This evening, I went to hear a lecture given by Helen Fisher, Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers and author of several books on the science of why people fall in love. Her latest book, Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love details her research into physiological changes in the brains of people in love as revealed by MRIs. Her work is fascinating and I'm sure that I couldn't do it justice summarizing here. If interested in details, go to her website, click on the 'more' link at the end of the first paragraph, and scroll down for a Q&A that summarizes the lecture I heard.
One of the things that interested me apart from her findings was an aside about literature. After making several references to authors and their works, Dr. Fisher commented that while other anthropologists may study pottery shards, she thought that poetry was a worthy object for the study of how people behave when infatuated, newly in love, in a life-long love relationship, or in pain over rejection and loss. She didn't quote at length from any particular work, but did recite a few lines from various poems and mentioned that she saw the world's oldest love letter (on a cuneiform-inscribed pot) in Turkey. She promised she would recite the world's "most beautiful love poem" in class tomorrow. I'm a little jealous of the students who get to hear that. She didn't give a title but said that it was native Alaskan poetry.
Poets, she said, for centuries have bled for lost love. How true. To capture a human emotion common to all humanity's experience -- love, rage, fear, sadness, joy, awe -- isn't that the objective of literature? It's why we write. And why we read.
Showing posts with label Lecture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lecture. Show all posts
27 September 2006
12 September 2006
Sometimes it pays to read the SMALL PRINT!
6:40pm I double-check, in my usual obsessive way, what time the Zadie Smith reading is at Butler. Just in case it's at 7pm, not 7:30. Could still make it in time if I hurried. Good! 7:30pm. Just as I thought. Plenty of time.....
6:40:30pm What? It's where? The Krannert Room at Clowes? Not the auditorium? WTF? How big is that room? Well, still have plenty of time.....
Drive across town, park the car in the near empty lot, enter the main doors....
7:15pm. Yep, you guessed it. Venue full. They turned away over 100 people. The room holds 220 and they strictly enforced the fire marshall rule about no standing. Not a chance they could move it to the larger auditorium (which holds like 1200 people, I think). Someone on the usher staff was overheard saying that they had the opportunity to move it to a larger room last week but the sponsors opted not to due to cost.
I waited around, in hopes that someone would leave. After all, there are always a lot of bored students who stay long enough at these events for the quotable bit to prove they attended. (Apologies to those of you students who are interested. Don't take offense.) I was amused by the number of students, some showing up as late as 8pm who tried the 'But I'm required to be here for class' line. Didn't work with the ushers who, kudos to them, were very gracious and respectful despite some very disappointed people turned away at the door. Even after a round of applause, signaling, I hoped, that the reading was over and Q&A was beginning, no one left for at least another 20 minutes.
I did get in to hear (kind of -- the mic was not very loud) the last 3 questions posed:
- Impact of book reviews: Smith said she writes for a couple of years but reviews only last a few weeks. They are mostly irrelevant; any writer knows whether his/her writing is good or not. And, she is suspicious that a popular book (including her own) is any good if it is a best seller.
- Favorite authors: Zora Neale Hurston was one.
- Thoughts on American writers: Smith lauded the 'wealth of writers' here who are able to write in their natural voices, something, she said, that British writers aren't allowed to do.
- On visiting Jamaica: The vast difference between the extreme poverty of the citizens and the largess of the tourists is too jarring. She didn't like to travel there.
I'm not disappointed that I stayed despite missing most of the lecture. I would have wondered all evening if I should have stayed. The reading was videotaped and will be available for viewing by appointment. Unfortunately, I doubt that my schedule will allow for that. Oh well. Lesson learned: check the venue and don't wait until the last minute. As if I didn't know that already!
I did think quite a bit about how expensive it must be to host this type of event. In the 3 or 4 years that I've been attending Butler University's Visiting Writers Series, I have never been asked for a donation. And, despite the students who are reluctant attendees, there are often large numbers of people in the audience who do not appear to be students. I'm surprised that they don't ask for donations. I appreciate that they are free to the community. Maybe they should ask for donations from non-student attendees. I've made some amazing discoveries by attending readings of authors whom I have never heard of before. I don't have any problems parting with my dollars at Landmark Theatres. Certainly the arts are worth more than the cost of a movie ticket.
6:40:30pm What? It's where? The Krannert Room at Clowes? Not the auditorium? WTF? How big is that room? Well, still have plenty of time.....
Drive across town, park the car in the near empty lot, enter the main doors....
7:15pm. Yep, you guessed it. Venue full. They turned away over 100 people. The room holds 220 and they strictly enforced the fire marshall rule about no standing. Not a chance they could move it to the larger auditorium (which holds like 1200 people, I think). Someone on the usher staff was overheard saying that they had the opportunity to move it to a larger room last week but the sponsors opted not to due to cost.
I waited around, in hopes that someone would leave. After all, there are always a lot of bored students who stay long enough at these events for the quotable bit to prove they attended. (Apologies to those of you students who are interested. Don't take offense.) I was amused by the number of students, some showing up as late as 8pm who tried the 'But I'm required to be here for class' line. Didn't work with the ushers who, kudos to them, were very gracious and respectful despite some very disappointed people turned away at the door. Even after a round of applause, signaling, I hoped, that the reading was over and Q&A was beginning, no one left for at least another 20 minutes.
I did get in to hear (kind of -- the mic was not very loud) the last 3 questions posed:
- Impact of book reviews: Smith said she writes for a couple of years but reviews only last a few weeks. They are mostly irrelevant; any writer knows whether his/her writing is good or not. And, she is suspicious that a popular book (including her own) is any good if it is a best seller.
- Favorite authors: Zora Neale Hurston was one.
- Thoughts on American writers: Smith lauded the 'wealth of writers' here who are able to write in their natural voices, something, she said, that British writers aren't allowed to do.
- On visiting Jamaica: The vast difference between the extreme poverty of the citizens and the largess of the tourists is too jarring. She didn't like to travel there.
I'm not disappointed that I stayed despite missing most of the lecture. I would have wondered all evening if I should have stayed. The reading was videotaped and will be available for viewing by appointment. Unfortunately, I doubt that my schedule will allow for that. Oh well. Lesson learned: check the venue and don't wait until the last minute. As if I didn't know that already!
I did think quite a bit about how expensive it must be to host this type of event. In the 3 or 4 years that I've been attending Butler University's Visiting Writers Series, I have never been asked for a donation. And, despite the students who are reluctant attendees, there are often large numbers of people in the audience who do not appear to be students. I'm surprised that they don't ask for donations. I appreciate that they are free to the community. Maybe they should ask for donations from non-student attendees. I've made some amazing discoveries by attending readings of authors whom I have never heard of before. I don't have any problems parting with my dollars at Landmark Theatres. Certainly the arts are worth more than the cost of a movie ticket.
20 March 2006
NippleJesus and Rock Music: A Reading by Nick Hornby
Top 5 Reasons Why Attending A Nick Hornby reading is great: Nah--too easy!
Hornby was at Local Liberal Arts U as part of it's Visiting Writers' Series. I was unfamiliar with Hornby's writing, although I had seen High Fidelity (watched late one night on cable, mainly because I've been crushing on John Cusak since seeing The Sure Thing in the early 80's). I was pleasantly surprised by the reading.
Hornby read the short story NippleJesus. Just like the title, and the art exhibit it refers to, the story makes one titter at the offensive, and smile drolly at the beautiful. It is a story of opposites: the burly but pensive, sensitive bouncer; the religious fanatics who are sacrilegious; the artist who is both kind and cruel; what art is -- and what it isn't. It asks the question: if art is meant to provoke and to evoke everyman -- why the hell can it be so pretentious?
Other readings included two of Hornby's music essays. While I was never much into the punk scene, I certainly understood Hornby's account of privileged youth 'slumming' in the punk culture. And his brief essay about his rock idols in his teenage years -- as he warned the mostly college-aged crowd, a time when it was cool to dig Rod Stewart -- was right on target.
Hornby finished up with excerpts from A Long Way Down, his 2005 novel about four people who meet when each decides to commit suicide. While it sounds like a gruesome tale, you couldn't help but laugh as Hornby read. Along with Speaking with the Angel, the anthology that includes "NippleJesus", this book is now perched atop my TBR pile. As I paid my tab for the books, I noticed another work title The Polysyllabic Spree, a collection of 14 of Hornby's columns about what he was reading -- or buying to read. Now, that sounds like my hobby.....
PS:
- Hornby stayed for over 2 hrs signing autographs. He was gracious, congenial and accommodating.
- 2 points to the ingenious Missy: lacking funds for non-school books, she had Hornby sign a DVD with the Hi-Fidelity label.
- A portion of proceeds from the sale of Speaking with the Angel goes to support Autism education in the US & UK.
Hornby was at Local Liberal Arts U as part of it's Visiting Writers' Series. I was unfamiliar with Hornby's writing, although I had seen High Fidelity (watched late one night on cable, mainly because I've been crushing on John Cusak since seeing The Sure Thing in the early 80's). I was pleasantly surprised by the reading.
Hornby read the short story NippleJesus. Just like the title, and the art exhibit it refers to, the story makes one titter at the offensive, and smile drolly at the beautiful. It is a story of opposites: the burly but pensive, sensitive bouncer; the religious fanatics who are sacrilegious; the artist who is both kind and cruel; what art is -- and what it isn't. It asks the question: if art is meant to provoke and to evoke everyman -- why the hell can it be so pretentious?
Other readings included two of Hornby's music essays. While I was never much into the punk scene, I certainly understood Hornby's account of privileged youth 'slumming' in the punk culture. And his brief essay about his rock idols in his teenage years -- as he warned the mostly college-aged crowd, a time when it was cool to dig Rod Stewart -- was right on target.
Hornby finished up with excerpts from A Long Way Down, his 2005 novel about four people who meet when each decides to commit suicide. While it sounds like a gruesome tale, you couldn't help but laugh as Hornby read. Along with Speaking with the Angel, the anthology that includes "NippleJesus", this book is now perched atop my TBR pile. As I paid my tab for the books, I noticed another work title The Polysyllabic Spree, a collection of 14 of Hornby's columns about what he was reading -- or buying to read. Now, that sounds like my hobby.....
PS:
- Hornby stayed for over 2 hrs signing autographs. He was gracious, congenial and accommodating.
- 2 points to the ingenious Missy: lacking funds for non-school books, she had Hornby sign a DVD with the Hi-Fidelity label.
- A portion of proceeds from the sale of Speaking with the Angel goes to support Autism education in the US & UK.
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