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The Years of My Birth by Louise Erdrich Short Story Analysis
“The Years Of My Birth” (2011) is a short story by Louise Erdrich. Tommy Orange joined Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “The Years of My Birth,” by Louise Erdrich, which appeared in a 2011 issue of the New Yorker magazine. The author has said that her novels come from her short stories. “The Years Of […]
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A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Analysis
“A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” by Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez is sometimes subtitled “A tale for children”. This short story reminded me of middle grade novel Skellig by British author David Almond. Sure enough, Almond has said in interview that he was influenced by the 1960 Colombian short story, and others have […]
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King Bait by Keri Hulme Short Story Analysis
“King Bait” is a short story by Keri Hulme, author of The Bone People, which won the Booker Prize. The setting is a magical realist New Zealand.
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Things To Know About Miyazaki Films
1. MIYAZAKI’S FILMS FEATURE A TECHNIQUE CALLED ‘PILLOW SHOTS’ A “pillow shot” is a cutaway, for no obvious narrative reason, to a visual element, often a landscape or an empty room, that is held for a significant time (five or six seconds). It can be at the start of a scene or during a scene. Dangerous Minds […]
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Fabulism In Children’s Literature
FABULISM: WHAT IS IT? In fabulism, fantastical elements are placed in an everyday setting. It’s called ‘fabulism’ because authors are playing with realism by making use of elements of fable. For the definition of a fable, see here. COMMON FEATURES OF FABULIST FICTION The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter is a collection […]
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Annie Proulx’s “Pair A Spurs” Analysis
“Pair a Spurs” is a short story by American author Annie Proulx, published in the collection Brokeback Mountain and Other Stories. SETTING “Pair A Spurs” by Annie Proulx is set on a couple of Wyoming Ranches in the late 1990s SURROUNDING CULTURE Rather than open with landscape, sky-scape and weather, this time Annie Proulx opens […]
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The Half-Skinned Steer by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“The Half-Skinned Steer” by Annie Proulx is, as said by Mary Lee Settle “as real as a pickup truck, as ominous as a fairy tale.”
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Carrie by Stephen King Film Study
I want to talk about the 1976 movie based on Stephen King’s 1974 (breakout) novel, Carrie. Critics don’t like the new one much. The criticism is mostly that the remake was unnecessary because the first adaptation was so good. The original has a slower, more sinister pace and the main thing the reboot did was […]
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What Is Magical Realism? Is It Fabulism?
Magical realism is when the world is about 95% normal, but 5% magical/mystical and that magic is a totally natural part of the world.
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The Swimmer by John Cheever Analysis
“The Swimmer”(1964) is considered one of Cheever’s best short stories. Anne Enright feels that this would never have worked as the novel Cheever had originally planned and adds that it would work even better as a short story had he lost one or two pools. (The naturist communists are amusing but we don’t want any […]