Guilty Pleasure..Yes, I’m Talking Books
I was going to use the word reading, but I was really listening. Half of the books I enjoy these days are recorded books because I can listen and do various chores at the same time.
I can also eat lunch and be entertained by a book without smearing avocado or salad dressing on its pages.
And then if I really love the book, or just want to see it laid out on the page, I get a physical copy from the library and enjoy it again.
I try really hard not to read books by the same authors, so I can introduce myself to new voices. However, I couldn’t resist downloading Ann Patchett’s latest novel, Tom Lake, because I was curious about what it had to do with cherry orchards. So last week, while my husband and I were flying back and forth to New Orleans prior to the official start of Mardi Gras, I began to listen to the audio version narrated by Meryl Streep. What a treat. I’m a Meryl Streep fan and the narrator and protagonist of Tom Lake, the novel is a former actress. True, she is a different kind of actress, “a natural”, as she reveals in her story telling, unlike Streep who has portrayed a wide range of characters, but the protagonist has performed on stage and screen nevertheless. Streep does an impeccable job
What I truly want to recommend about the novel is its construction. So, writers, and aspiring writers pay attention. Not only does Patchett incorporate unpredictable twists and turns into the storyline, but she skillfully interweaves past and present.
The present setting is a farm near Traverse City Michigan during the Covid Pandemic. The past setting, that jumps back and forth into the storyline, is a summer stock theater also in Northern Michigan called Tom Lake. Part of the fun of this story is the gradual reveal of how present and past fit together.
I highly dislike predictable plotlines. Thus, I shout the praises for a novel that continued to surprise me to the very last page.
Not wanting to give anything away, as to the plotline of Tom Lake, instead I will provide a WRITING PROMPT:
IMAGINE your very first boyfriend or girlfriend, remember what they were like to be with and then write about what attracted you to them, what you admired. Now, write about their flaws.
Take a break. Maybe wait an hour or a day. Then imagine yourself with that person and what your life would be like. The third part to this writing assignment is to first think about what you would tell that person, if you had the opportunity, and write them something-a letter, an essay, a poem-whatever genre form you choose. Do you have things you’d like to apologize about, or explain, or share?
Maybe this exercise will give you an idea for a story. Maybe not, but I guarantee you’ll learn something about yourself.
THANK YOU for reading. If you haven’t already signed up (it’s free!), please follow me on WordPress. Medium or Substack and visit my website Nadjamaril.com to read more of my work.
#Books #AnnPatchett #MerylStreep #TomLake#Writing Prompt
Originally published at http://nadjamaril.com on February 19, 2024.
