Re: JCO: Journals of JCO and 'At the National Book Festival Video' on Celesti...

Hi, Eric.  I read the Journals last week.  I enjoyed the descriptions of flora and fauna around JCO's house. The Princeton area very picturesque.  The photos in the journal were good; I particularly liked the one with JCO, E.L. Doctorow and Elaine Showalter at a dinner party.   The Journals really show the rhythm of dreaming and then writing a long piece of fiction -- also the melancholy of finishing a work and wondering what to do next.  After I read the Journals, I found I had put together a long list of uncollected JCO fiction that I want to track down this winter.  Chopin, anybody?

Cyrano 

 

In a message dated 11/6/2007 12:11:58 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, erickarl78@hotmail.com writes:

I've been reading through the recently published Journals over the past couple of weeks. What a mesmerizing, insightful read! Surely when considering the inevitable question of "How do you write so much?" this collection of journal extracts from only ten years gives an honest and complex answer. At times, JCO even asks herself how she produces so much and seems in awe of all the publications she sees appearing. It reveals how powerfully committed and focused she is, driven by rather existential questions of existence and the meaning of art.
 
I've been doing some travelling recently, long train rides with screaming children sat across from me. I've also suffered from a bad cold which has caused fits of insomina, long sleepless muddy-headed nights. Yet every time I've opened the Journals I become completely detached from all these insignificant distractions and am able to fully immerse myself in the powerful philosophical musings of JCO's daily life. What a treasure! Surely an invaluable resource for any writer or bookworm. And how eagerly I hope the next decade of the journals appears in another volume.
 
Eric
 

 

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JCO: Journals of JCO and 'At the National Book Festival Video' on Celestial Timepiece site

Hello
 
First, I'd like to thank Randy for posting the link to the wonderful video At the National Book Festival on the site. I just watched it and it was a pleasure to see JCO in such a light-hearted, talkative mood when she was on stage discussing The Gravedigger's Daughter and fielding questions about her other work. I'd encourage everyone to take a look at it if you haven't already.
 
I've been reading through the recently published Journals over the past couple of weeks. What a mesmerizing, insightful read! Surely when considering the inevitable question of "How do you write so much?" this collection of journal extracts from only ten years gives an honest and complex answer. At times, JCO even asks herself how she produces so much and seems in awe of all the publications she sees appearing. It reveals how powerfully committed and focused she is, driven by rather existential questions of existence and the meaning of art.
 
I've been doing some travelling recently, long train rides with screaming children sat across from me. I've also suffered from a bad cold which has caused fits of insomina, long sleepless muddy-headed nights. Yet every time I've opened the Journals I become completely detached from all these insignificant distractions and am able to fully immerse myself in the powerful philosophical musings of JCO's daily life. What a treasure! Surely an invaluable resource for any writer or bookworm. And how eagerly I hope the next decade of the journals appears in another volume.
 
Eric
 

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