Every so often,
and far too regularly
I am reminded of my “challenges”. One of those reminders came recently in the form of an afternoon in downtown Charleston wherein strange flags appeared(ed) upon houses, one of them on Laurens Street.
Admittedly, I had found it odd that such a promoted event as Safran Foer’s appearance before a CCPL and CofC audience would take place on a Sunday. I found it a tad odd the event would take place at around sunset which was the beginning of Sukkot(h).
None-the-less, I marked my calendar’s September 23rd box with “Extremely Loud & Personal 5pm”. And that’s where the story turns sad. For me sad because I know I checked more than once. I know that more than once my eyes went from the calendar of events around the book “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” to where I‘d hand written the information regarding one of the many events taking place around the arrival of author Jonathan Safran Foer in the city some transplants refer to as “The Little Apple”, even has its own Wall St.. But in the few seconds that occur between type set and my handwriting, something about visually coded information variances screws up my memory and even my ability to physically manage and understand words or numbers on a piece of paper and be able to transcribe them. I checked, double checked but my brain having just seen all those Septembers could not hold on to the October I’d written. Which is admittedly, and frustratingly, weird.
Foer’s novel features the narrative voice of an autistic boy who, as I read in the synopsis, engages in a treasure hunt following his father’s death during the 911 disaster.
I realize the events of that day are commonly referred to as either 911 or as an “attack” rather than a disaster. However, given the hearings, various debacles and general lack of a spiritual center from so many angles and sources I believe the term disaster suit’s the day better. Disaster because it was and is a rippling that began during the Cold War. The rippling continued after “greed is good” won. That disaster rippled into the EPA declaring the air around ground zero “safe”. A disaster because so many either got it wrong or were just following orders which is true both inside, and outside, of the United States.
Admittedly I didn’t and haven’t read Foer’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”, yet. The first several pages I did read and then flipped through the contents, and then examined pieces of the novel. During this introduction period I could only marvel that “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” was ever published. Did Foer’s former credibility as both an editor and a writer make him worth the bet? Enable him to sell the idea?
I wondered how he was allowed to color so very much outside the lines in terms of content presentation. Was and is it merely an attempt by the publisher and some of its subsidiaries to save paper publishing by finally allowing something different that is not a graphic novel but still broadens the medium of the novel? Or was and is the novel simply the influence of digital and visual media altering the realm of publishing? And perhaps writing itself?
Of the pages I read -I enjoyed them tremendously and look forward to reading the book/novel.
I enjoyed those pages thoroughly enough that I knew and know Foer’s is not a novel I want to rush or read through in a hurry but will want to take my time with. Like Thomas Hardy- there’s a lot in there. I adore books and novels and though they’re treated synonymously they’re not the same thing. In the case of Foer he may well be a novelist as opposed to someone who merely writes books. One is not the other no matter what the dictionary says.
However I feel I will have to read Foer’s first novel first because only then will I know if what I suspect he may have done in terms of structure as character voice is what he did OR - if that is simply his writing style.
It’s a pretty sizable distinction.
To know just what Foer wrote I’ll have to read “Everything Is Illuminated“. No books on tape my eyes will have to track the copy and for this TBI, depending on sometimes the kind of day I’m having, sometimes the kind of hour I’m having- the difficulty of my eyes going back and forth like that can be considerable and a big chunk of time and effort. Novels of course are easier to visually track than newspapers and the internet is of course a general nightmare because unlike paper it is made of
pixels
“refreshing”
flashing
in glowing hertz rotations
unlike paper and ink which spare me the special effects
that contribute to
or generally make me wobblier than I already am most of the time- but gratefully thanks to yoga: not all of the time- but back to Foer because who the hell am I anyway?
For both the largesse of his work (and the visual tracking) I’ll be delaying on Foer a bit but from what I read I came to personal realization. I realized in those first pages that my TBI born writing habits must be reigned in. Some discipline and mindfulness needs to begin entering my writing again as those were once my trademarks - well…there was after all the TBI. (More accurately the 3rd)
When I first began writing again all of the writing rules had either merged or disappeared which is rather a large matter as that was my field of study.
The rules/guidelines from poetry and theatre remained intact. In those two writing genres punctuation serves the exclusive purpose of rhythm.
Punctuation in journalism, essays and literature however is treated differently and should be but I had lost my inner William Strunk. The rules of English grammar should be broken very selectively.
In reading Foer’s novel I came to appreciate the selectivity of which I have not engaged and have allowed myself to be undisciplined. Foer’s novel was as if one of my old professors were sending correction vibes made in and of neon lighting. ..nd yes I wanted to edit him.
I’ll be reading “Everything Is Illuminated” first, Foer’s first novel first, because that is how I’ll know as a reader whether he broke with convention so as to reflect character voice of an autistic? Or if - well did his writing style change dramatically because either he’s breaking the rules as his own style statement or to communicate character in a sense broader than anyone has done in a very long time. If he did that- he raised the bar, big time.
Per my own writing, I still like the incomplete sentence because in them a period can really exert some force. As can a comma.
I do however appreciate that I must stop applying the theater/dialogue and poetry approaches to the semi colon.
AND I must be more diligent about commas generally because punctuation can become a distraction, playing with form can be dangerous that way. I read Foer and could and can really see that, the aforementioned, the thing I just said/wrote and hope is at all discernable to the reader.
What was not discernable to me the reader in CCPL’s schedule information was just when and where to “Meet” Mr. Foer, (along a few hundred or thousand others meeting Foer). The information was not listed in a quick and easy to read guide of events- all the events were not listed in one place and I feel this was an editorial oversight.
The where and when of attending a possible reading and Q & A of a possibly kick-ass author- trying to find that information was for me like a treasure hunt?
No.
No, its frustrating to see a campaign that lauds “Meet the Author “ and yet one must search for how to meet the author: the where and when not being on a Master Calender listing all events chronologically. Such did not exist in the promotional package doled out to the general public. Which did not and does not make sense to me.
Very sad because the photographic work for the “One Book” Event was and is gorgeous whilst also being reflective of the novel, the planned events around the novel as well as the setting for Mr. Foer’s presumed visit. That aspect of the publishing was truly lovely.
I regularly experience problems/challenges/difficulties with the format for CCPL’s monthly flier of events produced for CCPL/Charleston County Public Library.
(I also have trouble with mail and am now just beginning to master that ADL so- I do know part of this is just the nightmare of being a TBI) But still I have trouble following CCPLs monthly calendars, which are usually monthly, and I ever wish I could lay them out and type set them differently which reflects one of my visual glitches.
My short term memory if the information is non- narrative based or I haven’t been able to convert the information to narrative -I can’t remember. Can see it over, and over and over again- can do it, over and over and over again and I still won’t be able to remember unless and until there is or can be narrative. It is so extremely bothersome that in the act of looking to and from a page the information can be lost again and again and again. I did the same yoga routine for a year and for that year I couldn’t remember what came next.
That and my visual glitch/es is what brought me, you and this entry into a being and how this entry’s title came to be “Extremely Quiet and Incredibly Far“.
“Extremely Quiet and Incredibly Far” because on September 23rd, not October 23rd, but still at five pm and a few hours before sundown I arrived early and found the doors locked. I had noticed a curious lack of cars for this well publicized event.
I did and had confirmed the address multiple times and did again looking across the street but there was a curious lack of people for such a well publicized and promoted event. A girl appeared at the T.D. doors with a plastic cup of grapes looking for a study hall. It was that girl, and not I, who found a door which could be opened.
All was extremely quiet. Mr. Foer’s appearance being incredibly far away all it could be was extremely quiet.
and far too regularly
I am reminded of my “challenges”. One of those reminders came recently in the form of an afternoon in downtown Charleston wherein strange flags appeared(ed) upon houses, one of them on Laurens Street.
Admittedly, I had found it odd that such a promoted event as Safran Foer’s appearance before a CCPL and CofC audience would take place on a Sunday. I found it a tad odd the event would take place at around sunset which was the beginning of Sukkot(h).
None-the-less, I marked my calendar’s September 23rd box with “Extremely Loud & Personal 5pm”. And that’s where the story turns sad. For me sad because I know I checked more than once. I know that more than once my eyes went from the calendar of events around the book “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” to where I‘d hand written the information regarding one of the many events taking place around the arrival of author Jonathan Safran Foer in the city some transplants refer to as “The Little Apple”, even has its own Wall St.. But in the few seconds that occur between type set and my handwriting, something about visually coded information variances screws up my memory and even my ability to physically manage and understand words or numbers on a piece of paper and be able to transcribe them. I checked, double checked but my brain having just seen all those Septembers could not hold on to the October I’d written. Which is admittedly, and frustratingly, weird.
Foer’s novel features the narrative voice of an autistic boy who, as I read in the synopsis, engages in a treasure hunt following his father’s death during the 911 disaster.
I realize the events of that day are commonly referred to as either 911 or as an “attack” rather than a disaster. However, given the hearings, various debacles and general lack of a spiritual center from so many angles and sources I believe the term disaster suit’s the day better. Disaster because it was and is a rippling that began during the Cold War. The rippling continued after “greed is good” won. That disaster rippled into the EPA declaring the air around ground zero “safe”. A disaster because so many either got it wrong or were just following orders which is true both inside, and outside, of the United States.
Admittedly I didn’t and haven’t read Foer’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”, yet. The first several pages I did read and then flipped through the contents, and then examined pieces of the novel. During this introduction period I could only marvel that “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” was ever published. Did Foer’s former credibility as both an editor and a writer make him worth the bet? Enable him to sell the idea?
I wondered how he was allowed to color so very much outside the lines in terms of content presentation. Was and is it merely an attempt by the publisher and some of its subsidiaries to save paper publishing by finally allowing something different that is not a graphic novel but still broadens the medium of the novel? Or was and is the novel simply the influence of digital and visual media altering the realm of publishing? And perhaps writing itself?
Of the pages I read -I enjoyed them tremendously and look forward to reading the book/novel.
I enjoyed those pages thoroughly enough that I knew and know Foer’s is not a novel I want to rush or read through in a hurry but will want to take my time with. Like Thomas Hardy- there’s a lot in there. I adore books and novels and though they’re treated synonymously they’re not the same thing. In the case of Foer he may well be a novelist as opposed to someone who merely writes books. One is not the other no matter what the dictionary says.
However I feel I will have to read Foer’s first novel first because only then will I know if what I suspect he may have done in terms of structure as character voice is what he did OR - if that is simply his writing style.
It’s a pretty sizable distinction.
To know just what Foer wrote I’ll have to read “Everything Is Illuminated“. No books on tape my eyes will have to track the copy and for this TBI, depending on sometimes the kind of day I’m having, sometimes the kind of hour I’m having- the difficulty of my eyes going back and forth like that can be considerable and a big chunk of time and effort. Novels of course are easier to visually track than newspapers and the internet is of course a general nightmare because unlike paper it is made of
pixels
“refreshing”
flashing
in glowing hertz rotations
unlike paper and ink which spare me the special effects
that contribute to
or generally make me wobblier than I already am most of the time- but gratefully thanks to yoga: not all of the time- but back to Foer because who the hell am I anyway?
For both the largesse of his work (and the visual tracking) I’ll be delaying on Foer a bit but from what I read I came to personal realization. I realized in those first pages that my TBI born writing habits must be reigned in. Some discipline and mindfulness needs to begin entering my writing again as those were once my trademarks - well…there was after all the TBI. (More accurately the 3rd)
When I first began writing again all of the writing rules had either merged or disappeared which is rather a large matter as that was my field of study.
The rules/guidelines from poetry and theatre remained intact. In those two writing genres punctuation serves the exclusive purpose of rhythm.
Punctuation in journalism, essays and literature however is treated differently and should be but I had lost my inner William Strunk. The rules of English grammar should be broken very selectively.
In reading Foer’s novel I came to appreciate the selectivity of which I have not engaged and have allowed myself to be undisciplined. Foer’s novel was as if one of my old professors were sending correction vibes made in and of neon lighting. ..nd yes I wanted to edit him.
I’ll be reading “Everything Is Illuminated” first, Foer’s first novel first, because that is how I’ll know as a reader whether he broke with convention so as to reflect character voice of an autistic? Or if - well did his writing style change dramatically because either he’s breaking the rules as his own style statement or to communicate character in a sense broader than anyone has done in a very long time. If he did that- he raised the bar, big time.
Per my own writing, I still like the incomplete sentence because in them a period can really exert some force. As can a comma.
I do however appreciate that I must stop applying the theater/dialogue and poetry approaches to the semi colon.
AND I must be more diligent about commas generally because punctuation can become a distraction, playing with form can be dangerous that way. I read Foer and could and can really see that, the aforementioned, the thing I just said/wrote and hope is at all discernable to the reader.
What was not discernable to me the reader in CCPL’s schedule information was just when and where to “Meet” Mr. Foer, (along a few hundred or thousand others meeting Foer). The information was not listed in a quick and easy to read guide of events- all the events were not listed in one place and I feel this was an editorial oversight.
The where and when of attending a possible reading and Q & A of a possibly kick-ass author- trying to find that information was for me like a treasure hunt?
No.
No, its frustrating to see a campaign that lauds “Meet the Author “ and yet one must search for how to meet the author: the where and when not being on a Master Calender listing all events chronologically. Such did not exist in the promotional package doled out to the general public. Which did not and does not make sense to me.
Very sad because the photographic work for the “One Book” Event was and is gorgeous whilst also being reflective of the novel, the planned events around the novel as well as the setting for Mr. Foer’s presumed visit. That aspect of the publishing was truly lovely.
I regularly experience problems/challenges/difficulties with the format for CCPL’s monthly flier of events produced for CCPL/Charleston County Public Library.
(I also have trouble with mail and am now just beginning to master that ADL so- I do know part of this is just the nightmare of being a TBI) But still I have trouble following CCPLs monthly calendars, which are usually monthly, and I ever wish I could lay them out and type set them differently which reflects one of my visual glitches.
My short term memory if the information is non- narrative based or I haven’t been able to convert the information to narrative -I can’t remember. Can see it over, and over and over again- can do it, over and over and over again and I still won’t be able to remember unless and until there is or can be narrative. It is so extremely bothersome that in the act of looking to and from a page the information can be lost again and again and again. I did the same yoga routine for a year and for that year I couldn’t remember what came next.
That and my visual glitch/es is what brought me, you and this entry into a being and how this entry’s title came to be “Extremely Quiet and Incredibly Far“.
“Extremely Quiet and Incredibly Far” because on September 23rd, not October 23rd, but still at five pm and a few hours before sundown I arrived early and found the doors locked. I had noticed a curious lack of cars for this well publicized event.
I did and had confirmed the address multiple times and did again looking across the street but there was a curious lack of people for such a well publicized and promoted event. A girl appeared at the T.D. doors with a plastic cup of grapes looking for a study hall. It was that girl, and not I, who found a door which could be opened.
All was extremely quiet. Mr. Foer’s appearance being incredibly far away all it could be was extremely quiet.
