On my shelf this week:
Below, by Meg McKinlay
Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
To Show and to Tell: The Craft of Literary Nonfiction, by Phillip Lopate
The Hero with A Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell
This week I’ve got a new middle grade novel, one of my favorite old classics and two (really great) writing books. Lopate is an essay authority who compiled The Art of the Personal Essay, which is also on my list, because I’m always trying to become better at my craft. Campbell is a classic authority on writing, and because I’ve read some of his other works, this one has been on my list for a while. I’m glad I’m finally getting around to it.
Best quotes so far:
“It was funny when you realized that none of the thoughts running through your head had made it into the outside world, that they were yours and yours alone.”
Meg McKinlay
“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”
Louisa May Alcott
“I’ve got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the door remains to be seen.”
Louisa May Alcott
“In the best nonfiction, it seems to me, you’re always made aware that you are being engaged with a supple mind at work. The story line or plot in nonfiction consists of the twists and turns of a thought process working itself out.”
Phillip Lopate
“If consciousness isolates, it also heals and consoles. In my own writing I am trying to say, among other things, ‘This is my consciousness, now don’t feel so guilty about yours. If you have perverse, curmudgeonly, conflicted, antisocial thoughts, know that others have them, too.'”
Phillip Lopate
“Instead of clearing his own heart the zealot tries to clear the world.”
Joseph Campbell
“Not all who hesitate are lost. The psyche has many secrets in reserve. And these are not disclosed unless required.”
Joseph Campbell
Read any of these? Tell us what you thought.
