One of the things that so interests me about stories is how they all connect. All the stories we tell connect to ourselves, to who we are, to where we are, to how we define ourselves, and often, all our stories connect to each other. So often as we tell one story, maybe about a family member or an experience at school, we are also telling a story about ourselves. I find this fascinating!
Swamp Songs really exemplified that kind of connection. The river and lake and swamp waters that connect so many places in Louisiana become a metaphor for the way these places and people connect Sheryl to herself and to her family and home. Like the swamps, like gumbo, there isn't a way to separate out all the pieces that combine to make the whole. Sheryl is shaped out of these places and experiences. These essays really are "the making of an unruly woman." I loved the connection between everything, the way the essays overlapped. I think in some ways, this kind of overlapping stories is the only way to tell about who you are.
Another thing that I really enjoyed was all the information that was brand new to me. I feel like I know so much more about swamps and cypress trees and fishing and rivers and flooding and eating crawfish and Mardi Gras and gumbo and hurricanes and spicy food. I was never bored, just fascinated by all the new information. It really is like another world, and I really admire Sheryl's skill in opening up that world to her readers. I sometimes wondered if she had to do any research or if she knew it all already.
I also admired her honesty. There was a lot of hard stuff in there, stories that I don't think I could share so openly with the world. But it was incredibly refreshing and many times very moving too. I felt so included and trusted to be given this information. I don't know how you learn to write about the hard stuff, but it's a skill I really admire. And it's another way that as readers, we come to know an author. The stories that we tell about our lives and our selves have to be this honest in order for anyone to really come to know who we are.
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This is a great point--the author has chosen to trust the reader.
ReplyDeleteI think it's important to learn to write the hard stuff, one small thing at a time. It's about honesty. You don't always have to choose to publish it, but you will be a better writer, I think, if you can be honest with yourself about the hard stuff.
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