From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #718 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 Monday, May 20 2002 Volume 01 : Number 718 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: From: Subject: [none] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 09:55:30 -0600 (MDT) From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: Re: [AML] _Attack of the Clones_ (Review) Don't have time to respond to all of Eric's post, though I will say - he really has missed the point of the movie. > But the fact is, for all the politics in this movie, there's no sense of, = > you know, actual poltics. Compromise, debate, discussion, finding a = > middle ground, balancing the needs of constituents over one's personal = > beliefs; there's none of that in the movie. Democracy is never shown to = > be anything but a mistake, and the Jedi (who we are to regard as enlightene= > d and wise, even if capable of error), are profoundly mistrustful of the = > entire political process. This conclusion, IMHO, can only be reached by missing all the backstory constantly referred to in the dialouge of all the films, that the republic survived for millenia as a democracy with only minor problems ("there's never been an all out war since the formation of the republic!") The problems only start occuring when a very evil man (palaptine/darth sidious) is able to gain control over a small group of influential senators. The thesis is that democracy works as long as evil conspiracies don't control the key leaders. > immediately, of course, because they're Imperial Storm Troopers; same = > molded white plastic costumes. And they're on our side, the good guys' = > side. This wasn't portrayed as a good thing. basically the good guys were snookered. Or did you miss the "Imperial March" musical cues played with the troopers? > They fight with Yoda and Obi Wan, against . . . well, I'm not sure = > who against. Trade Federation battlebots in alliance with evil Jedi = > Dookoo (something like that), DooKu played, inevitably, by uber-villain = > Christopher Lee. They fly in, like cavalry, to save Obi-Wan's and = > Anikin's butts. The Storm Troopers, with all those wonderful Nazi = > overtones, are on our side. See what I mean about bizarre politics? Again, only because the good guys have been snookered - fooled. Anyway more later - but Eric's response seems to come from someone predisposed to hate the film beforehand. Everything Eric says is portryaed positively I read as negative - as a tragedy that good people got duped by a powerful mastermind. more later. - --ivan wolfe - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 09:36:17 -0600 From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: [AML] LDS Living Magazine Here's a new magazine that looks like it's going to be breaking lots of = new cultural ground: NEW LDS MAGAZINE ANNOUNCED: LDS Living presents: A new LDS Living print magazine for Latter-day = Saint families. FREE GIFT WITH SUBSCRIPTION This new bi-monthly print magazine covers many features that all = families enjoy. Featured articles and topics come from top LDS writers, = speakers, and educators. LDS Living Magazine is fun and simple and devoted to = giving Latter-day Saints useful and inspiring articles all year long. 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GET A FREE GIFT WITH SUBSCRIPTION Click Here: http://www.ldsliving.com/LDSLivingMagazineE05LL3.htm - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 09:55:30 -0600 (MDT) From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: Re: [AML] _Attack of the Clones_ (Review) Don't have time to respond to all of Eric's post, though I will say - he really has missed the point of the movie. > But the fact is, for all the politics in this movie, there's no sense of, = > you know, actual poltics. Compromise, debate, discussion, finding a = > middle ground, balancing the needs of constituents over one's personal = > beliefs; there's none of that in the movie. Democracy is never shown to = > be anything but a mistake, and the Jedi (who we are to regard as enlightene= > d and wise, even if capable of error), are profoundly mistrustful of the = > entire political process. This conclusion, IMHO, can only be reached by missing all the backstory constantly referred to in the dialouge of all the films, that the republic survived for millenia as a democracy with only minor problems ("there's never been an all out war since the formation of the republic!") The problems only start occuring when a very evil man (palaptine/darth sidious) is able to gain control over a small group of influential senators. The thesis is that democracy works as long as evil conspiracies don't control the key leaders. > immediately, of course, because they're Imperial Storm Troopers; same = > molded white plastic costumes. And they're on our side, the good guys' = > side. This wasn't portrayed as a good thing. basically the good guys were snookered. Or did you miss the "Imperial March" musical cues played with the troopers? > They fight with Yoda and Obi Wan, against . . . well, I'm not sure = > who against. Trade Federation battlebots in alliance with evil Jedi = > Dookoo (something like that), DooKu played, inevitably, by uber-villain = > Christopher Lee. They fly in, like cavalry, to save Obi-Wan's and = > Anikin's butts. The Storm Troopers, with all those wonderful Nazi = > overtones, are on our side. See what I mean about bizarre politics? Again, only because the good guys have been snookered - fooled. Anyway more later - but Eric's response seems to come from someone predisposed to hate the film beforehand. Everything Eric says is portryaed positively I read as negative - as a tragedy that good people got duped by a powerful mastermind. more later. - --ivan wolfe - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 09:12:33 -0700 From: "Jeff Needle" Subject: Re: [AML] Gerald N. LUND, _Come Unto Me_ (Review) > And although Simeon answered as if he understood, > it turns out it didn't really matter what Sextus said > at all. We read seven pages later that Simeon didn't > understand Aramaic anyway. > Yes, I caught that in my initial reading, and nearly howled. > This caused a senior moment for me, as I thought I > recalled having just read that Simeon had carried on > a complete conversation in Aramaic. So I went back > and, sure enough, the Aramaic conversation was on > page 30 and the author's comment that he didn't > understand Aramaic at all was on page 37. > > I personally think Rob is on to something when he > mentions "showing off his research." I didn't call it > that in my review. I think "patronizing" was the word > I used. > > And yes, I suppose a better editor may have noticed > these inconsistencies, given enough time to review > the manuscript. > > Larry Jackson > > This is an interesting comment. Is there some sense that these books, almost guaranteed to sell, are rushed through the editing and publishing process? [Jeff Needle] - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 12:11:47 -0400 From: "Quinn Warnick" Subject: [AML] Re: Money and Art Thom Duncan wrote: | Scott Bronson can speak to this more exactly but just the other day he and I | were talking about this thread. He mentioned, iirc, the Church-commissioned | musical _Barefoot to Zion_. Arlen Card was "called" to write the music. He | had to audition but was eventually called. And he was paid in cold, hard | cash for his services. | | Truman Angel who designed the Tabernacle was paid for his work. All the | architects who've designed LDS temples are paid for their work as are the | artisans who do the actual building. | | Are they guilty of not adhering to the Law of Consecration? Of course not. But I don't think it's fair to equate designing the Tabernacle with putting on a ward play (or, to use my earlier example, doing some light construction work at a disabled member's home). Compare apples to apples -- when the Church (with a capital "C") commissions a work of art or an architectural design, it is likely that the artist or architect would be asked to quit their full-time employment or take a sabbatical in order to complete the assignment. Hence, these people are compensated. However, when the church (lowercase "c," as in a local ward) asks someone with theatrical talent to direct the ward play or someone with musical talent to lead the ward choir, there is an understanding that the assigned work will be done in the person's spare time. If anyone knows of local ward members who have been asked to quit their jobs to work on the stake road show, I'd love to hear about it. But I doubt this type of "consecration" is going on in the Church today. - - Quinn Warnick - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 10:28:40 -0600 From: "ROY SCHMIDT" Subject: RE: [AML] Money and Art Often a professional will donate his services at no cost. A lawyer, I believe is required to take so many cases pro bono. Many physicians will do service at a clinic, periodically, at no charge to either the clinic or to the patient. I know of at least one financial planner, who will work with people gratis, to get them pointed in the right direction. I agree with Clark, that of the service becomes full time, compensation is due, but see nothing wrong with being asked to help out from time to time. Roy Schmidt - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 12:24:16 -0700 From: "Tait Family" Subject: Re: [AML] Las Vegas Cow Parade There was a big hubub here (Houston), if I remember correctly, because one of the cows was stolen. I don't know if it was ever found. Lisa Tait - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 12:30:57 -0700 From: "Tait Family" Subject: Re: [AML] Moderation in All Things > > They seem inconsistent. In one breath, we are told to be temperate in > all things; in the next, we are told to be diligent in keeping the > commandments at all times. Isn't this contradictory? How do the words > "diligent" and "temperate" go together? > > -- > D. Michael Martindale Here's one idea: We need to be moderate in our self-regard; we need to acknowledge that our own interpretations and practices can be flawed and, therefore, we can be temperate in our judgments of other people and their interpretations and practices. We need to be diligent in seeking the Spirit as our guide and in acknowledging and overcoming our own weaknesses, and we need to recognize that most other people are just trying to do the same. Literature can show this and can give us this compassion for each other in a wonderful way. Lisa Tait - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 13:31:49 -0400 From: "Eric D. Dixon" Subject: Re: [AML] _Attack of the Clones_ (Review) Eric Samuelson wrote: >But right now, I think I'm paying the film a compliment >when I say that it's one confused film ideologically. >I'm giving Lucas the benefit of the doubt, by saying >that it's troubling or confused ideologically. I may >well be complicating what's actually a fairly >straighforward Nazi film. I think it is a fairly straightforward film, but we're not meant to sympathize with the "Nazis." This isn't a film about good vs. evil per se - -- it's a tragedy in which evil triumphs, not through a sweeping hostile takeover, but through the moral compromises and confusion of the good guys. The heroes allow freedom to lose ground gradually because each compromise seems like an expedient choice at the time. By the time the good guys realize how much their evil foes were entrenched all along, they've lost too much ground. Evil wins by default. I thought Lucas did a much better job with Episode 2 than Episode 1, but a sophisticated political treatise it ain't... Eric D. Dixon - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 12:18:16 -0600 (MDT) From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: Re: [AML] _Attack of the Clones_ (Review) I really liek Eric - he's a great guy, a wonderful playwright and a (usually) astute critic, but here's more on what i feel is his gross misreading of SW: AOTC" > The religious overtones are equally weird. Anakin has to save his mother, = > who has been captured by, I think, Banta, or Sand People, or anyway bad = > guys. Anyway, they've got her and have been torturing her, and she's = > apparently also been crucified. (Remember Anakin's virgin birth?) Beleived virigin birth - there are hints it may not be that. The Jedi and Anakin's mother say it is - but there are hints it may not be. As for crucifixion - I doubt that. She was tied to a stake, but she had none of the usual appearances realted to crucifixion - her lower body touched the ground, she was facing towards the stake, not away from it. > He = > rescues her in time for her to die in his arms. And then he goes berserk = > and kills this whole tribe. I mean, slaughters men women and children, = > does a whole Book of Joshua on 'em. And then he comes back to Amidala and = > tells her and feels bad about it. (She's apparently okay with it, because = > they later get married) Now, we know that Anakin is attracted to the Dark = > Side, and we know he's going to go over to it. So I ask myself, how does = > this work theologically? Going berserk and wiping out an entire tribe of = > people, men women and children, that's not enough? That's insufficient to = > send one to the Dark Side? You have to do something even worse? =20 No - Anakin never said he was sorry. He was a bit upset, but he neve says he's sorry about it. By that point, I believe its suppossed to be obvious that Anakin has gone over to the dark side. > I loathed the unearned salvation of Anakin in Return of the Jedi. And, as = > I've said, I've never bought any part of the argument you hear about = > parallels between Star Wars and the gospel. Well, at least we agree here. >But this film just makes it = > that much worse. There is apparently one one correlation between going = > over to Dark Side and our actions. And that is that going over to the = > Dark Side gives you more power. But even committing the worst atrocities = > does not qualify you for Dark Sideness. =20 You're not taking it all as a whole. As Yoda said in the Empire movie - the dark side is not stronger - it's just quicker and easier. The whole Balance of the Force thing isn't a balance between good and evil - it's an unbalance of power - the Sith sucking power away from the Jedi, without the jedi realizing it. > And = > we've got Polynesian superwarriors, so wherever that takes us racially, = > that's in the mix. I'm not sure if this is fair - the clones aren't all polynesian in the sense they are a bunch of different polynesians - they are all a clone of one guy who is a polynesian. They look just like him. If the template had been any other race, all the clones would ahve been that race. > And we've got a democracy that doesn't work and that = > the film's heros don't trust, such that they propose a military dictatorshi= > p, which happens. What we have is a government controlled by an evil conspiracy, not a democracy that doesn't work. It worked for millenia before - but would you only be happy if we had three hours of a functional democracy? Where's the tension in that? Lucas is going to start the story where the democracy starts to break down - that's dramatically more compelling. >And Yoda and Obi-Wan are in favor of all this; they use = > the clones in battle, on their side, and they propose the dictatorship. Not because they are right, but because they've obviously been hoodwinked. > Our one democrat in the film, Amidala, is a lovesick and naive teenage = > girl, and is also apparently okay with the dictatorship. No - she was against it. The whole "go into hiding" was obviously a ploy by Palpatine to get rid of Amidala so the more easily hoodwinked Jar-jar would be fooled. > > This flm, unlike the first two and =BD, is not about Good vs Evil. That's = > not what's going on at all. The bad guys in the film, in fact, use robots = > to do their fighting, in contrast with our heros, who use Pacific Islander = > Hitler Youth. Both sides are the bad guys. The clone army and the droid army were created by Dooku in order to create a false pretense for war. > Maybe = > the last film will show us how using clones is actually bad, that Yoda = > will be shown to have been mistaken. I don't need to wait for the next film, this one has already shown that. > I suspect, in fact, that that's what = > will happen. But right now, I think I'm paying the film a compliment when = > I say that it's one confused film ideologically. I'm giving Lucas the = > benefit of the doubt, by saying that it's troubling or confused ideological= > ly. I may well be complicating what's actually a fairly straighforward = > Nazi film.=20 personally, I think you've overused the word Nazi in your post. It's a cheap shot, really. > There's no Han Solo, no rogueish human = > spirit. I actually felt Obi-Wan filled that role nicely in this movie. > Amidala and Anakin have no spark, no chemistry. I'll agree with that. > A muppet saves the day. In this case - it was a fully CGI character. - --ivan wolfe - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 13:12:18 -0600 From: "Paris Anderson" Subject: Re: [AML] Frankness in Mormon Writing When I came back from Argentina I was shocked at how much American Mormons get caught up in language--as if American English were the language of heaven. All of scripture is translated. Even the most exact words are just aproximations. Better translations will always come along--even for God inspired translations. Even The Book of Mormon has had slight alterations. Because paticular words and phrases have changed meaning since the book was first translated. Exact words are not important. Concepts are. > Philippians 4:5 says, "Let your moderation be known > unto all men." Alma 7:23 encourages "being temperate > in all things;" and Alma 38:10 also uses the phrase, > "temperate in all things." It is repeated again in D&C > 12:8, "being temperate in all things". T'ai Ch'i teaches the concept with, "Take the middle road." Meaning, either extreme will slow your journey. Paris Anderon - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 16:13:20 -0700 From: "Richard R. Hopkins" Subject: Re: [AML] Moderation in All Things - ----- Original Message ----- D. Michael Martindale wrote: > They seem inconsistent. In one breath, we are told to be temperate in > all things; in the next, we are told to be diligent in keeping the > commandments at all times. Isn't this contradictory? How do the words > "diligent" and "temperate" go together? I think temperance relates primarily to eat and drink, what we partake of, what we consume. I think temperance in all such things is great. But I still hold to what I said before on this thread. Even moderation can be practiced to excess. I think we need to be diligent, not moderate, in many areas, e.g., keeping the commandments, pursuing improvement, etc. Richard Hopkins - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 19:16:00 -0500 From: "b5dorsai" Subject: Re: [AML] _Attack of the Clones_ (Review) http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/1999/06/15/brin_main/index.html This link is to an excellent article by David Brin where he compares the morals and ethics of Star Wars to Star Trek. He makes some interesting remarks. The part that I agreed with the most was the team approach of Star Trek versus the "uberman" approach of Star Wars. I have not see attack of the Clones, yet but I think that it will be a good film to use to discuss ethics with my children. Rick Thomas San Antonio - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 23:01:57 -0600 From: "Clark Goble" Subject: RE: [AML] Money and Art ___ Scott ___ | For anyone to assume that he should take those water heaters | and give them away is ridiculous. ___ Of course, but there is capital invested in this. i.e. what he is likely being asked to donate is excessive, given his likely income level. That's my point really. What ought to be the deciding factor is how excessive the *cost* is, not whether it involves ones specialty as Thom seemed to assert. Earlier you called this "extra time." But even there one can be asked to do callings one simply doesn't have time for. I'd see not problem turning down a calling if I literally thought it would involve too much time given the time I had to give. Now of course I'd discuss this with the Bishop or whomever was calling me. If it was important enough I might give up the other things I thought important. (Say the brethren called me to be a fulltime GA. That is very "expensive" in terms of my living and so forth but I'd probably do that -- not that I think I have to worry about that ever happening, mind you. So I guess I'm saying you are trying to have it both ways. You want to take Thom's position regarding art, but haven't really demonstrated that the artist helping out with the talent show is excessive. - -- Clark Goble --- clark@lextek.com ----------------------------- - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 May 2002 01:12:39 -0600 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] New "Onion" Advice Columnist "R.W. Rasband" wrote: > > Check out "The Onion"'s new advice columnist: > http://www.theonion.com/onion3818/ask_raymond_carver.html It's stupid. - -- 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 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 May 2002 09:41:14 -0700 From: JLTyner Subject: Re:[AML] Frankness In Mormon Writing I just ran across a link to an interesting article posted on the Church's official website: www.lds.org. They have it listed under News Headlines that will bring you to the archives, it's entitled: "How To Live To Be 100". In a small description of the article we're pointed to the comments about living in Utah, not smoking and how just going to church statistically adds seven years to your life. I have little doubt all the above listed things will indeed add years to one's life. But the other thing that caught my eye and brought a mischievous smile to my face and ties in with this thread is the mention of a study done in England that showed men lived longer the more sex they had. A Duke university study showed for women it was the quality that mattered. I'm not surprised the Church site didn't point out this part of the article, but they knew it had to be in there and still felt kosher about linking to the article, so I wonder if that's a tacit approval of what that part of the article has to say, I hope so. Kathy Tyner Orange County, CA - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 May 2002 14:22:48 -0700 From: "Kim Madsen" Subject: RE: [AML] Frankness in Mormon Writing Thanks to Paris for his "esoteric human anatomy" lesson. I found it fascinating. I deeply believe in the one-day-all-truth coming together in a whole picture. I'm sure there are people who take such ideas and run with them to form groups of open sexuality, but I think in the bounds the Lord has set, this may be a great truth to learn from. Kim - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 16:55:08 -0500 From: Linda Adams Subject: Re: [AML] Frankness in Mormon Writing At 09:37 AM 5/17/02, you wrote: >Add to the family-of-origin issues the mutations caused by the marriage >itself, and you get two people with lots of things to work on (hopefully) >together. I don't think that you could write and publish a frank discussion >of sexuality between husbands and wives in the maintsream LDS market. You >would have to make it the husband's fault, make the women the victims, and >leave out the grit. You don't get anywhere in this culture without >championing women. Unfortunately, you don't get anywhere in helping women >without providing a venue for them to take responsibility for their own >issues. To me, a truly frank work on Mormon sexuality in marriage would ask >both men and women to take responsibility for their own sexual problems and >work together for a solution that did not represent the problem as being a >function of how sensitive and talkative the man is. > >Rex Goode Amen, amen, and AMEN. Thank you, Rex, for expressing this so well. The more I think about it, the more I think the best venue *would* be fiction. Readers might feel less threatened, yet more empathetic. But again--many LDS readers of such a book--who may need it--would probably throw it down as only a "dirty book." If it could get published to begin with. Linda Linda Adams adamszoo@sprintmail.com http://home.sprintmail.com/~adamszoo - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 May 2002 20:26:20 -0500 From: "webmaster" Subject: [AML] Cary Derbidge/Blair Treu Film Announcements Okay folks... big announcements just came in straight from two separate filmmakers. These are seriously funded projects and experienced filmmakers, not just spec scripts or something. Cary Derbidge (producer of "Out of Step", which will be re-released to theaters this Fall) is starting work on a feature film about a Latter-day Saint wedding. He mentions "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Bridget Jones's Diary" as movies that are in a similar vein. Working title for the project is "Temple Marriage". Start thinking about an actual title. I think we'll run a contest to actually name the film. Blair Treu is in development on "Dudes", starring Jeff Bridges and Aaron Carter. This will be his sixth feature film, but only his second theatrically-released feature. Treu's "Little Secrets" (starring Tayva Patch, Vivica Fox, and Rick Macy) hits theaters this summer from Columbia Tristar. Preston Hunter ldsfilm.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 14:56:28 EDT From: OmahaMom@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Las Vegas Cow Parade Omaha is having their second run of "Doe's": Marilyn Mon-doe, is one of the ones that they're developing this year. Some of them are nice art, but at the same time EACH one is costing a minimum of $5000 and the library had to take a 25% hit in funding this year. Funny how we can find lots of cash for things that won't be here next year (at the end of the summer they're auctioned off for additional large sums of money), but can't find money for things that be of longer lasting value. Isn't there a happy medium somewhere? Karen Tippets - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 02:47:20 +0000 From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] SPENCER, _Men in Trees_ (SL Tribune) Salt Lake Tribune Sunday, May 19, 2002 'Caution: Men in Trees' Is Loaded With Oddballs and Fresh Cliches BY MARTIN NAPARSTECK Caution: Men in Trees By Darrell Spencer; W.W. Norton; $13 In "Please to Forgive Sloppiness," one of the nine stories in Darrell Spencer's collection Caution: Men in Trees, Marge tells her sister Lyla about her new boyfriend: "He's a vampire hunter who gave up a cushy job in L.A. and came to St. George because one night about 3 a.m., driving through, he'd seen the undead partying out near the graveyard. His cover is he works as a wrench at the local Harley shop." Lyla says, "We're looking at a real personality disorder here," and Marge says, "But in all sorts of interesting ways." Characters with real personality disorders, but in interesting ways, populate all of the stories in Spencer's book. It is the glory and the affliction of Spencer's stories. This is his fourth book, and all are filled with stories of oddballs, mostly from Utah (he used to teach at Brigham Young University), sometimes from Nevada. One of the stories in Men in Trees is set in Ohio, where he now teaches. In "Late Night TV," probably set in Utah (it's one of two stories in which the location is suggested rather than stated) a young man tells a story about his father and his son: "He raised my boy from the dead . . . He put his hands on my boy's head and resurrected him in the name of the Lord. Right away, my boy, he walked around, he ate, he shot one of these BB guns . . . But it didn't stick. He died again." Oddballs are automatically interesting, but their appearance can at times seem manipulative, in the same way false sentimentality manipulates us. Have a bad guy do something bad (say, kill a baby) and the audience will feel sad and outraged; the act does not explore emotions but rather takes emotions already existing in the reader and uses them; that's what manipulation is. We're already interested in the odd, so Spencer doesn't have to work at making us interested. Yet, his best characters are always credible. In "Pronto Bucks," a onetime prizefighter in Las Vegas who has never lost a match and who has not fought in a half-dozen years is offered a chance to make money by throwing a fight to a contender who needs a string of victories to get a title shot. At first the fighter/narrator says "no" with finality, but by the end of the story he is thinking maybe. This character, Tommy Rooke, is borderline punch drunk, but he also reads poetry and Norman Mailer and plays chess. It's a delicate oddballness. Spencer also has a trademark stylistic device: he uses cliches in fresh ways. Example, from "Blood Work:" "J.J. did his homework when he was a kid, figured, in a teen-ager's way, that if you were going to build a life on religious belief you ought to know its history. No riding on anyone's coattails for J.J. He took his Mormonism seriously until the day he, as Ruby put it, bowed out." "Build a life," "No riding on anyone's coattails," "Bowed out" -- the passage is loaded with cliches, but unlike the normal cliche, they don't seem stale; they give fresh insight into a character. It's a tour de force, cliches in fresh ways, the unfresh smelling like lilacs in May. In "The 12-Inch Dog" (probably set in Utah), a young wife is suspicious, or maybe jealous, of her young husband's best friend: "Spanky's come a-courting, and it's not Patty he wants. I see how he looks at me. He looks at me how a woman sizes up another woman who's in her way." And Spanky (his real name is Larry), who is openly gay, says at one point, "What? Am I the other woman?" It is another Spencer trait: a revealing bit of honesty to challenge the readers, some of whom are not going to be willing to admit that a wife or husband (or boyfriend or girlfriend) might be attractive to members of the same sex. A similar reaction could come from the title story in which the protagonist recalls his youth: "Growing up in Vegas, Bobby hadn't given a rat's ass about the peace movement. He'd just done whatever he had to do to keep his own ass out of Vietnam." Those fresh cliches again; not a lot of middle-aged men today are going to be that honest about their flirtation with the anti-war movement of the '60s and early '70s. Oddballs, fresh cliches, sprinklings of honesty. Two and a half reasons to read Darrell Spencer's stories. -- -- -- -- Martin Naparsteck reviews books from and about the West for The Salt Lake Tribune. Copyright 2002, The Salt Lake Tribune _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 02:53:23 +0000 From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] FREEMAN, _Red Water_ (Deseret News) Deseret News Sunday, May 19, 2002 'Red Water' shows possibilities, pitfalls of historical fiction Some of Freeman's scenes, relationships pure speculation By Susan Whitney Deseret News staff writer When Judith Freeman set out to write a novel about Mormon pioneers, she looked for the diaries of Emma Lee. She didn't find a one. But Emma became Freeman's main character anyway. The result is that the novel "Red Water" is a perfect illustration of= =20 the possibilities and pitfalls of historical fiction. Like the maker of a television docudrama, Freeman started with real events and real people, then jazzed up the history, adding dialogue and sex scenes. Some of Freeman's inventions ring true. Others don't. In Freeman's favor is her talent as a writer. She has a tremendous gift for description. Unfortunately, she goes too far. She describes just a few too many things that didn't happen. Since January, when the book came out, it has been favorably reviewed across the nation. (Curiously, at least some of the reviewers believed Freeman did have access to Emma's diaries. Freeman told the Deseret News she did not.) Reviewers have recommended the book as an insight into Mormonism. They also told people throughout the country about an incident many may not have heard of before =97 the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Each book reviewer =97 whether for the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post or the San Francisco Chronicle =97 began the review by describing the massacre of 1857, when more than 100 members of a wagon train bound for California were killed in the southern Utah Territory. It was necessary for reviewers to explain that background in order to explain the plot of the book. Freeman's novel begins the year after the massacre, when a young British immigrant named Emma Batchelor became the plural wife of John D. Lee. Freeman's story covers the 20 years of their marriage, until the time when Lee was tried and executed for taking part in the massacre. Of course most Utahns already know of the massacre and of Lee and know he was the only person ever punished for the crime. >From the early pages of the novel, however, the reader is curious about Emma. The facts are meager. We know she crossed the Plains with the ill-fated Martin/Willie Handcart Company. That her first baby died. That she ran a ferry across the Colorado River before and after Lee's death. That she married again. That she was a midwife. What we want to know is how she felt =97 about Lee, about his other wives. How did she feel about him being the only one punished? We want to know how she felt about her church. About God. Freeman raises these questions, but she can't answer them, not factually, and the reader becomes increasingly curious about the real Emma. Freeman says she created Emma using the diaries of other pioneers, including John Lee and Rachel Lee, one of John's older wives. Rachel remained loyal to Lee and to the LDS church. Freeman also found a memoir written by one of Lee's younger wives, Ann, who left Lee and her church. From the other diaries, Freeman is convinced that, in the early years at least, John was crazy about Emma. She believes Emma was crazy about him, too. Scenes of their passion and their grief at the death of their child are beautifully written. For the facts of the massacre, Freeman relied on Juanita Brooks' history of Mountain Meadows, titled "The Mountain Meadows Massacre." Brooks published her book in 1950. But, although Freeman grew up in Utah, she had never heard of Brooks' history until a few years ago when she saw it in a used bookstore in Seattle. She was shocked by what she read. During a telephone interview from her home in California, Freeman said she tried to be fair to Lee and to his wives. She also reiterated that "Red Water" should be seen as a work of fiction. Still, this is asking a lot. Some readers, surely, will want to know which parts are true. And while Freeman did succeed in making Emma interesting, it seems inherently unfair to construct a personality for a woman who actually lived and would have had a personality of her own. Here's an example of that unfairness: When asked for proof that a lesbian scene between Ann and Emma actually took place, Freeman said she really didn't believe either woman was a lesbian, she was merely trying to show that polygamy had many nuances. And so, ultimately, Emma remains an enigma. Her thoughts and views are actually Freeman's. And so, ultimately, "Red Water" proves a point about historical fiction. The best historical fiction is factual in setting but uses fictional characters =97 not real people =97 to express all the nuances the author cares to imagine. Copyright 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #718 ******************************