From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #135 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Friday, August 18 2000 Volume 01 : Number 135 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 03:11:38 JST From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] Re: ANDERSON, _Waiting for the Flash_ Paris Anderson, _Waiting for the Flash_ A Scotlin Company Publication, 1988. We are at my mother-in-law's house, where our copy of the book happens to be. It is a good short novel written as a missionary journal. The narrator sees himself as a rebellious, problem missionary. After a mental breakdown he begins maturing emotionally and spiritually. I forget what the title refers to. The journal style limits the book in some ways, but in general it is quite impressive look into the psyche of a missionary. Anderson must have some background in psychology. Blurbs from the back page: "Paris Anderson uses the Mormon missionary experience as the poignant organizational context for observing people who love, fear, suffer, grow, change, fail and succeed. All missionaries do not experience their mission the way Elder Say does; but, some do, and those who care whether organizations, especially churches, are constructive or destructive forces should understand this perspective." --J. Bonner Ritchie, Chairman, Organizational Behavior Dept., BYU. "This first novel by Paris Anderson, is good evidence of how fast Mormon literature is maturing. It will bring you new understanding, not only of a major part of Mormon experience, but of a central human experience, the journey from life as a mere sinner to life as a pilgrim." --Eugene England. "Paris Anderson's account of missionary life has the ring of authenticity. His protagonist, Elder Ron Say, the ex-hard guy, may be atypical but his voice is genuine: confused, sweet, deluded, and filled with a refreshing honesty. An interesting and enjoyable read." --Tim Slover. Other fiction by Anderson: "You: A Missionary Story" Sunstone, Sept. 1987. Told in the second-person. "Our Way" Dialogue, 1987. More recently he has been writing self-published children's novels, including _Claire: A Mormon Girl_. Andrew Hall Wenatchee, WA (We flew in from Japan yesterday and are here for a week). >From: "Christopher Bigelow" >Reply-To: aml-list@lists.xmission.com >To: aml-list@lists.xmission.com >Subject: [AML] ANDERSON, _Waiting for the Flash_ >Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 15:54:20 -0700 > >In the new Dialogue, Tessa Santiago mentions a missionary novel by Paris >Anderson titled _Waiting >for the Flash_. > >Anyone know anything about it? Especially, what exactly does the title >refer to? > >Chris Bigelow ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 15:11:19 -0400 From: "Shawn and Melinda Ambrose" Subject: RE: [AML] Revealing Ourselves in Writing >It's not just LDS writers. All writers, I believe, reveal their deepest >feelings about Life, the Universe, and Everything in their writing. >Scott Card calls it their "world view." I agree with Card's contention >that writers can't help but reveal their deepest rooted understandings in >their writings. How these things are revealed would take more time and >brain power than I've got right now. However, I think it would be a >fascinating project to explicate someone's world view through an >intricate analysis of their writing. > >scott I have been disappointed many times by reading books by beloved authors who continued to write but whose worldview changed drastically. Hence their writing changed. Sometimes it changed so fundamentally that I could no longer appreciate their point of view. This happened with Robert Heinlein's writing, and with Isaac Asimov's writing, but not, so far as I can tell, with Ray Bradbury's writing. I wonder what will happen to my writing. I tried to edit a story I completed when I was fifteen. I had not prepared it for publication at that time. Now I cannot change it because I no longer believe in my own reactions; the characters would behave differently now. Melinda L. Ambrose - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 13:50:28 -0700 From: "Christopher Bigelow" Subject: [AML] Re: ANDERSON, _Waiting for the Flash_ Thanks, Andrew "Bibliography" Hall. I found this book for $22 at Alibris.co= m but only $5 thru Sam Weller's online. Chris Bigelow * * * * * * Read my novella about Mormon missionaries at http://www1.mightywords.com/as= p/bookinfo/bookinfo.asp?theisbn=3DEB00016373. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 14:39:23 -0600 From: Scott and Marny Parkin Subject: Re: [AML] (Andrew's Poll) Influential Teacher Harlow Clark wrote: >While I am occasionally (a lot more occasionally than I would like) a big >jerk, and while I was working in the English dept's writing lab in JKHB >in the spring of 83, I doubt this was me. It doesn't sound like the way I >would have approached someone's paper, and I very rarely got creative >work. ...which he followed up with a lot of interesting stuff. In case it wasn't clear from my original comment, I thought that anonymous TA's comments to be quite valuable in that they forced me to deal with the fact that not all people will like the things that I write. I think every new writer is faced at some point with the realization that while what they wrote may be well done, sometimes people just won't like it anyway. So while the memory may have been painful, it was a key one in forcing me to think about how what I write interacts with the broad concept of audience. It also taught me that just because someone has an opinion, I don't have to accept it at face value--a necessary skill if you plan to write for more than your immediate family (of course it's necessary for some us even within our immediate family). I survived my crisis of faith because I have an ego the size of New Hampshire. I know others have not survived their crises, and I think some fine writers have been lost because of the ordinary comments of readers. (FWIW, the anonymous TA was not trying to be mean. He was expressing an opinion that I eventually took to be quite valid. It was just the first time I had faced the possibility that my fiction wasn't at the highest levels of depth and/or competence. A sobering--and quite necessary--experience.) You raise an interesting point about the role of criticism for developing authors. I'm not sure any of us should tell another writer not to write, but I think we should give honest opinions when asked--keeping in mind that there are constructive and destructive ways of giving an opinion. I think Mormons often face an extra level of frustration when writing stories containing Mormon worldviews or mindsets. In addition to the standard issues of craft, story, and structure, they also have an at least somewhat alien view of how things are or should be. But that's another discussion. The main reason I thought that TA might be the venerable Harlow, was that I remember that person looking pretty much exactly like the modern-day Harlow. (Which is probably proof that it can't be you--no one looks the same twenty years later, do they?) I remember the TA telling me that I needed to do more descriptive writing (mine was heavily plot-oriented, with little or no description). He then told me about his own story that featured several pages just describing how the rain dripped off a (barn? apartment?) roof, and how that set up the POV's entire mindset. Does that sound familiar. Not that it matters, but one is always curious... Scott Parkin - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 14:36:18 -0700 From: Jeff Needle Subject: Re: [AML] Lindsey Phillip DEW, _The Trial_ (Review) >At the risk of offending citizens of small Mormon towns >everywhere, let me just say that ... I have no comment! > >In the book, I'm not sure they turned against their >home-town lawyer as much as they turned on their >bishop who, in their minds, should have known that >"Thou shalt not kill." One of the strengths of the book >was that, inspite of what everyone seemed to want to >do, he was the one who held out for what was right, >even though it was not popular. > Yes. You're absolutely right. And if you remember correctly, he came very close to betraying the trust of his client, but stopped at the last minute. It was a nice scene. >It probably had to be a small home-town to be that >conflicting and one-minded. Had the book been set >in a large metropolis (SLC, for example), the reaction >would probably have been ho-hum, and I believe the >story would have lost its power. > >Besides, there had to be some place up the road for ... >oops, I told myself not to do that, didn't I? > >Larry Jackson Thanks for the good comments! - --------------- Jeff Needle jeff.needle@general.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 15:12:32 -0400 From: "Shawn and Melinda Ambrose" Subject: RE: [AML] Where's our LDS Pulitzer prize winner? Books that one must appreciate for its writing and not its pace will never do as well because the audience that wants to appreciate that book is much smaller. I think the audience that _could_ appreciate the book is actually quite large. But since, I believe, most people read as an escape, they don't want to have to extend the mental energy needed to appreciate "artistic" works. Terry Jeffress Most people in our day don't read. Or, they don't read seriously heavy literature. Or, they read it only in high school or college courses. Or, they only read newspaper articles or non-fiction. I have a relative I visit monthly for two days at a time. Books are so much a part of my life, and so absent from hers, that I routinely bring four books with me and almost invariably finish two of them while I'm at her house. She has nothing to read in bathroom! What responsibility do we have for this phenomenon, and what should we do about it? There is not time to read everything... Melinda L. Ambrose - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 23:57:35 -0600 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Nudity in Mormon Art Alan Mitchell wrote: > Since neither Martindale nor anybody addressed my question regarding the > place for Nudity in Mormon Art, (and I mean real nudity, not just talking > about it in the shower, but real Picasso type stuff), I'll have to assume > that no such thing will exist in the near future. Maybe I missed the question, or maybe I couldn't think of any special role for nudity in Mormon art as opposed to any other art. But since you asked (challenged) a second time, I'll try to think of something clever. If the next Mormon film after _God's Army_ is called _Adam and Eve_, I would like to see the first couple's nudity portrayed simply and realistically, without long hair for Eve conveniently covering her breasts, or strategically placed shrubbery always covering up the sensitive areas. They were nude, innocent, and unashamed. Why should we be ashamed about it? If someone paints a portrait of the scene with Noah and Ham, they should paint it with Noah nude, period, like he really was. If someone does a sculpture of the tormented in hell, I think it would be appropriate and powerful to show nude beings writhing within flames of torture. I don't know what else to say. If the art calls for some nudity in a way that isn't denigrading to the human body, it ought to include it, Mormon art or otherwise. I don't think we need to figure out ways to include nudity in Mormon art. I just think we need to relax our attitudes toward nudity so we _can_ include it if its warranted. > Shucks, I wanted someone on the list to be the first AML streaker. 3 am Saturday night, my place. Come watch or participate. - -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 09:08:53 -0600 From: Kathleen Woodbury Subject: [AML] Catharsis and Compassion I'd like to add another take on Eric Samuelson's question of catharsis and compassion. Dave Wolverton has developed something he calls "the Stress Induction/Reduction Theory of Storytelling" which I interpret to say that when an audience member (reader, viewer, whatever) experiences vicariously a character's stresses, that audience member becomes better able to cope with his/her own stresses and better able to care about the stresses of others. (catharsis and compassion) Dave lists the key points in this way: "1) All successful stories arouse a sense of danger which heightens the amount of stress in our reader's daily life. "2) In response to this recognition of danger, our reader produces endorphin-like substances to help cope with the increased stress. "3) The net reward for subjecting one's self to a story is that once the story reaches a successful conclusion, then our reader, who has performed an emotional exercise, becomes better able to handle the background stress in his or her own life." There's more, of course, elaborating this and applying it to storytelling. (Dave let me publish a two-part article series on this subject several years ago in the SF and Fantasy Workshop newsletter. If there is interest, perhaps we can get him to let AML reprint the articles.) Kathleen Dalton-Woodbury workshop@burgoyne.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 13:47:36 -0700 (PDT) From: cratkinson Subject: [AML] LABUTE, _Nurse Betty_ Hi all, Clark Goble sent the following to me today, thinking we listers might be interested. Thanks, Clark! - -Christine Atkinson ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hey you might want to pass the following link on to AML. It's some very good reviews of LaBute's _Nurse Betty_ that is coming out shortly. http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=6723 _______________________________________________________ Say Bye to Slow Internet! http://www.home.com/xinbox/signup.html - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #135 ******************************