Writer. Contributing Editor at The Discarded Image. Digital Content Strategist. Here's where I publicly explore the books I'm reading, the projects I'm working on, and other current interests. I’m back!
Yes, the manuscript has finally migrated from my laptop to that of my editor. And there are already revisions to be made (she’s a speedy editor)! But for the most part, I have returned to the land of sane people who return emails and meet family for dinner and aren’t generally consumed with trying to complete a six-year, five-book writing project. Thus, this post will actually see the light of day.
I haven’t logged in to Bloglines in about a month—so I have a lot of catching up to do at all of your blogs! You should see me stopping in here and there in the coming days. And I’m happy to say that since I did manage to get a bit of reading done over the past couple months, I have a stack of titles to review for you, including a great young adult biography, a Russian novel by a brand new “master,” and a non-Russian novel that can only be described as a Russian novel. Expect to start seeing those reviews here in the next few days.
In the meantime, I commend to you the current issue of American Arts Quarterly, specifically Makoto Fujimura’s article “The Epistle of Vincent van Gogh.” I found it intriguing for two reasons. First, because he reflects on some interesting—and alarming—statistics from a recent NEA report:
We are not only reading less, we are reading less well. We are losing our capacity to focus and pay attention to the world around us with empathy….We may, if we go down this road, no longer have the capacity to be moved by van Gogh or any other artist. Take, for instance, the link that the study makes between civic engagement and reading: people who read are far more engaged in civic activities….One of the new findings was that college students read more coming into college than when they graduate.
What? During college you only have time to read the required stuff; AFTER college you get to read everything else! Help spread that exciting news to all the college students you know.
Secondly, Fujimura opened my eyes to the connection between reading and the visual arts (yeah, I know—duh), and gave me a completely different perspective on van Gogh in particular, especially in terms of his religious orientation:
The development of this heavenly language reached its culmination in twin paintings, always meant to be shown side by side, a version of Olive Trees and the more famous Starry Night. Olive Trees was Vincent’s symbol of Gethsemane, and Starry Night his version of the Resurrection. To understand the codex of color and forms that van Gogh desired to communicate, we need to understand that the gospel of Jesus was central to his creativity…
And Fujimura backs up this claim with plausible evidence. Very intriguing. He’s written for a variety of publications, and I’m finding that his articles are always worth reading.
If you don’t subscribe to this quarterly (it’s free to artists, scholars, and other related professionals—see their website), it’s worth seeking out in the periodical section of your closest university library.
It’s great to be back!
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