Miracles on Maple Hill

The fictophile is back in business! I found a book I liked again! Were you worried about me? You should have been. I was worried about me. I think I've mentioned this one--it was one I pondered about buying. Well, the truth is that it is not LDS fiction, unfortunately, so the story still goes that we need a good one of those. But it was good! So nice to know there are LDS people out there who can write well! And she didn't just write well, she wrote beautifully. Her use of language was exquisite and pacing was tremendous. It's not surprising it won the Newbery, regardless the year.

I was glad, though, to have taken the Family Story class at Hollins a couple summers ago because it helped me to appreciate it on a different level where I might not have as much otherwise. It seems during that time frame, and maybe earlier, the family story was a little more predominant, though not always called as such. Basically, the family story is what it says it is--a story about a family. But there are a few more things to know about it. For example, not all, but those of that era are more episodic than plot-driven, and my professor's experience from teaching this style to undergraduates is that it needs to be understood to be appreciated, particularly among the younger generations who are used to quicker-paced plot-driven stories. Episodic stories do have a cohesive plot-line, but it's not as strong as the plot-driven. Usually every chapter has a stronger smaller plot, conflict-resolution scenario.

Additionally, although in Miracles the narrator did focus on one character more than the others, often in family stories, there isn't necessarily one individual character with more attention, rather the main character is the family. Although I don't think Enright is the professor's favorite all-time author, I do believe she's his favorite family-story author. Perhaps this is why I have the impression that her work in the Melendy quartet seems to embody best this genre, but it almost might be that this is simply why she's his favorite--because it does so. Some other authors we read were Edward Eager, Kenneth Grahame, and E. Nesbit. I'm sure there are many others as well. We also read some more contemporary stories that didn't follow the style as closely, but we looked at how the similarities weaved through.

In any case, in Miracles, though Marley gets the focus, the story is still about her family, particularly about her father's growth and about her adjustment to an admired older brother who is outgrowing the desire to explore with a kid sister. But it's also about the broader human family, understanding a more holistic meaning of loving your neighbor and taking care of each other during hard times and during beautiful times as well.

In sum, a must read! Whether you'll like it or not, I think it will be as good for you as the aromatic maple syrup it makes you hunger for throughout the text.

Cohesion, or incohesion, or Cohesiveness or Incohesiveness. ???

A few follow-ups that may or may not cohere, except inasmuch as I will in some way talk about cohesion. Maybe. Maybe not. You know one of the qualities of a hero? Consistency. I learned this in high school. The teacher also pointed out that a hero can be consistently inconsistent. So I still have some hope of being a hero, right? No, a heroine. Even if I don't have a romance? No, that was the other way around, romances can only be for heroines, but not all heroines have to have romances. Though I still think I might like one.

Anyway, so the first, follow-up. I'll call this one Defying Murphy's Law.
Yesterday, the day after my splurge at Dress Barn (okay, so I didn't admit it then, but I'll admit it now--I bought more than just the one pair of pants. I also bought a couple shirts and another pair of pants), I received a coupon in the mail for Dress Barn. Can you believe it? It was for sales from the 12th to the something--anyway, I made my purchase on the 11th. Stink! Well, I figured I could just return them. It was interesting because when I got up yesterday morning, I had kind of wanted to wear one of those outfits, but I felt I shouldn't. Good thing, eh? So, today, I wrapped them back up and took my lunch hour to return my purchases and buy them back. I did think I might give them an opportunity to just give me the $s off amount. But they couldn't do that (I kind of figured they wouldn't). They almost didn't even want to let me return the items and buy them back. She kept reading the coupon for the stipulations saying it couldn't apply to previous purchases and even if I returned them it would still be a previous purchse. Oh brother. Technicalities!

So I just said I'd return them straight out. Why should I be the one with the loss? I couldn't help which day my pants ripped. So that's what I did. Then after I'd returned them, she said she'd ask her manager if she could override the coupon. Of course. See, the solution to Murphy's Law: Attitude. Stick to your guns. I could probably use some help on the right kind of attitude. I mean when I hear work on your attitude in Church, I think of bowing humility and submissiveness, but maybe that's not always the right way to see it. Sometimes stick-to-your-guns attitude is good, right?

The manager said of course they could seel them back and use the coupons. They didn't really need to lose out, here. So they got there sale and I got myself a nice $20 back--and a tote, to boot. Not that I needed the tote. If my totes had some cohesion to them, I could probably sell them all and make more than $20.

Second follow-up. I'll call this one Bookaphobe. No, that's not really it. Abook. Anti-book. Well, maybe a little Bookaphobe. I am getting a little afraid to try new books because I've started so many bombs lately. As for that history book for the fictophile (this is the follow-up part), I couldn't finish it. I did read at least 100 pages. I think that's doing pretty well. But it got to be so much about war tactics that I lost interest. I kept hoping they'd get out of the war. It's not like the Revelotionary War constituted the whole of General Washington's life. I mean, we don't usually even refer to him as General so much as, okay usually we just call him George, but really we remember him as President. I didn't get that far.

So you don't think it's just history book that's putting the snooze on, I'll go on. I've started reading Uncle Tom's Cabin here at work, because it's free online and that's pretty cool. I can look like I'm busy working or something even though I have nothing to do, and it's free. And it's got a lot of history to it, too, so I can feel like I'm doing some duty in that regard. However, it's downright depressing and I think I might be done. I have no idea how many pages I read because that's now how things work online, but I did get into Chapter 16, I believe, out of 40 something. Heh.

And, now so you don't think it's just history I don't like, whether fictionalized or opinionized (is there a difference?), I'll say the next book that I'm struggling with right now is this incohesive fiction book that isn't historical. I mean at least not yet. It's still contemporary. :)

I'm trying to read these LDS fictions so I have at least a little background when I write my critical part about it, and I thought this one series looked pretty a propos, a girl through her high school and college years, and it looked like some romance involved. I didn't buy the first one though, because it didn't look too interesting, and was earlier in high school than concerned me. I did buy the second one, however. In some ways it's actually pretty in-line with what I need--it includes her last year of high school and first year of college. But I'm kind of missing what ties those two years together. I'm much further in this one--like maybe 150-200ish pages? I don't know, and I'm just not seeing the cohesion--what's the threading plot? Conflict? I mean there is conflict, but I thought it was one thing, but now the book is half way over and it's resolved so it's not that. Hmm.

Generally speaking, the cohesiveness in the plot isn't the only thing amiss, though. From the three authors of LDS lit I've read over the past few weeks, I will say that if the LDS fiction market needs anything it's an author who actually knows how to write. I'm not saying that's me, but one is needed. There are LDS people who know how to write, but it doesn't seem to me that they are writing LDS fiction. What a pity.

And then the other thing isn't really a follow-up, but it's about the LDS market and incohesiveness. Just saw the Singles' 2nd Ward movie, and it lacked cohesiveness. Just thought I'd throw that out there, as my incohesive conclusion to this talk about cohesivness.

Or was there something else? I seem to feel the need to keep writing. Is it because I'm cohesed to the computer? No silly, that's adhesive. You're not stuck to the computer. You can leave now.

Oh yea, the other follow-up. See. I'm cohesed! or adhesed or adhered? I don't know. Anyway, so I'll call this one: ReFicto
I'm actually back to writing the creative part, letting the critical part rest for just a little bit, because I thought of a few plot things I needed to add and embellish and stuff, and now I've got to make them cohesive throughout the story. Hee hee hee.