Things I Learned This Week
Marina Lewycka, Mikhail Bakhtin, Yorgos Lanthimos, and Geese
It’s Saturday! Losing my mojo a little with school work getting in the way, but I’ve been feeling so better of late, I’m rallying. I really am a person who loves the holidays, even if they’ve lost some of the shine in the empty nest. And cold weather, so the coming of both here in Texas is something to rally around. My classes are in the evening, and I can feel it in the air when, before class, the students are buzzing. The cooler weather has everyone more alive.
I feel guilty skipping the Texas Book Festival this weekend, but what I’ve heard about flights being canceled, I’m not the only one. Instead, I’ll be home this weekend finishing the fabulous A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka. A really engaging read about (micro) two sisters navigating the marriage of their elderly father to a hot Ukrainian divorcee and (macro) the post-communism Ukrainian immigrant experience in Britain. It’s my favorite book so far in my British Novels of Manner class. It’s a really fun read, packed with the MFA term-of-the-month, heteroglossia.
Soooo… like the definition says, heteroglossia refers to the coexistence of multiple voices or viewpoints within a single book. We’ve been looking at the work of Russian literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin who writes extensively about the dynamic and often conflicting interplay of different social languages, perspectives, and ideologies in a given work. Not necessarily written into the narration or dialogue, it is coded into the text through subtle (and no so subtle hints) about the various historical, social, and economical factors at play, even when the book is not expressly about any of those things. According to our professor, a book with solid heteroglossia (think Beloved and how different characters use different voices depending on who they are speaking to) is the difference between a novel with true literary merit and a beach read. I’m not sure I totally agree with that, but I’m learning.
Just got out of seeing the dark absurdist comedy Bogonia. I won’t give anything away as it is a stress-inducing romp if you don’t know what it’s about or where it’s headed. Emma Stone is spectacular, but the real star is Jesse Plemons who I feel has finally and fully come into his own. A spectacular performance unlike any of his others. But I will say I looked up the meaning of the title, which only loosely has a connection to the film that won’t give anything away. The title comes from the “folk practice in the ancient Mediterranean region based on the belief that bees were spontaneously generated from a cow‘s carcass.” Good one.
Still potting away, and stepping out a wee bit to do more. If you are in San Marcos next week, stop by Eye of the Dog and see some of my wee pieces. There is an opening party for “Smaller Than A Bread Box” on November 21, and the show runs until December 21. Not sure if I’m ready or good enough, but we can say that about most things, right?
Musically, still stuck on Geese. My husband and I went to see them in Austin this week. He hadn’t been that impressed with them on the album, but live, my husband thought they killed. A real rock band for the younger generation. They’ve only recently exploded in the last few months, and the lead singer, Cameron Winter, looked out over the crowd in awe and said, “This is the biggest show we’ve ever played. There must be 1000 people here.” They are still so new to fame, and I felt excited for them and worried like a mother. My son and his girlfriend are seeing them tonight in Atlanta. They just dropped a video for one of my fave songs, “Au Pays du Cocaine”, and the song already reminded me of my son. Now more so.
Quote of the week?
Like a sailor in a big green coat/ You can be free / You can be free and still come home…
— Geese
‘Til Tuesday kids.
Burgin
(An MFA grad student at 50+… follow along and read my story here.)