D.H. Lawrence, David Mamet, and Pankaj Mishra

I read voraciously last night and finished the book. Again, I do have to mention the artistry of the language; how well developed and employed it is! The complications that Lawrence introduces the reader to add so much to the plot. The return of Mellors' wife complicates things while Lady Chatterley is in Venice. One can feel her stress as she reads the letter from her husband explaining all the gossip. The subtle letter has a hint of malice, and the reader is compelled to side with Connie. For the Mellors part, one can only feel so much. The penultimate chapter is really an indictment to the rapidly expanding industrial complex, as it is the letter from him to Connie that ends the book. That was perhaps the only part of the book I really didn't enjoy much. Lawrence was indeed making a statement against some social injustice when he wrote about the colliers, the mines, the industry, etc. Somehow, however, it seemed rather forced in the latter stages of the story. I can truly say I enjoyed the book very much. It was a book that left me feeling so much love for literature. These are the strange moments when I feel gloriously alive in literature, wanting to devour all I can and get lost in all the emotions and feelings. I want to live the life of the mind constantly and surrender to the words completely.

I began reading "Writing in Restaurants" by David Mamet. It is not at all a book about writing instruction, but rather a collection of dated essays (written in the mid-1980s) regarding the dramatic theater and other aspects of dramaturgy. I am only about 30 pages into it and it is rough going. Some parts are over theorized, I believe. Here's an example: "The pursuit of Fashion is the attempt of the middle class to co-opt tragedy." This is the first sentence of an essay I could hardly decipher. I am going to force myself to finish the book, although I would much rather be reading some thing else. Oh well... can't win them all.

I purchased "An End to Suffering: The Buddha in the World" by Pankaj Mischra. This is a book I am dying to read but it will have to wait until later on this year. He is also the author of "The Romantics," an incredibly under-rated novel that caught my attention in a newspaper review in 2000. Later in 2001, I got the book on the discount rack for $6.00. It was a tour de force as far as I am concerned, and one of the best books by contemporary authors I have read. So my reading list is getting larger by the week. I won't go over my yearly total, really; what with work and trying to write I may not have time for them all.

As an effort to clarify my ideas before I put them in the blog, I am going to start writing the entries on paper first and then typing them up. I have been typing them directly from my head to the computer and I miss the feel of the pen on the paper. For this purpose I have selected 3 Moleskine cahiers that I will be taking with me to work. I will write even if I only have 5 minutes to do so. I will not waste any time and will try to keep the ideas flowing. I will give this experiment this week.

The Language of Lawrence

Well, when it rains it pours. Here I was trying to figure out why "Lady Chatterley's Love" is such a controversial book and I was soon to find out. After their first encounter, Mellors and Lady Chatterley do little more than enjoy each other constantly. Lawrence is explicit, but in a tasteful way. There's the use of some heavy words when Mellors is describing to Lady Chatterley the physiological functions of a man and a woman. But one gets the sense that back in 1928, when the book was privately published, those words had a different meaning, at least not all together what they mean today. Chapter 10 is a wonderful journey of language. It is so well-written it makes me think that my own ventures into fiction writing are hopeless. But then again, we are talking about one of the great genius of the English language. I know I have mentioned before how wonderful "Women in Love" is, but unfortunately I don't have the time this year (my reading list for 2007) to re-read it and do justice to some comparison between the two. I know that I totally lost myself while reading Chapter 10. I came back from school early yesterday and just went to my reading room and read comfortably while it rained outside. A good cup of tea and my cat Mischa on my lap didn't hurt any either. These are the times when I realize how much literature means to me, not only the passive and engaging reading but even my simulacrum of writing little stories and sketches. This is one of the things one hopes to pass on to the students--a total love of living and learning and losing one's self in a good book.

The Key to the Cottage

Right now the main point of contention between Lady Chatterley and Mellors, the gamekeeper, is the key to the cottage. He doesn't live in the cottage, to him it is simply a workplace. She wants to come there from time to time to "just sit a little while." This whole section of the book is a tug of war that doesn't limit itself to words. There's some really magical description by Lawrence. The tension between them in the scene is something one can see with the mind's eye as clearly as the weather. The reader can get a sense that Mellors is itching inside, desperate to both embrace and get rid of Lady Chatterley. The scene is also a microcosm of a venus versus mars debate--how do men and women communicate. I didn't get as far as I wanted last night, but other interesting parts of what I read were the gossip the nurse brings to Sir Clifford, and the subsequent relationship between the nurse and Sir Clifford. I wish I had more time to read!

I was thinking this morning of why I love my teaching job so much. There's a new film coming out called "Freedom Writers" about a teacher and underachieving students. I think all of those films--even the one's based on a true story--are overly exaggerated. There's been a hundred films with the same theme and, frankly, from the stand point of a teacher, they've all been failures. I say so because they emphasize so much on the "miracle moment," the moment when the most rowdy and disrespectful student turns into the genius next door. In real life (and this I say after over 10 years teaching) it is not like that at all. One loses students in the process; one cannot save them all. One tries but it is really impossible. To ignore this fact is irresponsible and no amount of political correctness or "feel good" liberal-minded policies can override that.

Lady Chatterley's Lover

I've read about 1/3 of the novel and I don't quite see what all the controversy is about. There was the scene with Michaelis, but that really wasn't too explicit. There's the use of the "f" word in a couple of places during dialogue, but it's nothing to be offended about unless you have something against men using that word in conversation (especially in front of a lady). The tension is building between Lady Chatterley and the gamekeeper, but Lawrence does so much with language that he doesn't really telegraph the relationship giving it away before it is time (although I have no idea what their relationship will be). It was a tough start, but the language is flowing now much like "Women in Love," and D.H. Lawrence seems to engage the reader in those long spans of dialogue that achieve so much. This is a beautifully written book, controversy or not.

I've taught John Keats the last couple of days with some success. The girls seemed to enjoy "When I have Fears that I May Cease to Be" most of all. I had to keep the class on track about the poem; they are so prone to easily slip away when they start to dialogue about their own experiences. This afternoon I have to present "Ode to a Nightingale" to a class of 29 teenage girls... wish me luck.

War Year

I finished reading "War Year" by John Haldeman in one day. It's a short novella about a tour of duty with a combat engineer. I read this book for the first time in 1985. Went through a lot of trouble to secure a copy online for which I paid .50 cents. I was just curious to read it again after 20 years.

I am currently reading "Lady Chatterley's Lover" by D.H. Lawrence. I've always been interested in reading this book, with that controversy and all, but since reading "Women in Love" I couldn't believe Lawrence could write a better book. We'll find out. I'll report my findings in the coming week.

School begins tomorrow again after Christmas break. I won't have as much time to read like I did over break but since I am now including teaching in my blog I may have new stories to tell about how 29 teenage girls take to Victorian and Modern British literature.