I think of my work as a body of ambiguity, of what is not told, which hopefully sparks the reader's imagination and they then fill the gaps, in which there is no right or wrong, no definitive truth.
Well, as you know, "Lamb" starts with the announcement of his death, so there's that. People know the ending already (or do they?)
I'm not sure if I'm totally grasping your whole subject this week, but in my novel, I made an intentional choice to juxtapose two characters from very different walks of life but with a similar "key" - both alcoholics, both alienated, but one shown in a somewhat bright light, and the other left intentionally shrouded in darkness. Without explaining it, I was trying to show how society places tremendous value on extroverted, visible behavior, but demonizes introverted, solitary behavior, even though it's essentially the same thing. Lord knows if I pulled it off... ;)
I'm enjoying listening to the podcasts, Kathleen. And I'm learning a lot as I go through them from the beginning. Thank you for making your words so accessible.
Thanks for this fascinating exploration. I recently wrote a short piece of fiction that, after listening to the two Nothingness episodes, I think uses absence of time and unnamed memories to explore very long relationships and create meaning. I'm sharing a sentence from it, as well as the link to read :)
"The oldest two had been married to each other so long they could not remember their lives before, and for the woman, that was for the best."
The opening few chapters are all about the empty ellipsis silence, the ambiguity of dreams, and the fact that our protagonist and those he meets have no memory of who they are, or why the world is so devoid of life. The antagonistic force in the story, the shadows, are also very much invisible, alien beings from another level of reality that have taken the children as hosts.
I think of my work as a body of ambiguity, of what is not told, which hopefully sparks the reader's imagination and they then fill the gaps, in which there is no right or wrong, no definitive truth.
Well, as you know, "Lamb" starts with the announcement of his death, so there's that. People know the ending already (or do they?)
I'm not sure if I'm totally grasping your whole subject this week, but in my novel, I made an intentional choice to juxtapose two characters from very different walks of life but with a similar "key" - both alcoholics, both alienated, but one shown in a somewhat bright light, and the other left intentionally shrouded in darkness. Without explaining it, I was trying to show how society places tremendous value on extroverted, visible behavior, but demonizes introverted, solitary behavior, even though it's essentially the same thing. Lord knows if I pulled it off... ;)
I'm enjoying listening to the podcasts, Kathleen. And I'm learning a lot as I go through them from the beginning. Thank you for making your words so accessible.
Thanks for this fascinating exploration. I recently wrote a short piece of fiction that, after listening to the two Nothingness episodes, I think uses absence of time and unnamed memories to explore very long relationships and create meaning. I'm sharing a sentence from it, as well as the link to read :)
"The oldest two had been married to each other so long they could not remember their lives before, and for the woman, that was for the best."
https://open.substack.com/pub/stephaniesweeney/p/the-old-ones?r=v0zvv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Back home from a trip round Scotland so sharing my answer now...
Once again I'll be linking my Children of Shadows novella: https://harveyhamer.substack.com/s/children-of-shadows
The opening few chapters are all about the empty ellipsis silence, the ambiguity of dreams, and the fact that our protagonist and those he meets have no memory of who they are, or why the world is so devoid of life. The antagonistic force in the story, the shadows, are also very much invisible, alien beings from another level of reality that have taken the children as hosts.
So, in reading Borges (I hope you like that I can say that now 😉) I come upon this passage:
"To omit a word always, to resort to inept metaphors and obvious periphrases, is perhaps the most emphatic way of stressing it."
Thank you ... I am working on a piece at the moment