All 3 entries tagged Course

To be a writer, you have to get it

To be a writer you have to get it. And that is the bottom line of it. You have to be able to feel and understand humanity above the common man.
Moments when I read a text, or a critical piece of a text which send a subliminal message to the pit of my stomach and then straight into my head telling me "yeah, that's exactly it"; that is humanity explained in a nutshell, except that real writers can put it into words, whereas, I can just feel it.

Jane Austen got it for example. She got it in many many ways, that is why her novels are so popular. What is admirable is the subtlety with which she does it. When Emma ponders on the reasons why she shouldn't matchmake – although that proves to be quite impossible – part of the message Austen is sending is that abrupt matches and proposals are not the mark of real love. Real love and attraction have to flow naturally, courtship has to flow naturally and things develop easily and progressively, like the underlying relationship between Emma and Mr. Knightley. That is why they are the perfect couple.

I understand now for my own sake, things cannot be forced.

Let it be, Let it be…

: 02 Jun 2005 10:43 |  Tags: Course |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Buckley meets Tennyson

Try reading these lines…

“Where is the voice that I have loved? Ah where
Is that dear hand that I would press?”

– Tennyson, In Memoriam

…now try reading them with Jeff Buckley's Lover, You Should've Come Over in the background…

Looking out the door I see the rain fall upon the funeral mourners
Parading in a wake of sad relations as their shoes fill up with water
And maybe I’m too young to keep good love from going wrong
But tonight you’re on my mind so you never know
When I’m broken down and hungry for your love with no way to feed it
Where are you tonight, child you know how much I need it
Too young to hold on and too old to just break free and run
Sometimes a man gets carried away, when he feels like he should be having his fun
And much too blind to see the damage he’s done
Sometimes a man must awake to find that really, he has no-one
So I’ll wait for you… and I’ll burn
Will I ever see your sweet return
Oh will I ever learn
Oh lover, you should’ve come over
’cause it’s not too late
Lonely is the room, the bed is made, the open window lets the rain in
Burning in the corner is the only one who dreams he had you with him
My body turns and yearns for a sleep that will never come
It’s never over, my kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder
It’s never over, all my riches for her smiles when I slept so soft against her
It’s never over, all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter
It’s never over, she’s the tear that hangs inside my soul forever
Well maybe I’m just too young
To keep good love from going wrong
Oh… lover, you should’ve come over
’cause it’s not too late
Well I feel too young to hold on
And I’m much too old to break free and run
Too deaf, dumb, and blind to see the damage I’ve done
Sweet lover, you should’ve come over
Oh, love well I’m waiting for you
Lover, you should’ve come over
’cause it’s not too late

…all of a sudden, Poetry and Society becomes bearable, enjoyable…and Tennyson, well, he just appears gay and desperate. I'm enjoying revision now.

: 27 May 2005 12:02 |  Tags: Course |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Go L.E.L!

I spent my entire year complaining about Poetry and Society, I really did. I still have my reserves about it, but now that I have HAD to study it a bit more in depth for exams, I've realized, some of it is not that bad.
I just came across these lines in L.E.L.'s Felicia Hemans:

However mournful words may be, they show not
The whole extent of wretchedness and wrong
They cannot paint the long sad hours, passed only
In vain regrets o'er what we feel we are.

Respect.

I also extend these lines, to someone I didn't get to know very well, but who was really important for Bob, a dear dear friend, who grieves today for the loss of his best friend. I love you Bob, count on me buddy. And Rest in Peace Jimmy.

: 26 May 2005 20:50 |  Tags: Course |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Trackbacks (1) |  Report a problem