The Singing Fish

In our third fiction packet, we received a few excerpts from The Singing Fish by Peter Markus. In each of these excerpts, there is a different, surreal narrative. Each narrative describes a different situation, but always involves "us brothers," a term the narrator uses more than the term "I".  These narratives all have a "creation myth" feel to them; that is to say, they are all reminiscent of Native American creation myths. The type of language, simple and straightforward, along with the different stories, such as the story about creating "Girl", all point to this.

In my opinion, the second to last excerpt, also entitled The Singing Fish, describes the evolution of man and language. The narrative describes "made out of mud walls with these things - words - written on them." The narrator goes on to say "We close our eyes and let our hands do this seeing. This is what they see. They see mud and fish and river. ..... they become bones. No, they are fingers. No, no, they then become: tongues. No, look again: they become fish." To me, this signifies the creation of language. It is a description of how man came to communicate certain things to one another. To me, this is a description of how drawings on mud-caked walls first became words.

The Falling Girl

Dino Buzzati's The Falling Girl is a strange, surreal tale. It depicts, sure enough, the journey of a girl named Marta as she falls from a sky scraper.

I interpreted this story as a representation of young people who want to grow up too fast. In the beginning of the tale, the girl is eager, self-assured. She often tells the people she passes on the way down that she can't talk, she's in a hurry. Meanwhile, the ground always seems very far away. This is much like life, especially for young people: we want to grow up fast. We can see the future, but it seems too far away.

"Down there opportunity was waiting for her, fate, romance, the true inauguration of her life." We always imagine what our lives will be like as adults; we hope for the best, for a family, a grand life. This is symbolized by the "party" Marta is trying to get to in such a hurry.

The closer Marta gets to the party at the bottom, however, the more she seems to regret her decision. "Marta now felt a tremor growing inside her; perhaps it was just the cold; but it may have been fear too; the fear of having made an error without remedy." Here we see the point where Marta begins to realize that there's no turning back; that she skipped all of her life just to wind up late to the party. In other words, she wasted her life trying to grow up; trying to reach the future.

I suppose the moral of the story would be this; live in the moment. Don't go through life looking to the future, or trying to get there faster. Slow down, because there's no turning back now.

Burroway: Writing Fiction

I enjoyed this reading the most so far. I enjoy writing fiction as a hobby, and take to heart things like this passage. I am almost always trying to find more ways to make my writing more appealing, make it easier to relate to.

In this part of the book by Janet Burroway, she discusses detail and how to make your writing more interesting with the use of detail. To illustrate the difference, she uses a passage from a book by Thomas Mann. In the excerpt, the author uses vivid imagery to illustrate both the room that the character is in, as well as the specific traits of the character. Burroway then rewrites this passage in a very dry, boring way in which the traits are merely stated, rather than described. This is helpful to my growth as a writer, as I sometimes have problems using detail to convey the characteristics of somebody.

Burroway also talks about how you shouldn't simply describe the character's appearance and expect them to be liked. An example she gives is a blue-eyed, tanned, friendly, twenty-two year old man. The description is very boring and stereotypical - something an author wants to avoid. Unfortunately, this is the type of character description I encounter in lots of modern-day fiction.

The book discusses how, instead of simply stating that someone is in a hurry, you should use the action to show this detail. I personally find that this tactic makes fiction much more interesting to read - it gives it a certain flow.

Burroway's book on writing fiction is incredibly helpful, whether you hope to write professionally or just as a hobby.

Some poems

.... in response to some of Jennifer K. Dick's poems

THREE

Can you hold me?

No

Because I am only color; blues and yellows

Verdigris on my tongue

Soft yellow light

I see you and wonder how you can be so solid

How you can give form to the color

How you can be solid and here and not disappearing, like I am

(I have already disappeared)

You are visible and you are here

Am I here?

FOUR

His voice: “What is”

The air gone out of the train so that, like fish, our mouths open-shut

in a spasmodic desire to

speak

Tell you what it is

            The train

is on fire

with feeling

with fear

Wild-eyed on every side

A wing-flutter snapshot

                                                sinks

                                                            to meet

the ground.