Juice

Juice, by Renee Gladman, is a novel of an experience of a narrator, who I’m assuming to be a girl due to her mentioning “drying my hair in the hot part of the forest”.  My impression of the story line is that the narrator is questioning who she is and why she does and says the things she does. My take on the short fiction is that it’s definitely a question of self.

                Gladman begins her story telling the reader about the narrator in snap-shots. She was an archeology student, or rather the narrator was in an “archeological gang”. I suppose interest may have been produced since her mother’s “lover” was the leader of the gang. Together, they were to “explore the facts” of their history. Her ancestors left a tyrannical nation in order to start over in the mountains. The people are now free and are “nobody’s conquerors”.

She lives in statues that the “sky illuminates”. People believe that she lives in the south because of how the narrator describes the mountains, whether it’s the description or her dialect. She was taught to speak of herself “peripherally”, which I would assume allowed her to connect with the surroundings, people and the earth. It is possible to conclude that due to her archeological process of thinking and the way she was brought to “mature by impression alone” led her to a life of brokenness. She mentions that she has “grown to think of people for physical pleasure”. People are more than just bodies. They have minds and feelings that govern their conscience.  I think this is part of why she had made a connection with her home. When everyone disappears, she realizes her loss and even mentions, “… you feel it, but so synonymously with the flow of your blood or taking in air that the beauty seems to be about you”. It has a romantic feel for her love of her home. It’s a picturesque moment, but it crumbles when she finds that her home “exists without you”. She asks the reader to “contemplate the disturbance of that compounded by the apparent exodus of those who, in your mind, were extensions of yourself.”. It’s a terribly sad story! To imagine that you fit in an certain place and to find that you don’t is crushing to the ego.

First Portion of Fictional Readings

Kim Addonizio's Survivors discusses the role of a male who doesn't want to lose his lover. Both have AIDS and are on the brink of death, as mentioned in the statement, "He and his lover were down to their last few T cells ...". The main character seems to be materialistic and harsh when he says that he doesn't want to take care of "his lover's parrot or deal with his lover's family". However, later in the short story we find that he is just saying that he's gone through so many troubles in his life that the idea of his partner dying is so uncomfortably painful. He humanizes his relationship with his partner by describing their apartment and all it's knickknacks. By doing this the author allows us to understand the disarray of thoughts that the main character is experiencing. He's going through his last moments reminiscing their lives together and knows that any second without his lover is an eternity of sorrow. For those who've are in love, and even those who haven't found their loved one, can understand his predicament. We can comprehend the impact of what he is saying within the lines.

                Sherman Alex's Misdemeanors is about an "Old Man" who acts all tough and mighty when he recounts his thievery. It's a bit comical because the "Waitress" explains that is was a bowling alley that he stole from and it was only pennies that he took. The imagery the author uses is hilarious. For example, "... Here comes the police and they find the Old Mane barefoot, with his socks in his hand like gloves, and his pants hanging down to his knees because his pockets are full of pennies." You can totally imagine the scene the police came upon and it's so funny.  Really, the only thing "tough" that he did was punch the window in order to get into the bowling alley.

             Sharon Krinsky's Poetry was a short little statement about how a girl gives someone her poems to read and his reaction. He places them in a "plastic cup", but she believes they should be in a "china cup". Clearly, she is saying that she feels that her thoughts and works are so important that they should be treasured like a delicate china cup would be. I understand where she is coming from. When you pass something along that you feel is important, you want others to treat it the same way.

 

Goldberg and Cameron Readings

Julia Cameron’s The Right to Write was a very well written novel for instructions for writing. I found that she made many valid points subjecting the ready to want to take her advice and begin writing, whether it is something terrible or award winning. One such argument she mentioned was that if “we didn’t worry about being published or judged, how many more of us might write …”. This is such a true statement! I find that there are many people who will write something and are too terrified of the potential ridicule that may be received to even have anyone look at their text. Instead of being scared of being judged, we should simply write to write. We should live in the moment and don’t waste time on the scoring of others. Writing should be something as relaxing as “being in your pajamas”. What I get most from Cameron’s book is that someone doesn’t have to write something perfect in order to write something fabulous.

Although she has many valid points in that we should take advantage of time and write whenever opportunity arises, I don’t agree that we always have the time to write. In this day in age, people are extremely busy and by the time they have a moment to let a creative second arise they are too tire or stressed to think. I believe some people may wait for the opportune time to sit down and write because they can get all of their ideas onto paper at one time. I’ve gone back to notes/chapters/sections of stories that I was writing in some spare moments in time and found that at some points I couldn’t connect what I was trying to say. I find that my best work is when I just plop down and just get out all of what is on my mind at the moment and then edit later. In addition, to some degree I feel as though she makes the reader feel guilty for not writing. I understand that she is attempting to inspire us all to write whenever we can; however, it almost seems as though she is forcing us to write. I think it should come natural, and she Goldberg has excellent examples to help authors do so.

Writing Down the Bones by J. Goldberg is an interesting guide to trusting yourself as a writer and tips to how to express one’s self.  For example, Goldberg states, ‘Trust in what you love, continue to do it, and it will take you where you need to go’. I think this statement applies to more than just writing. In everyday life there are moments when we question our ideas or actions. By having the confidence to express yourself without fear of ridicule really can open your horizon of ideas and perspectives.

In the beginning part of the chapter Beginner’s Mind, Pen and Paper Goldberg discusses the type of pen that should be used in order to write quickly. At first I thought this was just ridiculously silly since some people may prefer pencil to pen, or typing to handwriting; however, when I really attempted to see what the author was trying to say I found that writing comfortably, whether on computer or by hand, speaks and illustrates your passion better than when you are slowed down by a form you are not used to. An affirmation of this idea was made in Goldberg’s statement, “Choose your tools carefully, but not so carefully that you get uptight or spend more time at the stationery store than at your writing table.”. I laughed at the moment when Goldberg says, “I am free to write the worst junk in the world.”. It is such a freeing statement! We all have that small artistic ability to create something, and to not worry if the outcome is a masterpiece or just “junk” allows us to explore our innovative minds.

Later in Goldberg’s instructional chapter, A List of Topics for Writing Practice, the author points out that making a list of ideas are good. “Your body is starting to digest and turn over your materials, so even when you are not actually at the desk physically writing, there are parts of you raking, fertilizing, taking in the sun’s heat, and making ready for the deep green plants of writing to grow.” I totally agree with this statement. Although I mentioned earlier about me not being able to connect my writing when I submit ideas to paper in sections, I do find that when I make lists I have some sort of a template created. It helps in some way to get your ideas into some form of context. Overall, whether it was lists or topics to discuss Goldberg simply states that we should simply write to write and to enjoy words coming to life on paper.