatening, intimate environment. The Workshop is an intensive critique of a single manuscript by a group of readers and editors.

The Collective is our cyber version of a coffee shop writing group, offering authors a weekly chance to discuss their manuscript with a small group of other writers over a twelve-week period. This group is intended to provide feedback to both completed and mostly completed manuscripts and acts as a catalyst to help authors finish their manuscripts in a timely manner. Each group is led by an experienced moderator who helps guide discussion and offer resources to the writers in his or her group.

If you are a writer who might benefit from an intimate group discussion and critique of your work, or just need that extra feedback to push you to finish your novel, please read further.

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Fictionista Collective

We are currently running a Writing Collective in the Spring of 2012. Applications will be accepted until February 19th.

The Collective is our most intimate program, offering writers a small, focused group of fellow authors to help them complete or polish their manuscript.

Here is more specific information about the available workshop roles:

Writers

Writers are the central focus of the Collective. They act as both participants and editors/critique partners in their small group. The author’s responsibility is two fold, first to provide their work to the others on a timely basis (again, total word count varies between groups) each week. The author also must offer helpful edits, comments, and critique to the others in their writing group. This is done during a Skype call and is facilitated at all times by an experienced moderator to make sure every one receives beneficial comments. To apply as a writer, please go here:

http://www.fictionistaworkshop.com/collective-application-form/

Moderators

The moderator manages and directs the Collective group. This role is critical to the success of the group, as the moderator acts as guide, coach, and sometimes referee. The moderator is also responsible to setting up the technical aspects of the Collective. The moderator also provides resources to the writers on an individual basis to help them grow in their writing ability.

Critique Participants

Participants are readers, observers, and constructive critics, offering detailed feedback in formats appropriate for the Collective setting, as well as support and encouragement. Participants are added to any group needing additional feedback for any reason and can provide authors with an objective and critical eye when needed.

Fictionista Workshop Writing Collectives

January 20, 2012 Collective Information, Writers Collective No Comments

Thank you for your interest in Fictionista Workshop’s Writing Collective. The admissions are now open to apply to the collective. You can find the application here: http://www.fictionistaworkshop.com/collective-application-form/

The Collective groups are designed to provide authors with feedback from a support group of their peers, something many authors do not have. At Fictionista, we believe this can best be done in small groups of three or four authors selected according to writing experience and/or genre.

Our hope is that everyone involved will gain valuable knowledge, edits and feedback on their writing. We will assign a moderator to each group to help facilitate discussion, provide resources, and offer feedback. A critique participant may be added to some groups to give additional feedback.

Every week the authors will participate in a Skype call to discuss each other’s work. The moderator will help facilitate discussion and offer valuable resources to each writer according to their individual needs. Our hope is that by keeping the groups small, everyone involved will receive detailed and valuable edits and feedback on their writing in a relaxed setting.

How it works:

· Each author will need to submit their application here: http://www.fictionistaworkshop.com/collective-application-form/ and attach the first 5000 words of their manuscript at the bottom of the application in .doc format. Manuscripts must be at least half way completed. Please note that not all submissions will be accepted.

· Authors will be grouped by experience and genre, and an additional critique participant may be added to provide extra feedback.

· After the writing groups are chosen, a moderator will be assigned to each group. The moderator will then schedule a weekly Skype meeting for a total of 12 weeks.

· Each author is responsible for posting a weekly selection (there is usually a minimum word count for each week) in a group Dropbox file. The authors will then read, edit, analyze and critique each other’s work and provide helpful feedback to everyone in their group.

· At the scheduled Skype meeting, each author will discuss what they have written and will offer helpful comments on what they read from fellow group members. The group’s moderator will guide all discussion and critique.

*We regret that not all applications can be accepted due to staffing and other administrative considerations.

Courting the Classics: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

September 19, 2011 Courting the Classics, Our Programs No Comments

Review By Duskwatcher

When I heard that the Fictionista Workshop people were looking for reviewers to share the classics, I was intrigued, but it wasn’t until they consented to reviews of science fiction classics that I jumped at the chance. Speculative fiction, as it’s sometimes called, is more than just fiction set at some point in the future; at its best it holds up a mirror to ourselves. It shows us what could be, what can be, what the experience of being human actually entails.

So, for the start of what I hope is a series of reviews, I wanted to start with a modern classic of science fiction, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. I prefer my sci-fi with an anthropological or sociological, rather than techno-centric slant, and this one delivers. And it is appropriate that we start this off during the “Banned Books” month at Fictionista, as this book has seen its share of controversy since its initial publishing in 1969. A winner of both the Hugo and Nebula awards, it is stunning in both the sweep of its imagining of the milieu in which the story is set and the characters that inhabit it.

Genly Ai is the First Envoy for the Ekumen, a federation of planets. It is his mission to arrive on a potential member planet alone, armed only with his message that beyond the stars is a galactic federation that wishes to arrange peaceful trade and an exchange of ideas. He has been assigned to the planet Gethen, a cold and forbidding place where winter rules.

Gethen’s inhabitants are human, with one huge difference: they have no gender. Instead they are androgynous, possessing both male and female potential, which is only expressed during a brief mating cycle. Whether that is male or female is variable; the mother of several children might be the father of several more. It is something the Envoy struggles with.

When you meet a Gethenian, you cannot and must not do what a bisexual naturally does, which is to cast him in the role of Man or Woman, while adopting towards him a corresponding role dependent on your expectations of the patterned or possible interactions between persons of the same or the opposite sex. Our entire pattern of socio-sexual interaction is nonexistent here. They cannot play the game. They do not see one another as men or women. This is almost impossible for our imagination to accept. What is the first question we ask about a newborn baby?

Yet you cannot think of a Gethenian as “it.” They are not neuters. They are potentials, or integrals.

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Genly Ai becomes the unwitting pawn in a power struggle between political factions, and is aided by the powerful and enigmatic Prime Minister, Estraven. When Estraven is exiled by his mad king and Genly Ai is sent to a concentration camp, it is Estraven who rescues him and together, in a desperate and near suicidal move, they attempt to cross the polar ice cap to what they hope is refuge. Thus begins what is one of the most searing and intense journeys in science fiction. They struggle against the brutal arctic conditions daily while each evening share the confines of their small tent, forcing them to face and reconcile their alien differences. And I saw then again, and for good, what I had always been afraid to see, and had pretended not to see in him: that he was a woman as well as a man…He had been quite right to say that he, the only person on Gethen who trusted me, was the only Gethenian I distrusted. For he was the only one who had entirely accepted me as a human being: who had liked me personally and given me entire personal loyalty: and who therefore had demanded of me an equal degree of recognition, of acceptance. I had not been willing to give it. I had been afraid to give it. I had not wanted to give my trust, my friendship to a man who was a woman, a woman who was a man…But it was from the difference between us, not from the affinities and likenesses, but from the difference, that that love came: and it was itself the bridge, the only bridge, across what divided us. For us to meet sexually would be for us to meet once more as aliens. We had touched, in the only way we could touch. The whole Gethenian society revolves around the duality of its inhabitants. Many will see in the kingdom of Karhide a distinctly Eastern influence, as much of the societal influences come from a mystic philosophy. This is in contrast to their enemy and opposition, Orgoreyn, which is a chilling bureaucracy. Light and dark, yin and yang, male and female–the themes of duality pervade the novel. At a sparse 139 pages, The Left Hand of Darkness is a quick read. Le Guin’s writing is lyrical and beautiful, and her universe is detailed and completely evolved. Within the structure of a riveting story, she tackles such issues as sexual perception and cultural chauvinism. It is the best kind of story: one that leaves you satisfied as you turn the last page, yet continues to haunt you long after.

Spoiler Inside: The Left Hand of Darkness , continued

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Genly Ai becomes the unwitting pawn in a power struggle between political factions, and is aided by the powerful and enigmatic Prime Minister, Estraven. When Estraven is exiled by his mad king and Genly Ai is sent to a concentration camp, it is Estraven who rescues him and together, in a desperate and near suicidal move, they attempt to cross the polar ice cap to what they hope is refuge. Thus begins what is one of the most searing and intense journeys in science fiction. They struggle against the brutal arctic conditions daily while each evening share the confines of their small tent, forcing them to face and reconcile their alien differences.

And I saw then again, and for good, what I had always been afraid to see, and had pretended not to see in him: that he was a woman as well as a man…He had been quite right to say that he, the only person on Gethen who trusted me, was the only Gethenian I distrusted. For he was the only one who had entirely accepted me as a human being: who had liked me personally and given me entire personal loyalty: and who therefore had demanded of me an equal degree of recognition, of acceptance. I had not been willing to give it. I had been afraid to give it. I had not wanted to give my trust, my friendship to a man who was a woman, a woman who was a man…But it was from the difference between us, not from the affinities and likenesses, but from the difference, that that love came: and it was itself the bridge, the only bridge, across what divided us. For us to meet sexually would be for us to meet once more as aliens. We had touched, in the only way we could touch.

The whole Gethenian society revolves around the duality of its inhabitants. Many will see in the kingdom of Karhide a distinctly Eastern influence, as much of the societal influences come from a mystic philosophy. This is in contrast to their enemy and opposition, Orgoreyn, which is a chilling bureaucracy. Light and dark, yin and yang, male and female–the themes of duality pervade the novel.

At a sparse 139 pages, The Left Hand of Darkness is a quick read. Le Guin’s writing is lyrical and beautiful, and her universe is detailed and completely evolved. Within the structure of a riveting story, she tackles such issues as sexual perception and cultural chauvinism. It is the best kind of story: one that leaves you satisfied as you turn the last page, yet continues to haunt you long after.

Interested in reviewing?

If you would like to share your love of literature or rediscover the classics, sign up today to court the classics and enjoy the foundations of Western literature with us! If there’s a classic you want to see reviewed, email us at fictionistawksp@gmail.com.

Courting the Classics: September Welcome

September 7, 2011 Courting the Classics, Our Programs No Comments

By Autumn

Happy September!

The kids are back to school, the weather is cooling off (for you, too, I hope), and it’s a great time to settle down with a good book. This month, we’ll be taking a look a Banned Books.

As long as there has been literature, spoken or written, there have been those that have disapproved of the content (remember, Socrates was forced to drink hemlock because his oral lessons were deemed unsuitable for youth. We only know of him and his teachings because Plato was brave enough to preserve his thoughts in writing.). It’s axiomatic–writing is an intensely personal thing, and words and ideas are very powerful. Some think that the point of all written or spoken communication should be to elevate the mind at best, or to entertain at worst, but I’d disagree. Of course, these goals are lofty and desirable, but stories at their best many times have a higher calling.

The purpose of some stories is to reveal us to ourselves. To bring our societies and rites into sharp focus. As human beings, we are not perfect. Our societies are even less perfect, as people in groups are wont to do things that an individual would not consider doing on his or her own. The strongest literature we have brings the things we don’t particularly like, the things we’d rather keep hidden, into the open, where the purifying strength of light can be shone upon them. Societies have changed from the power of books like these… and inevitably they are banned somewhere, by someone who would like to pretend that the ugly in life doesn’t exist, or would like to be able to continue to believe that their own role in the big ugly isn’t so bad.

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Other stories are banned just because they reveal a side of individuals that’s not particularly pretty. Cursing… yep, we do that. Violence, petty crimes, infidelity, other sexual peccadillos… yep, we do those, too. The best of human beings is no saint (exceptions exist, but not many in the grander scheme of things), and good literature will acknowledge that. I love a quote from the author’s note from his latest novel, Full Dark, No Stars: “The writer must acknowledge that even a serial killer can help an old lady across the street” (paraphrased). The opposite is true as well: even the best character does “bad” things (or at least not so admirable things). As a reader and a deeply flawed human being, I prefer to appreciate these characters’ reality rather than wish they showed an inhuman human being. The last category of Banned Books fall under the umbrella of those banned for not being part of an individual or group’s political or religious agenda. Harry Potter banned because witchcraft is immoral? Never mind that it also shows loyalty and courage, and a strength of character that has made it a classic. Come on. So, read a banned book this month. Think about it. Think about why the author has written what is on the page you’re reading. Think about why those particular words were chosen, because I guarantee you that there was a reason. In the end, you may decide that the author was wrong, and that’s fine–there are many books that personally I find to be a waste of time and the paper on which they’re printed. But I count myself lucky that I am able to make that decision for myself. On another note, I’d like to extend a personal invitation for anyone reading to try their hand at reviewing for Courting the Classics. Our pool of reviewers has shrunk, so if you like this feature and would like to see it continue, we need YOU. If you’re interested, please contact me at whynot425@gmail.com, or tweet me at @Classicista. We at Fictionista Workshop want to send out our sympathy and best wishes to all those hit by natural disasters this summer.

Spoiler Inside: September Welcome, continued

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Other stories are banned just because they reveal a side of individuals that’s not particularly pretty. Cursing… yep, we do that. Violence, petty crimes, infidelity, other sexual peccadillos… yep, we do those, too. The best of human beings is no saint (exceptions exist, but not many in the grander scheme of things), and good literature will acknowledge that. I love a quote from the author’s note from his latest novel, Full Dark, No Stars: “The writer must acknowledge that even a serial killer can help an old lady across the street” (paraphrased). The opposite is true as well: even the best character does “bad” things (or at least not so admirable things). As a reader and a deeply flawed human being, I prefer to appreciate these characters’ reality rather than wish they showed an inhuman human being.

The last category of Banned Books fall under the umbrella of those banned for not being part of an individual or group’s political or religious agenda. Harry Potter banned because witchcraft is immoral? Never mind that it also shows loyalty and courage, and a strength of character that has made it a classic. Come on.

So, read a banned book this month. Think about it. Think about why the author has written what is on the page you’re reading. Think about why those particular words were chosen, because I guarantee you that there was a reason. In the end, you may decide that the author was wrong, and that’s fine–there are many books that personally I find to be a waste of time and the paper on which they’re printed. But I count myself lucky that I am able to make that decision for myself.

On another note, I’d like to extend a personal invitation for anyone reading to try their hand at reviewing for Courting the Classics. Our pool of reviewers has shrunk, so if you like this feature and would like to see it continue, we need YOU. If you’re interested, please contact me at whynot425@gmail.com, or tweet me at @Classicista.

We at Fictionista Workshop want to send out our sympathy and best wishes to all those hit by natural disasters this summer.

Interested in reviewing?

If you would like to share your love of literature or rediscover the classics, sign up today to court the classics and enjoy the foundations of Western literature with us! If there’s a classic you want to see reviewed, email us at fictionistawksp@gmail.com.

Courting the Classics: Silas Marner by George Eliot

June 16, 2011 Courting the Classics, Our Programs No Comments

By Ann B.

“I think nobody could be happier than we are,” is the last line in a book where unhappiness abounds. Silas Marner, by George Eliot, follows the life of a man who loses everything a couple times over and is threatened with losing what he loves most a third time. He has strange fits, is nearsighted, and poor. Yet, that last sentence is most fitting in describing how he feels when the line is spoken.

The story begins with a happy Silas. He has a good trade, a best friend and is engaged to be married to his heart’s desire. The problem is his friend is jealous of the girl, so steals from the rector, a man Silas is tending as he is dying, then sets up Silas as the thief. Because of his faith in God, Silas is sure he will be cleared, but he isn’t. Instead he is excommunicated, his girl breaks off the engagement, his friend laughs in his face, and he is thrust from the community. Silas moves far away, to the town of Raveloe, where he does nothing but weave linen and count his gold for fifteen years. The townspeople think him odd and also reject him, but Silas doesn’t care because he knows that people are not to be trusted. However, misery isn’t done with him yet.

Also in this town is a squire and his sons. The two oldest are true examples of what happens to children who are given everything. They waste their money, make rash decisions that bring grief to themselves and others, and try to cover up the consequences of their actions rather than face them. There is a singular difference in these two boys, however. The elder, Godfrey, has a heart where the younger, Dunstan, only thinks of himself. It is this selfishness of Dunstan’s that brings Silas his second loss, the theft of the gold that is the only thing Silas loves.

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Oddly, it is Godfrey’s heart that brings Silas his greatest joy. Godfrey’s most rash decision was to marry a woman he didn’t love and have a child by her. He has striven to keep this from his father, and is endlessly being blackmailed by his younger brother. The wife is unloved now, for Godfrey’s heart has found another. She also has the misfortune of being an opium addict. A few months following the theft of the gold, the woman is bringing her toddler to town to force Godfrey to acknowledge them, pauses to drink a little opium, and collapses in the snow where she freezes to death. The toddler, with hair the color of spun gold, sees an open door and walks through it to the warmth of the hearth beyond. The door is being held open by none other than Silas who is suffering from one of his fits. When Silas comes out of his trance he sees gold, and finds happiness. Godfrey tells no one that she is his child, and is elated because now that he is a widower he is free to marry the girl he really wants. Dunstan has disappeared. Silas raises the toddler, whom he names Eppie, as his own daughter, grateful for the occasional gifts from Godfrey who acts out of a sense of responsibility. For the first time, Silas finds the happiness that has eluded him all these years, by becoming a father. As for the threat of the third loss, I invite you to read the book. The language is a little difficult for modern readers since it was written at a time when authors were paid by the word. Entire chapters are devoted to conversations that do nothing to drive the story forward. Still, the importance of community, family, tolerance and taking responsibility shine through. At the end you agree that nobody could be as happy as they are, for they have that singular gift that brings true joy: family.

Spoiler Inside: Silas Marner , continued

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Interested in reviewing?

If you would like to share your love of literature or rediscover the classics, sign up today to court the classics and enjoy the foundations of Western literature with us! If there’s a classic you want to see reviewed, email us at fictionistawksp@gmail.com.

Courting the Classics: The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

May 24, 2011 Courting the Classics, Our Programs No Comments

By Amanda

For a book of around 200 pages, Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair covers a wide range of issues: love, jealousy, fidelity, religion, spirituality – you get the picture. Given the way in which he manages to surmise the human experience with such brevity and accuracy, it’s no wonder Greene’s fans included the likes of William Faulkner. One might think that the inclusion of so many concepts could render the work confusing, but my experience with The End of the Affair made me feel as though all the different facets of life about which Greene wrote were connected with one simple unifier: their compulsory nature.

It goes like this: Bendrix, an author, falls in love with a woman named Sarah, whose marriage is textbook boring. The two become engaged in a passionate, all-consuming affair (including a scene in which they have sex on the floor upstairs while Sarah’s husband meanders aimlessly about downstairs , which of itself should interest you in the book). One day, suddenly, Sarah calls it off for no apparent reason, and Bendrix is left confused, angry and heartbroken. In fact, we know from the beginning of the story that their relationship was doomed – not just from the title, but also because the book begins with Bendrix and Sarah’s husband having drinks at a bar after the affair has ended, discussing Sarah’s potential infidelity. Sarah’s husband is unaware of Bendrix’ previous involvement with his wife, and Bendrix is eager to discover whether or not Sarah has taken another lover. The two investigate the matter, only to discover that Sarah is not two-timing her husband, unless God counts, as she has become devoutly religious. Now, Bendrix is REALLY confused.

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Light is shed on the matter later, when Bendrix discovers that he is the reason for Sarah’s about-face: although neither he nor Sarah were exactly keepers of the faith, Sarah made a promise to God one day when a bomb fell on Bendrix’s house. He had gone downstairs just before the blast, and when, after the dust had settled, Sarah came downstairs and saw him lying unconscious, she assumed he was dead. She made a promise to God that, if he would bring Bendrix back to life, she would straighten up and return to her husband, though she would always truly love Bendrix. When Bendrix learns that Sarah left him because of her love for him, he resolves to get her back, but it is too late. Moved by Sarah’s faith, which was so strong as to sever their relationship, Bendrix must finally admit that he, too, believes in God, although he is still angry at him. Greene, a devout Catholic, takes an unusual look at faith in this work as not a matter of choice, but of compulsion. Both Sarah and Bendrix are drawn toward one another and to God by some seemingly-external force – whether in the bedroom or the confessional, the characters seem to have little control over their actions, or even what they believe. As a girl from the Bible Belt, this was a whole new way to look at one’s experience with God– sure, you might be mysteriously drawn down the aisle to get saved, but, as a general rule, we Protestants believe that it’s all downhill from there. Hey, at least we’re able to admit that remaining abstinent until marriage isn’t something anybody actually WANTS to do. Greene paints an entirely different picture: God is a real, undeniable force, and he is not always merciful. In a cruel twist at the book’s end, with Sarah out of their lives, Bendrix and Sarah’s husband are united by their misery. As a person without much self control, this work really spoke to me. Of course, my personal lack of discipline has usually led to things like waking up on my own front porch with no memory of how I got there, rather than hating God, but being unable to deny him. That kind of divine punishment is what I would like to consider as a worst-case scenario reserved for adulterers, which means I’m safe, because I’m not married. But, whether we are religiously-bent, slaves to love, or, in my case, should really just stay away from tequila, we all have moments when we do things that we never intended to do. This is what makes The End of the Affair so compelling and accessible: it speaks to the parts of us which we are prone to fear and deny. Greene taps into those irrepressible emotions such as love, lust and jealousy, and reminds us that actions that result from them are often as far beyond our control as the emotions themselves. While trying to decide whether or not to read the book, its religious theme almost made me put it down. But, trust me: that would be a mistake. They never taught you about this kind of faith in Sunday School.

Spoiler Inside: The End of the Affair , continued

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Light is shed on the matter later, when Bendrix discovers that he is the reason for Sarah’s about-face: although neither he nor Sarah were exactly keepers of the faith, Sarah made a promise to God one day when a bomb fell on Bendrix’s house. He had gone downstairs just before the blast, and when, after the dust had settled, Sarah came downstairs and saw him lying unconscious, she assumed he was dead. She made a promise to God that, if he would bring Bendrix back to life, she would straighten up and return to her husband, though she would always truly love Bendrix.

When Bendrix learns that Sarah left him because of her love for him, he resolves to get her back, but it is too late. Moved by Sarah’s faith, which was so strong as to sever their relationship, Bendrix must finally admit that he, too, believes in God, although he is still angry at him.

Greene, a devout Catholic, takes an unusual look at faith in this work as not a matter of choice, but of compulsion. Both Sarah and Bendrix are drawn toward one another and to God by some seemingly-external force – whether in the bedroom or the confessional, the characters seem to have little control over their actions, or even what they believe. As a girl from the Bible Belt, this was a whole new way to look at one’s experience with God– sure, you might be mysteriously drawn down the aisle to get saved, but, as a general rule, we Protestants believe that it’s all downhill from there. Hey, at least we’re able to admit that remaining abstinent until marriage isn’t something anybody actually WANTS to do. Greene paints an entirely different picture: God is a real, undeniable force, and he is not always merciful. In a cruel twist at the book’s end, with Sarah out of their lives, Bendrix and Sarah’s husband are united by their misery.

As a person without much self control, this work really spoke to me. Of course, my personal lack of discipline has usually led to things like waking up on my own front porch with no memory of how I got there, rather than hating God, but being unable to deny him. That kind of divine punishment is what I would like to consider as a worst-case scenario reserved for adulterers, which means I’m safe, because I’m not married. But, whether we are religiously-bent, slaves to love, or, in my case, should really just stay away from tequila, we all have moments when we do things that we never intended to do. This is what makes The End of the Affair so compelling and accessible: it speaks to the parts of us which we are prone to fear and deny. Greene taps into those irrepressible emotions such as love, lust and jealousy, and reminds us that actions that result from them are often as far beyond our control as the emotions themselves. While trying to decide whether or not to read the book, its religious theme almost made me put it down. But, trust me: that would be a mistake. They never taught you about this kind of faith in Sunday School.

Interested in reviewing?

If you would like to share your love of literature or rediscover the classics, sign up today to court the classics and enjoy the foundations of Western literature with us! If there’s a classic you want to see reviewed, email us at fictionistawksp@gmail.com.

Courting the Classics: A Room With A View by E.M. Forster

May 14, 2011 Courting the Classics, Our Programs No Comments

http://www.booksuniverseeverything.com/2009/12/28/a-room-with-a-view-by-e-m-forster/

By Autumn

Edwardian England was as difficult an era as most, if one was a woman. Though no longer quite the chattel they were a century earlier, a woman’s familial duty and saving was to make a “good” marriage, and thus improve her family’s fortunes. Though they’d travelled slightly beyond the Georgians of Jane Austen and had the ability to have some slight choice as to their husband, women and girls were still expected by parents and the rest of society to make ‘a good match’. Even more important was to associate with “the right sort.”

Lucy Honeychurch is in exactly this position at the opening of A Room with a View. Solidly middle class, Lucy is on the Grand Tour of Italy that is expected of a girl of her station, with her spinster cousin, Charlotte, in tow and acting in the role of parent. Charlotte’s role is to assure that Lucy sees just enough and meets only those of her class or above. Although we are never directly told Lucy’s age, her dress and manner seem to mark her as being in her late teens or early twenties, while Charlotte seems to be in her forties.

We first encounter our pair in Florence, fussing over the rooms to which they have been assigned: far apart and decidedly without a view, the accomodations are clearly insufficient. They carry their argument to the dinner table, where we meet their companions (nearly all the “right” sort, of course), a colorful cast of characters that we end up encountering again and again as their lives intertwine throughout the story. Their table companions sympathize; two, however, act. Mr. Emerson and his son, George (as tradesmen, decidedly the “wrong” sort), make the incredible social faux pas of offering their rooms, which have a view that they do not appreciate. Forster has great fun making a joke of the layers of manners which complicate what should be a simple courtesy, in the meantime skewering the class consciousness of his day. The exchange is eventually made, with the intervention of a vicar, and the stage is set for our heroine and hero to become acquainted.

Spoiler Inside: A Room With A View , continued	Select Show
The Lucy we first meet is the quintessential young Englishwoman: pretty, unformed in opinion, and dutifully obedient to her family. She voices opinions which she knows she “should” have, while her honest thoughts seem to startle her. One of those thoughts is a quiet assurance that the Emersons are respectable men, though they may not hew to social rules. George Emerson is her opposite in some ways, as he has no fear of speaking out (politely, of course), questioning what lies behind those rules, and acting with assurance and honesty. The young people have an immediate spark, which flusters Lucy, horrifies Charlotte, and makes George quietly happy. A witnessed murder, a stolen kiss (in one of the swoonier passages of the story), and Lucy is rushed off to Rome. We next encounter Lucy back home in Surrey as she is accepting a proposal of marriage to Cecil Vyze, a rich, idle, pompous young man. Through conversation and exposition, we learn that this pair met in Rome and travelled Italy in the same circles. Cecil has proposed twice before, and Lucy is under heavy motherly pressure to agree to marry. Our Lucy now is a bit wiser, a bit more jaded, and ready to acquiesce. Through a series of machinations and intercessions from several characters, the Emersons end up moving to Lucy’s town. What’s a girl to do? Follow her heart or her society? In A Room with a View, Forster created a very cutting, very funny view of the society of Edwardian England. The rich (represented by Cecil and his mother) are ridiculous, the middle-classes (represented by the Honeychurches and their contemporaries) are stuffy and class-bound, and the working class (represented by the Emersons) hold the light of honesty. Allowed to feel what he feels and to think what he thinks, George is a man’s man, determined to love Lucy for who she is. There is a vigor and a masculinity that Cecil, with all his money, airs, and education, can’t hope to match. When George tells Lucy that he wants her to have her own thoughts when he holds her in his arms, we swoon. He and his father are in favor of treating women equally with men, for heaven’s sake! Though Cecil isn’t a bad man, he clearly has no interest in or concept of Lucy as a person, an individual. When we see into his thoughts of her, they are always of molding her or shaping her when they are not of her “Leonardoesque” perfection, thus placing her on a pedestal that no woman could possibly stay atop for long. Lucy battles her heart with her head, backed up by her mother and her society. Though I won’t give away the ending, I will say this: while this is on the top a ‘love story’, what I see equally as strongly is an ode to familial love. Lucy is very close to her mother and brother, and their wishes and opinions are on her mind when she does anything. Cecil gives the same consideration to his mother’s opinion of Lucy, discussing with her whether Lucy can be brought into their society. George… sigh George is a model of devotion to old Mr. Emerson, taking him on a European tour, acting with tenderness and care to his father’s wishes, even moving him to the country (at the personal cost of a long train trip weekly). He speaks of his father with affection at all times. At the bottom, This story is about what we owe our families (and society) and what we owe ourselves. Forster is very funny, but also very clear-eyed, and he wants us to realize that the ‘view’ (which is used throughout the book to represent something to which the moneyed are entitled, and which we can read as what we do for society) of the outside world isn’t nearly as important as what we see (and show) within ourselves. I love this book, and hope I’ve made you want to read it as well!

Spoiler Inside: A Room With A View , continued

Select Show

The Lucy we first meet is the quintessential young Englishwoman: pretty, unformed in opinion, and dutifully obedient to her family. She voices opinions which she knows she “should” have, while her honest thoughts seem to startle her. One of those thoughts is a quiet assurance that the Emersons are respectable men, though they may not hew to social rules. George Emerson is her opposite in some ways, as he has no fear of speaking out (politely, of course), questioning what lies behind those rules, and acting with assurance and honesty. The young people have an immediate spark, which flusters Lucy, horrifies Charlotte, and makes George quietly happy. A witnessed murder, a stolen kiss (in one of the swoonier passages of the story), and Lucy is rushed off to Rome.

We next encounter Lucy back home in Surrey as she is accepting a proposal of marriage to Cecil Vyze, a rich, idle, pompous young man. Through conversation and exposition, we learn that this pair met in Rome and travelled Italy in the same circles. Cecil has proposed twice before, and Lucy is under heavy motherly pressure to agree to marry. Our Lucy now is a bit wiser, a bit more jaded, and ready to acquiesce. Through a series of machinations and intercessions from several characters, the Emersons end up moving to Lucy’s town. What’s a girl to do? Follow her heart or her society?

In A Room with a View, Forster created a very cutting, very funny view of the society of Edwardian England. The rich (represented by Cecil and his mother) are ridiculous, the middle-classes (represented by the Honeychurches and their contemporaries) are stuffy and class-bound, and the working class (represented by the Emersons) hold the light of honesty. Allowed to feel what he feels and to think what he thinks, George is a man’s man, determined to love Lucy for who she is. There is a vigor and a masculinity that Cecil, with all his money, airs, and education, can’t hope to match. When George tells Lucy that he wants her to have her own thoughts when he holds her in his arms, we swoon. He and his father are in favor of treating women equally with men, for heaven’s sake! Though Cecil isn’t a bad man, he clearly has no interest in or concept of Lucy as a person, an individual. When we see into his thoughts of her, they are always of molding her or shaping her when they are not of her “Leonardoesque” perfection, thus placing her on a pedestal that no woman could possibly stay atop for long. Lucy battles her heart with her head, backed up by her mother and her society.

Though I won’t give away the ending, I will say this: while this is on the top a ‘love story’, what I see equally as strongly is an ode to familial love. Lucy is very close to her mother and brother, and their wishes and opinions are on her mind when she does anything. Cecil gives the same consideration to his mother’s opinion of Lucy, discussing with her whether Lucy can be brought into their society. George… *sigh* George is a model of devotion to old Mr. Emerson, taking him on a European tour, acting with tenderness and care to his father’s wishes, even moving him to the country (at the personal cost of a long train trip weekly). He speaks of his father with affection at all times. At the bottom, This story is about what we owe our families (and society) and what we owe ourselves. Forster is very funny, but also very clear-eyed, and he wants us to realize that the ‘view’ (which is used throughout the book to represent something to which the moneyed are entitled, and which we can read as what we do for society) of the outside world isn’t nearly as important as what we see (and show) within ourselves. I love this book, and hope I’ve made you want to read it as well!

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Courting the Classics: May Welcome

May 4, 2011 Courting the Classics, Our Programs No Comments

By Autumn

HAPPY REAL SPRING…

…at least in my part of the country. Mother’s Day is coming up, and of course my mind turned to books *smile*. This month, our reviewers examine mother/child relationships, mothering, and a mother’s influence. Not all of the books are directly about parenting, but all raise questions of what it means to parent and how we are changed by having or being a parent. In June, we’ll turn that spotlight on fathers. Some books we’ll review are very classic, and some are modern classics, but I hope you’ll enjoy them all.

Part of parenting is our ability to influence and guide the next generation, and that was on my mind a lot last month when preparing with my teenage daughter our joint Romeo and Juliet review. As I noted in the introduction to that review, we’ve been reading a lot of the same books and comparing notes. I know that phenomenon happened often with the publishing of Twilight (lol); the explosion of the YA genre makes that fact abundantly clear. Our difference is that I think about classic stories and what she might enjoy, and ask her to try those as well. Some she’s liked, some she hasn’t, and that’s fair. The point is that she and I are expanding our repertoire of books.

Spoiler Inside: May Welcome, continued	Select Show
You often hear the phrase, “At least (he, she,I) is/am reading something,” and while that’s true to a point, it’s not enough. Yes, illiteracy has passed him/her/you by, but you could be missing something that makes your interior life richer or your day easier. Classic stories didn’t get to be classics by accident: they often speak to the soul in a way that modern pulp fiction does not. Don’t get me wrong: my bookshelves aren’t covered with leatherbound tomes. I love a good story of any era (Janet Evanovich and Stephen King sit right beside Jane Austen and Shakespeare. And J.R. Ward fans self). The point isn’t to be a litsnob, or to look down on anyone. the point is to be a well-rounded reader, and to help each other along. “Something” is a start, but the reading road is longer and better than that. Happy travels!

Spoiler Inside: May Welcome, continued

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Courting the Classics: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

April 29, 2011 Courting the Classics, Our Programs No Comments

Charles and Mary Lamb, Tales from Shakespeare (Philadelphia: Henry Altemus Company, 1901)13

By Autumn and Rachel

For the last few months, my daughter, Rachel, and I have been enjoying reading the same books/plays, and then comparing notes. She likes the validation of having her mom read the things she likes, and I have the satisfaction of steering her toward good reads (and the chance to sneakily vet the popular teen books she’s reading and discuss any issues with the story/storytelling–sneaky, aren’t I?). Anyway, I thought you might enjoy our glimpse of Romeo and Juliet from two perspectives–that of Juliet’s contemporary (Rachel is 14) and that of a more seasoned adult (I’m… older than 14). — Classicista

Unlike most contemporary love stories, Romeo and Juliet doesn’t have a happy ending–as it states in the Prologue. In the opening of the play, Shakespeare illustrates the back stories of the Montagues and the Capulets; he basically states that even though both families are rich and respected, there is an ancient dispute between the two parties.

If you look at the Capulet family you learn that thirteen year old Juliet is to marry Paris, a thirty-forty year old bachelor (it was normal at the time, but to me it seems uber creepy now). To celebrate her fourteenth birthday her family had decided to throw a ball in her honor; so begins the meeting of Juliet and Romeo. Not being invited to this occasion, Romeo comes disguised with his good friend Mercutio. Juliet doesn’t recognize Romeo, until her nurse breaks the news of the other’s identity. Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, recognizes Romeo but Lord Capulet disregards that he is there.

At last we read the infamous balcony scene in which they meet for the first time face to face… it is love at first sight. Romeo and Juliet decide to meet the friar and he agrees to marry them. Lord Capulet tells Juliet that she’ll have to marry the old creeper Paris, so she tells the priest who gives her a potion to make her seem dead. Unfortunately, Romeo didn’t get the memo *gasp* and goes to see the apothecary (drug dealer) for some poison, and proceeds to Juliet’s tomb where her “dead” body lies. Romeo drinks the poison just as she wakes up from her forty hour sleep and she stabs herself with Romeo’s dagger.

It is basically your classic love story–boy meets girl, they cant be together, they are together forever. (Sorry, atheists, but I believe that they are in heaven. Deal with it.) My favorite quote from any of Shakespeare’s writing is, “for never was a story more of woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo”. I have read several stories by Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet is the most captivating to me; I would consider this as one of the greatest tragedies in written language. The reason for this is because there is so much emotion and depth to this story; it’s not like a Nicholas Sparks novel, per se, where there is basically no depth and you can predict every line (they are dramatic books but not necessarily tragedies). A tragedy to me is where you can predict that it’s not going to end well but the resolution is not done in a way that is too dramatic for actual life. Shakespeare wrote plays that were intended to be dramatic, but I don’t much find the appeal of a book that is supposed to sound like real life that seems obviously overblown. There have been numerous books, movies and songs that use the common idea from Romeo and Juliet–the “phenomenon” of Twilight kind of uses the same basic format of this story. The Taylor Swift hit song, “Love Story” also talks about the play.

There have also been movies of the original play. My favorite is the ‘60s version directed by Franco Zeffirelli that portrays the story in a way that is true to the play. The actors are close to the age that Romeo and Juliet are in the play. There is another version (directed by Baz Luhrmann) that takes place in the oh so modern day ‘90s that uses the original iambic pentameter dialogue but puts it in a modern day setting. There is also the animated feature, Gnomeo and Juliet, which uses the common theme but has a “happy” ending (can’t freak the kids out killing the main characters). So in conclusion, the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet appeals to many ages of people. I first read this story in the 5th grade and enjoyed it then as much as I do now.

TAKE TWO…

Spoiler Inside: Romeo and Juliet , continued	Select Show
Mama’s turn, now. Rachel did a pretty good job of summarizing the story, so I’ll go straight to analysis. Romeo and Juliet is clearly a tragedy, perhaps Shakespeare’s most accessible tragedy and certainly one of his most popular plays. I remember first reading this is in junior high and being wrecked; so sad for both main characters and furious at the adults that put them in the position of even having to consider dying for their great love. I identified completely with Juliet, especially after seeing Zeffirelli’s film of the play (Romeo was hot). Now? Well… things change between fourteen and forty three. I still consider this a tragedy, but not Shakespeare’s best (You’d have to go to King Lear for that), and not for the same reasons. Romeo and Juliet today makes me sad for different reasons: first and most important is their youth. They are so damned young. Juliet was fourteen, and Romeo was likely around eighteen to twenty. That feeling of ‘all or nothing love’ is in full swing at that time–in fact, most emotions are ‘all or nothing’ for people at that stage of life. Shakespeare’s genius here is so much in his dialogue. He got that girl, that woman-child. Her flustered pleasure at Romeo’s wordplay when they meet at the ball, her girlish dreaminess as she thinks about Romeo on her balcony, her coy refusal to recognize the lark’s call the morning Romeo must leave for his banishment, her pain and shock at finding his body… put any of that in modern terms, and I can hear my daughter’s voice. Even in the language of Shakespeare’s time, all these speeches are very clear in meaning and emotion, and very effective. All show a person just maturing, but still given to flights of fancy and the unruly emotions of a child. I’d like to be able to say, “Well, but this is all just so extreme”… but that would be a lie. Children kill themselves (or try to) over a ‘love’ to this day. Romeo and Juliet is also sad for me as a parent. I never saw this aspect as a youth, but Juliet’s parents aren’t the monsters I’d like them to have been. They, like all parents, want what will be best for their child, and at that time that meant an early marriage to a rich man. Lord Capulet went above and beyond in searching for a suitor for his daughter, but that did not mean that he would never have given a thought to Romeo or his daughter’s wishes had he been given a chance. Romeo and Juliet assume their coupling would lead to further bloodshed and family strife, but take this into consideration: when alerted by Tybalt to Romeo’s presence at the ball, Lord Capulet has nothing but praise for his great rival’s son (act i, scene iv). When Tybalt continues to threaten, he is sharply rebuked by his Lord and told to let Romeo alone. The bloodshed and strife that the young lovers feared only became inevitable when they tried to keep secrets (aided by the nurse, who is one of my favorite characters, and the priest, who I don’t much like at all). Finally, I feel a bit of nostalgic sorrow because I’ve seen the passing of time. Teens can be passionate without perception, and Romeo and Juliet fit squarely in that mold. The friar who eventually marries them (and, to my mind, is the one most at fault here) is correct when he chides Romeo for so easily abandoning his prior obsession, Rosaline, and says, “Young men’s love then lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.” (act ii, scene iii) Because really… love? Romeo and Juliet had met only the night before, and knew nothing of who the other person really was. Nothing. Give them a month (and without the ‘assistance’ of do-gooder priests and potion wielding apothacaries, not to mention absentminded friends), and they might have discovered they had nothing in common, or Romeo might have moved on to yet another girl, or… regardless. They would have been alive, anyway. And that is the lesson of age, I guess. Romeo and Juliet thought no one could outshine their current love, they’d never be able to love again, and that the pain of their loss couldn’t be overcome. Age teaches us better. And that’s why Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy.

Spoiler Inside: Romeo and Juliet , continued

Select Show

Mama’s turn, now.

Rachel did a pretty good job of summarizing the story, so I’ll go straight to analysis. Romeo and Juliet is clearly a tragedy, perhaps Shakespeare’s most accessible tragedy and certainly one of his most popular plays. I remember first reading this is in junior high and being wrecked; so sad for both main characters and furious at the adults that put them in the position of even having to consider dying for their great love. I identified completely with Juliet, especially after seeing Zeffirelli’s film of the play (Romeo was hot).

Now? Well… things change between fourteen and forty three.

I still consider this a tragedy, but not Shakespeare’s best (You’d have to go to King Lear for that), and not for the same reasons. Romeo and Juliet today makes me sad for different reasons: first and most important is their youth. They are so damned young. Juliet was fourteen, and Romeo was likely around eighteen to twenty. That feeling of ‘all or nothing love’ is in full swing at that time–in fact, most emotions are ‘all or nothing’ for people at that stage of life. Shakespeare’s genius here is so much in his dialogue. He got that girl, that woman-child. Her flustered pleasure at Romeo’s wordplay when they meet at the ball, her girlish dreaminess as she thinks about Romeo on her balcony, her coy refusal to recognize the lark’s call the morning Romeo must leave for his banishment, her pain and shock at finding his body… put any of that in modern terms, and I can hear my daughter’s voice. Even in the language of Shakespeare’s time, all these speeches are very clear in meaning and emotion, and very effective. All show a person just maturing, but still given to flights of fancy and the unruly emotions of a child. I’d like to be able to say, “Well, but this is all just so extreme”… but that would be a lie. Children kill themselves (or try to) over a ‘love’ to this day.

Romeo and Juliet is also sad for me as a parent. I never saw this aspect as a youth, but Juliet’s parents aren’t the monsters I’d like them to have been. They, like all parents, want what will be best for their child, and at that time that meant an early marriage to a rich man. Lord Capulet went above and beyond in searching for a suitor for his daughter, but that did not mean that he would never have given a thought to Romeo or his daughter’s wishes had he been given a chance. Romeo and Juliet assume their coupling would lead to further bloodshed and family strife, but take this into consideration: when alerted by Tybalt to Romeo’s presence at the ball, Lord Capulet has nothing but praise for his great rival’s son (act i, scene iv). When Tybalt continues to threaten, he is sharply rebuked by his Lord and told to let Romeo alone. The bloodshed and strife that the young lovers feared only became inevitable when they tried to keep secrets (aided by the nurse, who is one of my favorite characters, and the priest, who I don’t much like at all).

Finally, I feel a bit of nostalgic sorrow because I’ve seen the passing of time. Teens can be passionate without perception, and Romeo and Juliet fit squarely in that mold. The friar who eventually marries them (and, to my mind, is the one most at fault here) is correct when he chides Romeo for so easily abandoning his prior obsession, Rosaline, and says, “Young men’s love then lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.” (act ii, scene iii) Because really… love? Romeo and Juliet had met only the night before, and knew nothing of who the other person really was. Nothing. Give them a month (and without the ‘assistance’ of do-gooder priests and potion wielding apothacaries, not to mention absentminded friends), and they might have discovered they had nothing in common, or Romeo might have moved on to yet another girl, or… regardless. They would have been alive, anyway. And that is the lesson of age, I guess. Romeo and Juliet thought no one could outshine their current love, they’d never be able to love again, and that the pain of their loss couldn’t be overcome. Age teaches us better.

And that’s why Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy.

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