Literary

One of my favorite movies is Stranger Than Fiction. It is perhaps the most unique film to grace the silver screen in decades.

I love that: Will Ferrell is an understated funny, Dustin Hoffman exudes literature professor and eludes to his Rain Man days with his bombarding questions about numbers and figures, Emma Thompson is so obsessed with how to kill Harold Crick that she flirts with suicidal psychopathy.

There are too many scenes to name that are memorable. However, I'll do my best to highlight a few.

"Well Harold, I'm sad to admit that there is nothing literary about you." Prof. Jules Hilbert (Hoffman)

I cry a little inside every time I hear that. My whole life is about writing and making connections about life through the films I watch. Shakespeare even believed that "all the world's a stage..." so when I stop to ponder about my life I wonder "Am I the star of my own show?"

Another favorite film (for different reasons) broaches this very topic in a dialogue between two characters, The Holiday.

It is this scene that Kate Winslet's character receives sage advice from a retired Hollywood film writer that she is not acting like the heroine of her own life. "Iris, in the movies, we have leading ladies and we have the best friend. You, I can tell, are the leading lady, but for some reason you're behaving like the best friend." She realizes that she is merely acting upon outward stimulus, not choosing what to do before a situation presents itself.

I have found too often that I let others determine my role in this life. When I don't show up wearing the same clothes as everyone else, that's not weakness on my part, that's courage to be myself, to go against the norm, to swim upstream, etc. etc.

Now that I have pummeled that tangent to death, here's another great quote from Stranger than Fiction:
"Did you just say 'little did he know?'`I've written books on little did he know. I've taught courses on little did he know. I once taught a seminar all about little did he know. Little did he know. That means there's something he doesn't know, which means there's something you don't know, did you know that?"  - Prof. Jules Hilbert

Even though Professor Hilbert is fiction, I'm jealous of his knowledge of third person omniscient. I've been to my share of English Teacher conferences and have thoroughly enjoyed myself, call me a nerd. Too late, I already did. I wish I could go every year. There are so many interesting, unique, thoughtful, inventive ideas on how to teach English to the digital teenager.

So my goal is to try to be more literary. Find moments in my life as a SAHM to explore the literary side. I guess that means, back to the book.

Until next time!



~Lady Jane

I Like Books

I like books, especially the ones that speak to my soul, the ones I wish weren't fiction!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was one such book. This is what I wrote on Goodreads.com about it: I absolutely loved this book! I kept forgetting that it was a novel, the characters were so real. While reading it, I wanted to go to Guernsey and meet the descendants of these people. It is a must-read! You won't be disappointed.

I had to keep it brief since there is too much praise for this book. On the other hand, I read a book, that was difficult to get through, not because of language or the scenes but just the plot line seemed to take a lifetime to develop! Reading is all about discovering what you like and don't like, isn't it?

Writing Jane Austen:

I don't know if I want to be an author anymore. This book surely shatters any glamour of being a published author. Aston really gets into the nitty-gritty of the publishing world thanks to the tortured relationship between Georgina and her literary agent. For Georgina, it's not about writing anymore, bearing her soul to the world through her late 19th century historical fiction novels, it's about finishing the job whether she likes it or not.

I wish I had been reading this with someone else. It would have been nice to complain about this book with someone who knew what was going on. Overall, I liked the book, but the story took forever to develop and once it got started, I wish there was more of it. And when I say story I mean the romantic story line that was developing. I think that it could have helped improve the book instead of just being about a writer's frustration with having to write a book that was so out of her own genre.

I had never read any of Aston's other books and I'm usually apprehensive about reading a contemporary book because there might be profanity, but I was pleasantly surprised to find very little and that it wasn't just for the sake of having profanity. It really did fit the characters.

As for a recommendation, I guess I would have to say that this book is mostly for writers who find themselves in similar situations, having to finish a book that no longer has meaning or not having the words to desperately finish a beloved piece. I think it would make a great book club selection mostly because the book comes with questions to ask and discuss amongst a group.

I think I would be willing to read it again if someone read it with me.

What books have you read that you loved? Suffered through?

~ Lady Jane