Cheerskep; I enjoyed your remarks. I do love words and language. I want to write. As for novels, I can't claim to be very well read beyond the classics. Lately I've met novelist Ward Just and have begun a correspondence with him. I've read several of his novels. I've recently read a novel by Alan Furst, not his latest, and will read more. Now I'm in the midst of 11-22-63 the new novel by Stephen King. This is my first experience with King and I'm not yet sure he's so good, or is just a highly skilled and popular storyteller. What do you think?
I don't know if I could write with novelist's the 'necklace chain of plot' as you put it. That would seem to require a very subtle ability to put out several chronological strands at the outset and then tug them each now and then, maybe like putting several baited lines into the fishing pond, all tied to one long pole with a real hook plenty sharp. I think I do that in a painting when shapes and colors can echo each other but there the chronological aspect is null and everything happens at once visually even though it wasn't made all at once. I wanted to be clear that my sentiments about America as 'best' centered on its ideals, as in the Constitution and democracy, and not on its achievement of those ideals. That full achievement of ideals hasn't happened, of course, not by a long shot. A you well know, what's important is that our Constitution embracing those ideals is still in effect which means that it's still the most valued moral and ethical guide to the American future. My own interests are whetted by the country's progressive achievements, and they are impressive: Emancipation, Equal Rights, Voting Rights, Social Security, Medicare, etc. but I fear that America's progressive era may have waned over the past few decades despite some liberal-minded leaders doing the best they can. What we are drifting toward now is a genuine Plutocracy, the dark side of unregulated capitalism that pools more and more money into fewer and fewer hands that also drive the government. The Constitution recognizes the prescience of the Founding Fathers who envisioned the huge nation they gave birth to even when it was tiny, fragile and broke. The bigness and complexity of America, the enormous diversity of its peoples and the doubly complex relation between the states and the central government probably assure a looseness of conditions that enable an unknown variety changes to occur, hopefully for the better. But that looseness also invites a degree of social chaos sometimes bordering on anarchy or conversely, episodes of tyranny, and, for too many, limited opportunities and even repression. Our Constitution provides for periodic 'revolutions' and thus remains elastic enough to meet the needs and will people, more or less in an ongoing way. Nobody else has ever done that with any government anywhere. Our government enshrines lawful opportunity and change above all other interests. To me that's freedom. But now we must pay attention and keep strong fingers on the wheel, wedging them between the sweaty fat hands of the Plutocrats. wc ----- Original Message ---- From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sat, July 7, 2012 3:22:00 PM Subject: Re: Independence Day An effective array of good moment-summoning details, William. The ability to do that is no doubt allied to the ability to select the details that make for good representational visual art. I've often felt that if you hadn't gone into visual art yourself, you might have become a novelist -- provided you could provide the necklace-chain of plot. As for this country's being the best, I agree, so I hope you didn't see the first episode of Sorkin's new tv series NEWSROOM. It opens with a rattle of data that supposedly prove we are not the best country. But there's a defective logic at work. For example, the opening datum was, I think, that our kids rank 15th or 25th or something in the world when it comes to math scores. Number 1 was Finland. At best, all judgments of "best" are arbitrary, but the pertinence of that datum in judging that Finland is a "better" country than the U.S. is dubious to me. In a message dated 7/4/12 12:56:16 PM, [email protected] writes: > I'm a sappy romantic patriot when it comes to Independence day. I love > remembering the joyous days of youth when we had plenty of firecrackers, > smoke > bombs, 'Roman candles' and maybe a few outlawed cherry bombs. We had the > run of > the little Wisconsin farm town and probably did dangerous things by > setting off > 'fingerling' firecrackers by every little pigtailed girl we saw or by > blowing up > tin cans with bigger three-inch firecrackers and shooting our bee-be guns > at > every sparrow we glimpsed. The cherry bombs were saved for something > special, > something big, out of adult view. I remember the flag parades down Main > Street > with the old WWI veterans trudging loosely ahead of snappy young soldiers > in > close formation. The pathetic High school Band did its best, too, and all > applauded them. Then we had our big afternoon picnic on a bluff > overlooking the > Mississippi and I can assure you it was pure Americana with lots of fat > relatives in aprons spreading out their three hundred varieties of potato > salads, cold chicken, beer, pop and cookies on half-rotted picnic tables > while > Oshkosh-by-Gosh farmer-husbands lit campfires for hot-dogs and > marshmellows. We > messy reckless kids ran and climbed trees, stick-chasing puppies barked, > sputtering old sun-faded rattle-trap cars still steamed under a big tree > at the > hilltop. Best of all was the huge vista of blue sky, the wide river, > and the > distant woodsy lands beyond (where imaginary Indians danced). None of it > was > ever equal led in later, older eyes. Now I want to celebrate the grown > up > American Dream that underpinned that children's' delight: Social equality > and > fellowship; honesty and fair play; freedom with charity. If you're an > American, > you'd better wave that flag today or be shamed. You almost surely have > more good > fortune than you deserve. I'll also celebrate liberal-progressive > ancestors > David Conger, private NJ militia, 1776-78; Edward Conkling, Sag Harbor NY, > Commander of Privateer Eagle killed at sea by British foes, 8 May 1779; > and > David Seabury, patriot, killed at Ft. Groton CT by mercenaries led by > traitor > Benedict Arnold, 6 Sept. 1781. They and millions of others have assured > our > still evolving ideals and Independence, still the best ever devised and > sustained so long. It's a cultural aesthetic. > wc
