The Orchid Thief

The Orchid Thief was quite extensive in it's research. I was astounded by how one species of plant could cause so much obsession, grief, death, and relentless persuit. I applaud Susan Orlean for attempting such a feat, by encompassing a world otherwise gone undiscovered by the general public. If it weren't for Orlean I, along with many other individuals, would have never known a world like this ever existed. 

Although at times Orlean gave us a window into her personality, she didn't have a strong voice throughout the book. She came off almost as a reporter, presenting hard facts and history. I appreciated this extensive research she sought out to find, because in order to understand the world of orchids, you must first create the world. I thought that she overplayed the ideas at times, they dragged on, and alienated the reader, or at least myself. I became bored during certain chapters because she hammers the point home over and over. It was curious because I found myself looking for her opinion. She would come in during points of the story, but she was very elusive in her commentary, and I could never get a feel for who she was or what she stood for. I understand that she presented the facts as they stood, and left it up to us to make judgment. I don't know if her voice was necessary for this kind of non-fiction literature, but it would have made it a bit more interesting to see into her mind while she was in this kind of greedy, passionate and at times weird atmosphere. On the flip side of the coin, I loved her descriptions of John Laroche. I felt that we did somewhat get to know Olrean as a writer through her use of adjectives and simple word use. She breaks down Laroche with straight forwardly. The first chapter captivated me, and her descriptions were so accurate that I couldn’t help but read on. One line describes Laroche as having, “the posture of al dente spaghetti and the nervous intensity of someone who plays a lot of video games.” Orlean is being subjective by acknowledging that she is ‘in’ the story, because she herself is actually writing about it, but she is writing about something that has captured her curiosity, and exploring every corner of the orchid world, without completely submersing herself.

The idea of passion is a major theme if not the only theme that drives this book along. One of my favorite lines and understandings that Orlean comes to in the book is, “There are too many ideas and things and people. Too many directions to go. I was starting to believe the reason it matters to care passionately about something, is that it whittles the world down to a more manageable size.” I think that here is one of the few times in the book where she is reaching out and relating to a larger audience. I think maybe that was my problem with this particular book. I am not used to the idea in non-fiction literature of someone presenting facts, especially ones that I do not relate with, then trying to make us (the readers) care about it. I understood the themes, and the ideas, but those small moments where she came to an understanding are really what made the book for me.

 

 

The Thin Blue Line (to come...)

Time Indefinite

McElwee truly captivated me throughout this cinematic journey. Never had I seen anything so raw, so real, and unafraid to expose truth with not only commentary and reflections on his past but documented footage to back up these various themes his is trying to convey to an audience. He does this by giving us footage of various life events, such as family reunions, his own wedding, discussions with his film teacher about male/female relationships, and even accompanying his wife to the gynecologist. 

Something that really caught my attention was his willingness to show such real footage of his dying grandmother. It gave me perspective on life. How life can be horrifying, but we shouldn't be afraid to face it. I think that at times it made me uncomfortable, in the scenes when McElwee accompanies his wife to the gynecologist, or visits his visibly decaying grandmother. But life is uncomfortable, and usually we face these things alone, not publicly or with an audience. It was cool because all the while he was exposing these truths, he is also exposing the audience, at least for me personally, my inner fears and looming questions. 

There is so much personality and humor throughout. The characters in the movie, especially Charleen, could not even be made up. When McElwee goes on a date that Charleen sets him up with, she is horrified when he shows up and still has the camera rolling, exclaiming something along the lines of "this is real life, not art!" This theme of real life and art remains consistent throughout. There remains this ambiguous line between the two. The birth of his son somehow clears this up for him because he feels that through life there is a powerful and intuitive interconnectedness.

McElwee becomes a bit obsessive about death during his quest in discovering some truth. He spent i believe six of his thirty roles of film on a children's cemetary in Mexico. He  excessively films the aftermath of the death of his father, the dying state of his grandmother, Charleen's loss of her husband, and of course the unfortunate event of a miscarriage. I think that by exposing these truth's, he is bringing about a consciousness that all of us share, that in the end of time, death is our only constant. That this is our ultimate destination, regardless of age or space or time. I think that is where so much pain and suffering is sustained, that we only have a short time to live, and people are in denial, that by discussing death in all its tragedy can somehow enlighten us. 

Man on Wire

This documentary was extensively thorough with it's footage and very successfully put together, sequentially as to include the viewer. I was amazed with how much live footage they actually had captured during the years of planning and plotting. In the beginning Philippe states that he does not particularly like fairy tales, but his is, in fact, a fairy tale. It successfully incorporates suspense, adventure, hope, a love story, and in the end, although it's so final and does translate to us a fairytale ending, it is satisfying. I know that a lot of times successful writers or directors try and steer clear of an ending wrapped up in finality, but in this case it really worked. The characters in this documentary did a good job conveying all of these events, the feelings, and retelling it with great detail (I'm sure reviewing footage helped). It was interesting to see how emotional some of his friends had gotten during the interviews, how far and willing they were to help out in Philippe's quest. Maybe they were living through his dream as well.

It is curious to me how he relentlessly pursued this one specific vision. The idea of a destiny. Little do individuals have an "Ah ha!" moment when they realize that this is what they were born to do. He was truly something special, even from a young age, but how was he so sure of himself? Rarely do you ever find someone of this nature. He was an artist through and through, so ambitious, even at the disintegration and alienation of certain relationships. I like how he talks about passion though. I respect his intesity and desire for life. Philippe says at one point, "If I die, what a beautiful death!" The fact that he was not afraid to try was inspiring, and through this philosophy, reached a large audience by his small (and large) ambitions.

Even though what Philippe did was incredible, i felt a self centeredness to him, an arrogance. All of the individuals involved revolved around him and his vision. It was amazign to see the loyalty they had towards him, some of them only knowing each other for a short time. It was interesting to hear his girlfriend explain how he never bothered to ask what her passions or desires were in life, and that it was apparent that she must follow his. In a way this too was selfless. He was giving people a vision of life, of possiblity. I thought it was balanced nicely, but there was always a tug of war between the two.

The idea of exploring rebellion really stuck out in my mind. That we must rebell against ourselves, against not only our fears but success, to not repeat ourselves, and to view this as the true challange at hand. This movie allowed myself to take a deeper look at my fears. Everybody has them, although they may differ, we share a commonality in sharing fear. We must face them, pass them, exceed them, and move forward. Yes, this is easier said than done, but Phillippe has given us "a window through which one may pass" as Sander puts it.

Brevity, Issue 31?

 I enjoyed reading these shorter pieces, I found them to be as equally intriguing despite the length. Each word held weight, and because of the length, I'm sure the writers had to be quite selective in choosing what to disclose and what hold back. The pieces that i especially liked were, Swerve, This is Not to Say, In Case of Emergency, and WQED, Channel 13: Programming Guide. 

In Swerve, Miller starts off the story with an attention grabber. It immediately holds your attention through the dysfunction of this particular relationship. I think it is very common to find yourself apologizing in a relationship for the slightest of things (at least in my experience). Although this goes a little far in what she eventually apologizes for (being alive) i think that there is a relatable quality about it. About trying to un-do what makes your significant other upset, but she seems so submissive, and apologetic for things she is incapable of even stopping (the sunlight). 

I really liked This is Not to Say, especially the short poem in the beginning, it sets the mood for what is to come. Each line holds a lot of weight, all the small images that happen to us daily- "the way the water condensates beneath sweating glasses," "the unfolding of laundry." I loved all the images' juxtapositon, and then the end. It was all supposed to be about something else, not him (it never was.) This holds the most weight out of all the things she says, because ultimately this was what it WAS supposed to be about. The clasping of limbs describes an intimacy that she is somehow trying to forget by barracading it with all these other everyday events. Very cool they way she conveyed this. 

WQED, Channel 13: Programming Guide reminded me of Sylvia Plath's work. Of the struggle of societies expectations of how a mother should feel toward their young. She is obviously struggling with her identity vs. her role as a mother. She seems exhausted from all the things she has been in one day (the fairy tale princess,' the nice and the mean mom). It was interesting to hear a more modern day version of this idea.

The essay as genre

Although this reading was hard to follow at times, it brought to light a lot of interesting points when it comes to observing the self through writing, and how necessary it is to earn the friendship of the reader in order to give your writing some validity and cohesiveness. One of the more enlightening points for me was the idea of an essay making, "a claim to truth, but not permanent truth." I interpret this as a way of how we might see life in the present vs. how we have seen it in the past, therefor never permanent, or better phrased, "an isolated self confronting a world of which nothing is known for certain." 

This also brings me back to The Writing Life Now is What I've Lived For, and the line, "Trying to understand why my life has had so many beginnings. Trying to identify which of my past selves still confound me." In writing i feel that i relate to these ideas most, because you can't successfully try and relate without a sense of knowledge and experience, or as Montaigne states, "I speak as one who questions, and does not know. . . I do not teach, i relate." I feel that this is something important to keep in mind. Even though a person may have not experienced an alcoholic parent, or the loss of a loved one, the emotions one may have felt connect us. The way these feelings are conveyed on paper and to the reader are universal. We are all interconnected in someway by these feelings, even though the events shape us differently. We can offer personal experience through these events and yet relate on a certain level of consciousness, or as it is stated in this piece, "Every man carries in himself the complete pattern of human nature." These are the threads i continued to run into, or more or less relate to, while reading this essay, among others. Many things about writing a personal essay contradict themselves, yet when looked at closer, makes sense in an odd way (ie: writing with disinterested curiosity). 

The idea that the "heart" of the essay comprises of: "recognition, figuration, where the self finds a pattern in the world and the world finds a pattern in the self" (p.22) is intriguing because in class, we had talked about how everybody has a "theme" that they often return to. How we view our self in the world and what the world returns to us is kind of profound, especially when you relate it to not only writing in a successful way, but your life. Through awareness, these concepts bring the life to your work. These ideas that are being brought to my attention might have otherwise gone unnoticed, and i am thankful that writing has delivered me this.

Peggy Shumaker- Moving Water, Tucson

For some odd reason this piece really stuck out to me. The images that are conveyed here in this writing are different than i have experienced, and the idea of water, creating and destroying is an interesting thread. One of the lines i particularly like was, "Warm rain felt good on faces lifted to lick water from the sky. (p.19)" These words to me describes accurate visuals of these moments, she uses minimal description and yet conveys so much. I also like the line, "For a moment, we all wanted to be him, to be part of something so wet, so fast, so powerful, so much bigger than ourselves. (p.20)" It gathers power by separating each image. It is just a snapshot of a time that happened to a particular group of kids, but it stuck with me, as it did the writer. The water, and what it carried with it through the arroyo, and of course the boy who dared to be brave, and the image of him against the footbridge and the water holding him there. 

Amy Tan- Confessions

The reading that grabbed my attention most was Amy Tan's Confessions. In the beginning of the story, there is obvious tension and sadness, but i did not expect it to escalate to the extent it does. It is interesting to see how the mother reacts to the idea of a boyfriend in her daughter's life. It is as if there is no room for another masculine figure, especially after the death of her son and husband. 

The idea of possession and selfishness keep popping up for me, probably because suicide is brought up multiple times, or so the writer suggests.  The mother would rather kill her daughter than see her ruin her own life, and then ultimately threatens to destroy the whole family by taking everyone's life. 

I really liked the line, "I kept my face in the window, unmoved. What does she know about sad? (p.89)" This really conveyed sorrow to me, because it wasn't the hysterical kind of sorrow that we see in the mother. It was internal, without physical emotion, or tears. The thought of knowing your mother wanted her to die rather than her son and husband leaves her in emotional turmoil, but we don't see its physical ramifications until the very end when she does actually begin to cry, "This is sad, this is so sad. (p.90)" I found the title to be most fitting and tie into the end of the story when she claims to have somehow subconsciously repressed that moment in time, and it rushes back to her in a writer's workshop. She wants her mom to confess something she always wanted to know, did her mom really mean to kill her? Although she gets a slanted answer, she takes away from that almost a positive spin, "How wonderful to hear her say what was never true, yet now would be forever so. (p.90)" I don't feel that she is completely satisfied with the response, but now does not have a choice. 

Sanders Essay

Throughout the essay Under the Influence, Sanders does a great job illuminating his character- even though he is not the central figure. He draws upon the many parallels of not only his father's life but the consequences he has had to endure as a direct result of his fathers drinking, as a child and as an adult. In a way, this is a rapturous monologue, not only for himself as the writer, but for the reader as well. 

He states directly in Singular First Person that his writing is "a door through which others may pass." This particular quote holds a lot of weight in reference to Under the Influence. Although Sanders is writing about himself and his own experiences, he builds a sense of trust throughout, in some of the more intimate details he describes, even though he still manages to keep us at an arms length. He expresses the sorrow that looms in the household (through his mothers various frustrations) as well as the anger and resentment he felt then, and now. Even though he states that his writing may provide a door through which others may pass, there are things he does not disclose to us. We see the obvious struggle, but we do not get to know him outside of his father's shadows (is this the only place in which he lives?) Understandably this story was based on his father's alcoholism, but usually an audience cannot completely buy it when they cannot relate in one way or another. Here, Sanders gains our trust through his writing in ways many writers cannot successfully achieve. His tone is not somber, yet not joyous. He writes to us in an in-between, as a story teller. He captures the readers attention with a descriptive memory- without attacking them with too much emotion packed drama. It's simple, yet truthful.

 It was interesting to see how he conveyed these feelings, and then how they related to his writing style in First Singular Person. What he is trying to do in his writing vs how it is actually conveyed. Also the idea of family and parents. How issues such as his show up in our later adult lives, unresolved.