bellascribe

A completely uneven day in a way that’s nearing intolerable. Dentist first. Then, after preparing for a conference call, when the time for said call comes and goes without the call, I find that I’ve gotten the date wrong. This is likely related to the fact of how I am, subsequent to post-birthday evaluating things, likewise making decisions about what jobs and clients I want to continue with and those that might be better served elsewhere. In this particular case, of the clients of the almost-call, I am really on the fence about what I want to do; my decision is for the time being to not decide. Which is all well and good, I guess, until a bit later, turning to fiction-writing matters, I find myself doing something similar — some time ago, a collection of my stories was short-listed for the Flannery O’Connor Award and I had told myself that this was the year that I needed to do something with that manuscript again… but then I found myself unable to work up the enthusiasm for the stories, told myself that this was because they were stories of “my younger writing self” and that I ought to just leave it at that, let them go. This seemed to free me up a little to get some new work in, and I had been I thought satisfied with the decision. But evidently not; reading over something I’ve been working on, finding my way back into it, I found my thoughts returning to one story in particular, which led to another and then I begin doubting my decision and wondering if it — making that decision to just write off those stories — was simply another (elaborate) mind-trick, a distraction, to keep from doing the work (of delving in again, revising, preparing for publication, etc).

I feel a little crazy, haunted maybe even, about this (the finished/unfinished feelings of the finished/unfinished short story collection) and would be glad of any like experiences or insights anyone might have for sharing.

Elsewise, enjoy this “short animated riff on Joyce’s Ulysses” of Alex Itin’s, artist-in-residence at the Institure for the Future of the Book, where you can also read such interesting commentary about it from Bud Parr (MetaxuCafe litblog network) as:

…I don’t think there exists a recording of Joyce reading from Ulysses.

That clip is from the Anna Livia Plurabelle episode, which would make a great video project too.

That recording is, in my view, a great key to reading FW as it shows Joyce’s sense of rhythm, which without, changes the book dramatically.

Interestingly, when he recorded it, he could barely see and someone (I think his friend Jolas) was standing next to him reading into his ear; amazing that he still managed to do it so well.

(Hearing Joyce’s cadence, the lyricism of his voice, is quite something in and of itself…)