Midrash: the Old, the New and the Sacred.

Midrash is the act of re-writing a religious/mythological story so that it either applies to contemporary times or reveals a secret that was not told in the original version. A Jewish tradition, midrash can be done by telling the story from a new perspective, disclosing events that were “left out” of the original telling, or by using contemporary characters/ setting to retell the story. Unfortunately, midrash isn’t very widely known outside of the Jewish culture, but it is a fantastic writing exercise and a great way to experiment with characters and story. It’s also a good (and fun!) way to study the act of story-telling and discovery – by re-telling a story in different terms (be it the timeline or what have you), the writer has the ability to model after the original telling using their own characters or take familiar characters and events in radical new directions. Not only that, it’s an awesome genre to use in the exploration of meaning and belief (both the suspension of and the holding onto) – what does it mean, after all, when someone changes the basic threads of our most sacred beliefs?

Below is a piece of midrash I wrote earlier this year. This type of narration isn’t the only way to do it, though. Midrash is – in my opinion – the most fun genre to play in because there are no boundaries on what you can do. Experiment, have fun, re-work your most (or least!) favorite religious story and see where it leads you. Not only might you learn something about your writing, you may just learn something about what you believe (and/or, depending on whom you show, the beliefs of those around you – which is often far more interesting). If you do write some midrash and want a place to post it, either use or create your own blog and let me know (wordpress is free and I’ll want to see!) – I’m always looking for people to discuss the implications of midrash.

Midrash ( March, 2008 )

“Smell of Rain”

Noah crouches at the water’s edge – in the lush little place sculpted by the river’s steady hands – filling the last gritty ceramic jar to follow his laden sons home. A woman he does not know approaches and kneels in the grass beside him, her jar – glazed intricately in purple, even lines spelling the laws of God – catching the wild rush of water.

Noah hefts, stands – thick hemp cuts into his shoulder, the jar swings and thumps against his rib – and she turns to him, her knees bent against the soil as she speaks, “Noah.” Pausing, he focuses on her voice, watching the river’s thin waves as he listens, “You are needed.” The jar under Noah’s arm shifts – he grips the dusty clay as he begins walking toward the path, veins running like wide scars across his hands.

The woman’s dark features grow soft in silver light – the expansive, blinding light of stars – and she moans in a thousand tiny voices – “Cain.” He feels something like ice spread just under his skin, and the muscles of his feet and legs become infantile – unsure of footing, balance. Noah drops his jar to the ground – rupturing the brittle sides – as he turns back to her, and his vision centers on the vessel held out on her fingertips, the script now aflame.

The angel’s voice again fills the green, shadowed space – “You may wander till the End, but you will not find Death until your debt is repaid.” He steadies his legs by flexing each muscle in turn and spits on the dirt ground. She again sighs like splintering glass – “Your task is at hand,” and it echoes, flooding the trees and pushing the leaves into waves. Noah slowly nods, turning back to the broken walls of clay and rivulets of water slowly muddying a path toward the source.

Independent vs. Chain.

My new favorite spot in Appomattox is Baine’s Bookstore, a glorious little independent store. Baine’s is filled with books about the Civil War, a testament to the history of region and Appomattox’s main draw for tourism. The artsy-home appearance – wood walls, a fireplace in one corner, a piano in another – made me want to curl up on the couch and read a book immediately. Baine’s is a place where a reader feels like they are among friends – the intimate atmosphere and bare-wood shelves, the unmatched furniture. While the selection was a little lacking, just the feel of Baine’s made me want to come back again and again. While they carried no magazines beyond special interest, the large children’s section and the multitude of old books made the place priceless. And the gems that we did find – a guide to Southern women’s ways of getting what they want, a collection of church signs, a collection called Stories for Men (which I snatched up for a cool three dollars, along with a nice little book called Cult Fiction) – were awesome, true finds. The used book racks were filled, and we took plenty of time to look at the spinners and dumps, the different styles and colors used in the adult section as opposed to the kid’s section. The windows have small posters in them and lack huge window displays, making the atmosphere very relaxed. Baine’s also has specific areas for the required reading for the local middle and high schools, and the small café was the perfect place to grab a book and something to drink. After Baine’s we headed to the Barnes & Noble in Farmville, and I have to say it was kind of sad to leave the intimate setting that Baine’s provided for the bright fluorescent lights and white walls of a chain bookstore. The selection of books was better, but there were matching sets of Barnes & Noble published classics available everywhere – nice on a bookshelf, yes, but they lacked the character of the selection at Baine’s. There were far more marketing schemes seen in Barnes & Noble – multiple movie tie-ins, a section of journals and bookmarks, reading glasses for sale. The magazine section was large diverse and pretty extensive, and multiple advertising ploys could be seen in the section dedicated to school memorabilia – going green, the latest cuts of shirts emblazoned with “Longwood University,” even a suede jacket with the school name embroidered on the chest. The Barnes & Noble felt very commercial (and logically so), very slick and clean and capitalistic. Outside the large café, the Barnes & Noble was filled with various gums and candy, magnets and water bottles, items one might expect in a convenient store, but not in a bookstore. The window displays were large and a little awkward, and the matching furniture in the reading area seemed a little sterile to me. The extensive selection was nice and the large rack of bargain books was fun to look through, but there was nothing in the store that made me feel lucky to find, nothing that I couldn’t have gotten at any other chain bookstore in Virginia, and the feel of intimacy was something to be missed – an employee apparently likes listening to music more than reading, and after a rather loud comment on my part, the stereo was turned down. The café was filled with Tazo teas and Batman candy bars and vitamin waters of every flavor – again, something one might expect in a grocery or convenient store, but not what I think of when considering bookstores. The only items of true interest to me were the Moleskine notebooks, which are awesome, but are also a staple of chain bookstores. At the end of the day, I ended up wishing that we could’ve stayed at Baine’s, relaxing on the mismatched antique chairs and browsing through the unexpected books we found there – in my book, a victory for the independent bookstores.

Bob Gray: A New Favorite.

The other day, some other students in the Creative Writing department and I had the chance to conduct a phone interview with Bob Gray, master bookseller for Northshire Books in Vermont. He answered all of our questions with a firm sense of reality, which I definitely appreciated, and a great sense of humor (of course, it doesn’t hurt that he’s also a fellow fan of David Markson – I nearly leapt out of the chair). We first discussed Northshire Books specifically, how he managed to bring a display of independent presses to Northshire (which I, as an experimental writer, loved) and how the younger booksellers that are just coming into the business are more willing to take the risks involved with defending the quality literature put out by small presses and literary journals (another sigh of relief). We also talked about how having a good book is what matters – not necessarily the publisher listed on the cover – and in the right hands, quality literature can go as far as any other book (he noted William Young’s The Shack, which was actually self-published and has sold almost a million copies because of the careful planning and marketing that went into the book’s distribution). Because of the pure volume of work a marketing person is expected to do, brilliant books can get the same marketing as bad books, so the idea of authors marketing themselves is one of the most important ideas we discussed. Promotion and marketing led us to Fresh Eyes Now, which is described as a bridge between the reader, author, bookseller and publisher, and how Mr. Gray has begun working to make authors more aware of the roles they can play in getting their book published, rather than relying on the system already in place. Since he created Fresh Eyes Now to “fill a void” in the publishing industry, we asked him what other voids there are and he responded that he is like “a tiny starship” on the edge of the universe of voids within the publishing industry. But he then went on to explain that some of those voids are what make the publishing industry so great – the endearing imperfection of the industry allows for so many different ways in. When asked to demystify the “heavy-hitters” of the writing world, Mr. Gray reminded us of the fact that all writers are just that – writers. I think we forget that sometimes, especially in the stages that my classmates and I are in – it’s easy for me, I know, to forget that even the most prolific writers are sometimes unsatisfied with their work and are just as much people as writing students are. When describing M.F.A. programs, Mr. Gray said that they are similar to a band – that some sections are stronger than others the way a writer is more talented at some aspects of writing than others and the programs work like recitals, to strengthen the weaker aspects and bring them up to par with the stronger aspects. This view of writing programs really brought them into perspective for me and now I’m even more excited about pursuing my writing on the next level. When my chance to speak to Mr. Gray occurred, I asked him about the markets for experimental writing and how he views them. While they’re not large, they are loyal, he said, and that can go a long way. Additionally, I got some excellent advice for marketing my own work: instead of trying to market it as experimental writing, focus on the writing’s quality – show readers that just because the format is played with, it doesn’t mean that they can’t read and enjoy it the same way they do traditional narratives and literary choices. Since I love experimental literature so much, I never thought of this approach – I already see it as quality writing and the experimentation becomes part of the quality of it – but I now know how to approach readers who may not hold that same view. And on top of that, Mr. Gray is a fan of David Markson, author of Wittgenstein’s Mistress (which I adore), so the conversation only went up from there. We discussed translations (and that they should be marketed much the same way as experimental writing – not as something you should read because “it’s good for you,” but as something you would enjoy reading because of the literature’s quality) and why everyone should read reviews but not trust them (which makes perfect sense – up your literary game by seeing what’s being read and then judge the work for yourself).

The whole interview was fantastic, very enlightening and inspiring – and of course the mention of Markson didn’t hurt that impression a bit.

E-Books: Not My Favorite.

I recently had my first run-in with the notorious new trend of e-books. Both Random House and Simon & Schuster have e-books available online for purchase online (at randomhouse.com, adult tiles run for $11.99 and kid’s books run for $4.99; at simonsays.com, the list price is generally $11.99 – they only have adult titles in e-book format – but the online price is $7.99), but I was searching for a free e-book. Some sites offer a limited selection of free e-books, and they do have them – once you pay the subscription fee – and other websites like free-ebooks.net do offer free e-books once you become a member. I, however, had a major problem with the downloads at free-ebooks.net. I downloaded the necessary reader program with ease, but when I tried downloading actual e-books, all of the files were corrupt and none of them would play (I tried 3 different titles). Many websites offer free e-books but only provide a small preview of the book for free, with full viewing available after payment. The website I ended up finding was sharewareebooks.com, site with a pretty good selection of e-books, especially in the children’s section, where I navigated through several classic titles until I found one that piqued my interest: The Story of the Pig by Ion Creanga. I can’t say the story was too interesting, but the process of getting and reading the e-book was fascinating. After downloading the DNL Reader (simple to install and use, which was nice, and on DSL, it only took a moment) I downloaded the actual book title to my computer (which also took only a minute or two). I clicked on the file and the e-book automatically came up, looking like a one-page spread with the cover displayed from the top of my screen to the bottom (it didn’t go wide-screen, but took up the proportionate amount of space on the screen). One thing I personally was perturbed with was that the program does not cover your desktop, so I had a picture of a Russian-ish royal court and a pig perched on a stair before a princess with all my icons and my buddy list behind (for me, it was distracting). The image was crisp and clear, as if I was looking at the physical book’s illustrations, and on the edge of the page I could see the shadow line from where the book was held open to be scanned (which I found nice as a fan of paper books – it made me feel more in my element to have that detail of the physicality books possess). After studying the image quality, it took me a few moments to realize that the only control is a forward page flip, activated by clicking on the book’s image (there are no directions or control panel, which I always find helpful when attempting a new media, as we can all agree e-books are). When the book is clicked on to advance a page, the image literally rolls over to the left (not expanding the program window, so I was still looking at a one-page spread, but one image rolled away as a book page does, a nice visual effect for those of us used to paper books) which I enjoyed and, since it is a children’s book, an effect I think children would like (like when you’re reading a book to a little kid and they seem more fascinated by the motion of the images and pages as they turn than the actual words of the book). One major problem I did have, considering the fact that it was a children’s book, is that the book’s online location was not accessible to children – the key words used to search for the book would be too complicated and the main site itself was full of text, while the search bar was relatively hard to locate. One of the glorious things about being a kid in a bookstore is the ability to look around and flip through each title to see the different pictures and characters in each book, before deciding which one you want your guardian to buy and read to you. In my opinion, an online “Kid’s Section” would be more appropriate, perhaps where previews of the children’s books are available for the kids to peruse, with downloads only accessible in the parent’s password-protected section (this seems the most logical set-up to me). This online format seems better suited to children’s learning books, which parents more often select without the children’s input. For an adult, however, it was pretty quick and easy to navigate and find a children’s book – so perhaps if parent and child work together in the selection, it does provide the quick convenience of not having to leave the computer chair to find a bedtime story.

I think I will stick to paper books, though. There’s still something about the smell of the pages and the mobility of a paperback I appreciate far more than a digital book collection (what happens if your computer crashes? You lose your whole library! And especially if the service is not free, this seems like a looming problem to me. Or what if you’re in the middle of a great read and your laptop dies?). So you can still find me curled up on the couch, not plugged into anything, immersed in the good old paper and ink.