Hi Steve, To make a slight alteration: For me, truth is a static pattern of value which is relative.
Marsha On Jun 3, 2010, at 3:11 AM, MarshaV wrote: > > Hi Steve, > > I don't know if listening is the same as reading, but I downloaded > 'Beatrice and Virgil' and listened to the first chapter, which of course > contains your quote. You know for me, truth is relative. Fiction > or non-fiction, it's all story to me. That is not to demean the story, > quite the opposite, life is like a fantastic kaleidoscope of story-telling. > I suppose I'm not the person to engage in an intelligent discussion > concerning what is real, fiction or true. I enjoy hearing Martel > questioning such assumptions, but they have already become > water over the dam for me. > > Art has reflected my different stories over the years, whether making > it or viewing it. Sometimes expressing an internal burn, sometimes > joy, sometimes a question, sometimes puzzlement at the anomalies: > it is always a mirror. I have worked with the book as an object of art, > poetry, intaglio printmaking, classical guitar, collage (my favorite) > and painting. Participating in art is to give yourself a huge, loving gift. > And it is never too late to give that gift, either. > > > > Marsha > > > > > > > On Jun 2, 2010, at 8:54 AM, Steven Peterson wrote: > >> Hi Marsha, Ian, Matt, all >> >> Marsha, are you gonna give the new one a try of Life of Pi? In Life of >> Pi (one of my all-time favorites), the narrator gives two difeerent >> accounts of the same events. The people he is telling the stories to >> want to know which story is true, but the first person narrator asks >> which story is the better story? The better story is clearly the one >> that doesn't ring nearly as true. >> >> I quoted author Martel: >> >> "Fiction and nonfiction are not so easily divided. Fiction may not be >> real, but it’s true; it goes beyond the garland of facts to get to >> emotional and psychological truths. As for nonfiction, for history, it >> may be real, but its truth is slippery, hard to access, with no fixed >> meaning bolted to it. If history doesn’t become story, it dies to >> everyone except the historian. Art is the suitcase of history, >> carrying the essentials. Art is the life buoy of history. Art is seed, >> art is memory, art is vaccine."“In addition to the knowledge of >> history...we need the understanding of art. Stories identify, unify, >> give meaning to. Just as music is noise that makes sense, a painting >> is colour that makes sense, so a story is life that makes sense." >> >> Steve: >> What do you think about "not real, but true" applied to fiction? >> >> This is the sort of thing I think Neil Gaiman would say, too (about >> stories) I personally wouldn't use the words "true" or "real" for >> fiction since they sound to me like direct contradictions to the word >> fiction, but I really like the last bit about "making sense" as >> something distinct from truth and reality which applies as well to >> both fiction and nonfiction. >> >> It makes me think about art in general. A lot of modern art just >> doesn't make any sense to me while some does make some sense to me, >> but it isn't an issue of true-false bivalence. "True" is the wrong >> word, but I like "makes sense." Some art gets dismissed as not making >> any sense (too dynamic or chaotic) or is mundane and doesn't *make* >> sense of anything that did not already make sense (too static). Some >> art keeps drawing you back to try to make sense and you keep finding >> new things in it and it never seems to exhaust the process of making >> new sense (some sweet spot of dynamic-static tension). >> >> The new book has a lot of writing about writing which may interest Matt. >> >> Best, >> Steve >> Moq_Discuss mailing list >> Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. >> http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org >> Archives: >> http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ >> http://moq.org/md/archives.html > > > > ___ > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html ___ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
