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[CCBC-Net] On My Honor
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From: Leda Schubert <bobr>
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:00:58 -0400
I also was present for Marion's heartfelt talk, and I'm so glad that Nancy (hi!) posted with such clarity about it. Marion spoke to a roomful of writers about the shape of story, and one thing she said that I can add to Nancy's words is this: That it can take an entire lifetime to discover the truth of our own story, and that we may need to discover that truth many times. Slightly off-topic from "The Hidden Adult," but relevant to the conversation--which I've so enjoyed-- in general, I hope.
leda VCFA faculty ledaschubert.com
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 10:03:37 -0700
> From: Nancy Bo Flood <wflood at hotmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [CCBC-Net] "Hidden messages" -- ON MY HONOR
> To: <elsa.marston at gmail.com>, ccbc ccbc
> <ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu>
> Message-ID: <BAY101-W2D44CFBE894F26672B387D6170 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"
>
>
> This past week Marion Dane Bauer gave an emotionally moving talk at the Vermont College MFA residency in which she referred to On My Honor and her journey of writing from the heart. A major thread of her talk was that the needs of the writer continue to surface in each story she tells. Yes, the poignant moral agony of the main character in On My Honor is a universal challenge to any of us, regardless of age. But Marion spoke of another deeper theme of "return to family." I had forgotten from my own re-reading several years ago that one conflict in On My Honor is the boy's desire to have his father stand firm and say "no" to the whole adventure of biking to the cliffs. Instead the father lets the boy go with his friend. Then the shame and guilt of the secret of "what happened" becomes a huge "disconnect" from family for the boy. When the boy finally tells his dad, at bedtime in his own bed, he asks his dad, "can you sit with me until I fall asleep?" The dad replies, ye
> s.
>
> This book speaks to each reader as readers bring to the story their own needs, secrets, fears and hopes. That is the magic of story. Not that we manipulate what we want the reader to believe, but that we offer a connection to others, a sharing of being a human being figuring out this journey of life.
>
> Nancy
>
Received on Mon 27 Jul 2009 04:00:58 PM CDT
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:00:58 -0400
I also was present for Marion's heartfelt talk, and I'm so glad that Nancy (hi!) posted with such clarity about it. Marion spoke to a roomful of writers about the shape of story, and one thing she said that I can add to Nancy's words is this: That it can take an entire lifetime to discover the truth of our own story, and that we may need to discover that truth many times. Slightly off-topic from "The Hidden Adult," but relevant to the conversation--which I've so enjoyed-- in general, I hope.
leda VCFA faculty ledaschubert.com
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 10:03:37 -0700
> From: Nancy Bo Flood <wflood at hotmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [CCBC-Net] "Hidden messages" -- ON MY HONOR
> To: <elsa.marston at gmail.com>, ccbc ccbc
> <ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu>
> Message-ID: <BAY101-W2D44CFBE894F26672B387D6170 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"
>
>
> This past week Marion Dane Bauer gave an emotionally moving talk at the Vermont College MFA residency in which she referred to On My Honor and her journey of writing from the heart. A major thread of her talk was that the needs of the writer continue to surface in each story she tells. Yes, the poignant moral agony of the main character in On My Honor is a universal challenge to any of us, regardless of age. But Marion spoke of another deeper theme of "return to family." I had forgotten from my own re-reading several years ago that one conflict in On My Honor is the boy's desire to have his father stand firm and say "no" to the whole adventure of biking to the cliffs. Instead the father lets the boy go with his friend. Then the shame and guilt of the secret of "what happened" becomes a huge "disconnect" from family for the boy. When the boy finally tells his dad, at bedtime in his own bed, he asks his dad, "can you sit with me until I fall asleep?" The dad replies, ye
> s.
>
> This book speaks to each reader as readers bring to the story their own needs, secrets, fears and hopes. That is the magic of story. Not that we manipulate what we want the reader to believe, but that we offer a connection to others, a sharing of being a human being figuring out this journey of life.
>
> Nancy
>
Received on Mon 27 Jul 2009 04:00:58 PM CDT
