Storytelling as ... Everything

To My Youngers,

I was catching up on some vlogbrothers videos yesterday (as I am wont to do) and was struck by a particularly loverly sentiment (as I am also wont to do) expressed by John Green about the purpose of studying/discussing literature: "Its not so much about uncovering secret mysteries for the sake of uncovering secret mysteries, its about using story as a way into thinking about our actual lives and how we're actually living them."

So first off I love the enthusiasm with which Mr Green (ha ;o) states that the true purpose of hearing stories is to learn from them, to apply the lessons within to our own lives and to benefit from the experiences of others, even if those others are fictional. Its seems a rather obvious idea, but also unfortunately one which is often lost on the hoards of students forced to analyze everything from Dickens to James Joyce. I have had so many students beg me to tell them 'What the author means...' as if that will somehow magically provide them with the answers to life, the universe, and everything. Its not about what the author means but about how you relate to the story, the novel, the work. What does Napoleon's take-over of the farm remind you of? Haven't you ever felt like one of the invisible unwashed masses like David Copperfield? What about Holden Caufield- I mean haven't you ever seen a giant 'fuck' spray-painted on the side of a school and just wanted to go berserk? Apply, apply, APPLY these things to the real world! What is the point of storytelling if not to form connections, to bridge the gaps of human existence, to make webs where once there were voids? To make magic out of molehills.

That is part of this sentiment I find, frankly, absolutely fantastic- the idea that a reason to read stories is to discover secret mysteries, to understand the magic of existence! Now of course our esteemed Mr Green  says that discovering said mysteries is not the point of reading books- but wait, no! He says discovering them for the sake of it is not the purpose...  Now that's the magical part. Its not secret mysteries as set out by the author (because "What authors mean doesn't really matter") but instead the secret mysteries revealed to you through your interpretation of the author's words. Definitely more important and, I think I am pretty safe in saying, also much more awesome. The way that something said by Yossarian can make you re-imagine the universe, that something done by Charles-Wallace can make you re-evaluate your perspective, that the world-view of Tyler Durden or Rob Fleming can make you stop, look, and listen...

One of my favourite Nick Hornby moments happens in Song Book when he is discussing his discovery of hidden meaning in About A Boy after hearing the Badly Drawn Boy song about the dead duck day (could that be more cryptic for anyone who is not a Nick Hornby fan? I think not. Read his books, enjoy, then come back and re-visit this post...)  Now I think K has mentioned this before so bare with me, but the idea that someone else's reading of your words can teach you something about yourself that you never knew- totally the very point of story-telling! The push and pull of learning, the 'student becomes the teacher; is mirrored by 'the teacher becomes the student...'  As a teacher I can tell you that my students teach me things every day- I know that sounds corny and trite, but its my favourite thing about teaching and what will keep me enthralled by it for years to come. You can never know everything, you can never even come close, and having a roomful of other experiences informing, changing, and building your perspective(s) is one of the most amazing things in life. Its not just the readers, the viewers, the audience, who experience this discovery, but the authors/creators themselves... it works with books, with artworks, with songs... Hornby says of the experience "I wrote a book that wasn't about my kid, then someone writes a beautiful song based on an episode in my book that turns out to mean something much more  personal to me than my book ever did." It is not only the power of music, the insightfulness of song writing, but the experience of having an author's words mean something to you that the author not only never intended, but which has the power to change how you see things...

Now I could go on here about the insane relevantness of song lyrics and connectedness of melody, about art and seeing things in the in-between, about books changing how I see the world, but I think I'll save that for another time. For now I'll just say that it is never what the creator means that is important, but the connectedness with which you interpret their words/images/ideas and the way in which you relate to them, which allows a book/song/painting/piece of art to achieve its full potential.

That, and that I love John Green...

Aaaaaaand scene.

-E

An Argument for Whisting (or 'A Wrinkle in Whistles')

To My Youngers,

You'll be happy to hear that I am currently [finally] reading A Wrinkle in Time. And though I do like many sci-fi books and many British (or in this case British-style) children's books, the reason I am [finally] reading this one is solely based on the fact that both of you love it so. I'm not quite finished yet, but it didn't take me long to [finally] realize why you've each read it so many times and treasured it so much!

In big and obvious ways the novel is about the constant struggle between light and dark, the importance of family, and complex notions of time travel (which I easily understand thanks to many years of watching Quantum Leap), but it is also quietly about very small and normal things...

Last night, lying in bed, snuggled under my covers and reading by candlelight (for which there was no 'real' reason other than making me feel old fashioned) one particular line jumped out at me:

Charles Wallace, she was quite sure, was not trying to be rude or funny; it was his way of whistling in the dark.

Now I may have only noticed the reference to whisteling because of our choice for the title of this blog, but I think that the theme of the whistleing reference is also strikingly similar. In both this line and our epomymus High Fidelity quote whistling is put forth as a way to hold onto the wonderment of life. Charles Wallace whistles in the face of overwhelming darkness, a way to sweetly but firmly stand up to impending doom. In a much less melodramatic, though equally important way, Rob puts forth "something left to whistle" as a symbol of something we leave behind, something intangible yet important.

I have always loved whistling, particularly for the feeling it gives (sad, angry, or melancholia whistling is virtually impossible)! We whistle when we're happy, we whistle when we're nervous, we whistle to cheer ourselves up, we whistle to cheer up others. By its very nature whistling reminds us of the intangible, it's magic born of of the sound that air makes.

Whistling transforms songs, making them seem innocent and magical. Whistling outside of songs reminds us that life is innocence and magic.
And who doesn't need reminding of that?

-E

To continue with this emerging theme of whistleing I thought I would share some Whisteling Wonderment in the form of a youtube video playlist - though I can't take credit for assmebling the list (unfortunately I don't remember who did) or for finding it (Thanks Estela!!!) it's still pretty friggin' magical...

Wilkommen! Bienvenue! Welcome!

So this is a blog (that I'm hoping you have already figured out...). "A blog about what?" you may ask (which would be a pretty good question, seeing as how the title doesn't give too much away). "Well I'll tell you!" (says I,  since you're doing us the favour of reading it I suppose I owe you at least that much...).

It comes from a few places:

Recently having moved back to my home province, I now find myself in much closer proximity to my family. To some this would be a horrible thing to be avoided at all costs, but I have found it pleasantly excellent- a chance to have more visits, more conversations, just more time together, and ironically a chance to miss them almost more than before since I am more often reminded of how awesome they are!

This past weekend marked yet another visitation and greatly contributed to the blog you are presently [hopefully] enjoying! Just before heading off home for a few days I had re-read High Fidelity and was filled with a longing to discuss things (music, movies, ideas....) and maybe even to make a few top five lists along the way. Normally this isn't difficult; these conversations happen naturally when we are together, but when returning to our three respective cities it presents much more of a challenge....

So the other night, after having watched  a slightly untoward number of vlogbrothers videos, I was inspired to follow in their entertaining footsteps and set us three a challenge: to communicate through the internets on a weekly basis, to respond to each other, to get to know each other better, and to share our sum knowledge of silly, entertaining, and sometimes stupid factoids, thoughts, and ideas in a way that can be looked back on fondly (or with embarrassment) in the coming weeks-months-years.

It only took some mild convincing, but I got A and K on board. All that was left was to come up with a title... This last read of High Fidelity I took to circling paragraphs and underlining quotes, and this one jumped out as particularly appropriate:

"[Things happen,] it's just that none of us had the wit or talent to make them into songs. We made them into life, which much messier, and more time consuming, and leaves nothing for anybody to whistle."


I hope this experience will leave us with something to whistle.
Get ready A and K, for the journey begins....

-E