Your bottle has found me as well, and its message makes perfect, wonderful sense.
Mikhaeyla's initial comment on framed films reminded me of how much I loved "Stand By Me" as a child. I was probably 8 or 9, much younger than the boys in the film when I first watched (and rewatched) it, and I doubt that I gave much thought to the adult Go…
Your bottle has found me as well, and its message makes perfect, wonderful sense.
Mikhaeyla's initial comment on framed films reminded me of how much I loved "Stand By Me" as a child. I was probably 8 or 9, much younger than the boys in the film when I first watched (and rewatched) it, and I doubt that I gave much thought to the adult Gordie/narrator at the time. It was only later, when seeing it again as an adult myself, that the frame's power finally hit me. Here Gordie is, reminiscing about the friendships of his youth, trying to say, "I never felt that way again." I get a little weepy just thinking about it. Now that I am at my own distance from that particular simplicity and innocence of childhood, I too can say, "I never felt that way again."
I have similar feelings about TGG, but like with "Stand By Me," they came to me later. I have a vague recollection of first reading the book in high school and discussing symbolism, the American Dream, etc. I may have just left it at that, if it weren't for an interview I came across many years later with a writer I love and greatly admire (Stuart Dybek, and many of his stories come to mind that handle memory in such beautifully braided/framed ways). His admiration for TGG turned me back to it, and I'm so grateful that I read it again as an adult. The frame! It was probably overlooked in class discussion, or perhaps I just didn't "feel it" as a teenager and so I'd forgotten it. But for me now, it's essential to my understanding of the book. My awareness of Nick colors everything. My uncertainty over whether or not he's being completely honest. The fact that he's "a Westerner, after all" (that passage about the "thrilling returning trains of youth" is probably my favorite in the entire book). You've made me want to revisit it again, and I feel a little twinge of envy for your students!
And the Woolf quote that you've shared is beautiful. A quote of hers has been on my mind these past few days, especially since it speaks to my understanding of "An Incident" and our general discussion here:
“I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never realises an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus we don't have complete emotions about the present, only about the past.”
What are the moments we hold on to, and why? What experiences do we revisit to try to make meaning out of? What do they say about the people we are now? Like so many narrators in the stories I love, I feel myself searching for answers to these questions in my own life. If I can't quite express what certain moments mean (like the coins to the narrator in "An Incident"), I find myself returning to them moreso. Every single thing I remember and everything I understand is framed by the person I am now.
Thank you, and again Mikhaeyla, for giving me much to think about today. Hope the bottle I'm pitching out here makes some sense as well :)
I've loved this discussion thread - so many beautiful observations. And you've both made me want to go back and read everything ever written by Virginia Woolf! I really loved your reflection Manami - "What are the moments we hold on to, and why? What experiences do we revisit to try to make meaning out of? What do they say about the people we are now?". What a perfect story seed.
Yes!!! Manami & Mikhaelya, and all: Why these seeds? (Why those moments with x...?) When we did George's exercise with our chronology of people, places, moments, et al over time... What keeps rising or trying to.
I literally just worked with students on "story seeds" - noticing them, listening to them, and making the first steps to put them down on paper, if only in phrases, until they reveal themselves; eventually a butterfly can break out of even the tightest cocoon.
Your bottle has found me as well, and its message makes perfect, wonderful sense.
Mikhaeyla's initial comment on framed films reminded me of how much I loved "Stand By Me" as a child. I was probably 8 or 9, much younger than the boys in the film when I first watched (and rewatched) it, and I doubt that I gave much thought to the adult Gordie/narrator at the time. It was only later, when seeing it again as an adult myself, that the frame's power finally hit me. Here Gordie is, reminiscing about the friendships of his youth, trying to say, "I never felt that way again." I get a little weepy just thinking about it. Now that I am at my own distance from that particular simplicity and innocence of childhood, I too can say, "I never felt that way again."
I have similar feelings about TGG, but like with "Stand By Me," they came to me later. I have a vague recollection of first reading the book in high school and discussing symbolism, the American Dream, etc. I may have just left it at that, if it weren't for an interview I came across many years later with a writer I love and greatly admire (Stuart Dybek, and many of his stories come to mind that handle memory in such beautifully braided/framed ways). His admiration for TGG turned me back to it, and I'm so grateful that I read it again as an adult. The frame! It was probably overlooked in class discussion, or perhaps I just didn't "feel it" as a teenager and so I'd forgotten it. But for me now, it's essential to my understanding of the book. My awareness of Nick colors everything. My uncertainty over whether or not he's being completely honest. The fact that he's "a Westerner, after all" (that passage about the "thrilling returning trains of youth" is probably my favorite in the entire book). You've made me want to revisit it again, and I feel a little twinge of envy for your students!
And the Woolf quote that you've shared is beautiful. A quote of hers has been on my mind these past few days, especially since it speaks to my understanding of "An Incident" and our general discussion here:
“I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never realises an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus we don't have complete emotions about the present, only about the past.”
What are the moments we hold on to, and why? What experiences do we revisit to try to make meaning out of? What do they say about the people we are now? Like so many narrators in the stories I love, I feel myself searching for answers to these questions in my own life. If I can't quite express what certain moments mean (like the coins to the narrator in "An Incident"), I find myself returning to them moreso. Every single thing I remember and everything I understand is framed by the person I am now.
Thank you, and again Mikhaeyla, for giving me much to think about today. Hope the bottle I'm pitching out here makes some sense as well :)
I've loved this discussion thread - so many beautiful observations. And you've both made me want to go back and read everything ever written by Virginia Woolf! I really loved your reflection Manami - "What are the moments we hold on to, and why? What experiences do we revisit to try to make meaning out of? What do they say about the people we are now?". What a perfect story seed.
Yes!!! Manami & Mikhaelya, and all: Why these seeds? (Why those moments with x...?) When we did George's exercise with our chronology of people, places, moments, et al over time... What keeps rising or trying to.
I literally just worked with students on "story seeds" - noticing them, listening to them, and making the first steps to put them down on paper, if only in phrases, until they reveal themselves; eventually a butterfly can break out of even the tightest cocoon.
P.S. Seeds do not exactly relate to a cocoon. Bad connection. I should stick to the plant world. :)