Dash it all!

I keep forgetting about the blog. Maybe I've been slipped some foxglove tea without my knowing. Hopefully I won't find myself in any awkward reenactments of a story I can't remember. The thought does highlight one of the aspects I appreciate about Ford's work though, namely the power of perception. Oftentimes the narrative deals with an experience that ends up an illusion, such as the hallucinatory rescue of a little girl, the dubious existence of Bolukuchet, or the entire life of an aspiring pianist. Memory and perception play a vital role for many of the characters, rendering their everyday life into something fantastical, or providing a key to understanding their own narrative. Again and again when memory or perception fail, the characters also meet their downfall, such as in A Man of Light, where the inability to remember ultimately leads to death. Other times, the lost memories of the past lead characters to new adventures as in Boatman's Holiday and Giant Land. I think I'm most intrigued by the fact that memory seems to act as an anchor to reality. The less control one has over one's own mind, the more fantastical the adventures become. Seems like a steep price to pay to enter the fantasy world.

The Green Word, revisited

So, when class ended today, everybody was pretty much ready to be done discussing things and was (myself included) ready to get out of there. However, I must say that even though we talked about how cute The Green Word was and what a classic fairy tale it was, and even giggled a little about how the Mandrake root came into existence, the conversation was concluded with a discussion of illustrations and cover art. Don't get me wrong, I like taking a break from fantasy to talk about the artwork of the story as much as the next person, but I think that a lot was left out in the discussion of the story of The Green Word, namely, the ideas presented in the character of the king as an antagonist to the people of the trees.

The reason that the king is having so many of the witch's followers executed is because they refuse to convert to the faith of choice of the king and his subjects. Those who refuse to convert represent the bigger notion of resisting the protocols brought on by society in order to stand up for one's own beliefs.

One must take into account the differences between the views of the tree people versus those of the rest of society, to which the tree people are being made to adhere. It's almost as if in executing those who believe in the many gods of nature, the kingdom wishes to squash every trace of fantasy in the story and replace it with good, old-fashioned, boring reality. The king's main goal is to convert all of them to an organized religion which, in the story, is viewed as fairly secular by the tree people who are all about free spirits and becoming one with nature. A symbol of the secularism of the king and his followers appears when the king and his philosopher are meeting in the pleasure garden (an enclosed, artificial form of nature) and the philosopher shows the king the model he has created of the supposed universe, in which everything, the sun, planets, even the stars, revolve around the Earth, which is, of course, the center of everything (Ego? What ego?). The king's society thrives on being the center of attention and having control over everything, even the balance of that which is completely separate from their world. The king himself is overwhelmed with a feeling of power when he is offered the chance to control the universe, even though it is only a model.

When the king sees for the first time the heart of Vertuminus, the witch's tree child, the blue skin of the fruit reminds him of the Earth in the center of the model of the universe. He only becomes more interested in obtaining it when Vertuminus equates the green word with the word of God. Hoping to gain power and perhaps to become holier, maybe to guarantee his passage into Heaven, Pious plucks the fruit from its branch, not even pausing to think what may happen to the warrior with whom he dines. When he has two of the mysterious blue fruit, he offers one to a prisoner to see its effect on her. It grows into a tree and helps the prisoners escape, for the girl who eats it is faithful to the witch and to the gods of nature. The king takes the other blue fruit and eats it, supposedly gaining everything he could ever desire, devouring the world in a few juicy bites. However, because the fruit contains the green word, the magic of the tree people, the king's plan is foiled. He turns a leafy green and his palace is overrun with the makings of a forest. Those who remained true to their beliefs prevailed in the end.

So, any comments? Anything to add? This was just a random rant, I probably forgot quite a bit. Paper topic, perhaps? The secularism and authority of organized religion, a la Church of England, perhaps? No stealing. :)

I have the flu :(

So, I tried to get up and take a shower in order to go to class, but I failed and almost blacked out. I hate the flu, ugh. Hopefully, I can lead my story from here.

I had "The Annals of Eelin-Ok," and I must say, it was definitely a delightfully refreshing story from Link's stories. However, I'm glad we started off with Link because in reading her stories, I had to think a different way in order to interpret them, which I applied to Ford as well. This particular story wasn't just about faeries and how cute they are, living in our sandcastles; on the contrary, I believe Ford wrote this in order to capture human beings' most basic needs and instincts. It's true that little Eelin only lived for about a day, but in that day, he experienced what most humans go through their lives trying to explain. The following is going to be a list of traits we humans share with the faeries, with the page numbers:

• pg. 7, Eelin creates things out of his surroundings
• pg. 9, he questions his purpose in life and wants to assign a meaning to his existence
• pg. 11 his need for companionship is satisfied
• pg. 12 he has an innate sense to protect his territory
  
• pg. 12 Eelin and Meiwa take on to the traditional man/woman roles; he provides and she is delicate and sweet
• pg. 13 Pleasure, imagination, carnal desires are obvious when Eelin wakes next to Meiwa and eats the delicious berries (which only taste better because of the circumstances)
• pg. 14 he realizes the true impact of death, and thus destroys the watch and "time"
• pg. 14 he accepts how weak he is to the forces of nature "I realized that my heart was a castle made of sand"
• pg. 15 His dreams are similar to ours, in that we hunt for our desires and goals.

Well, I hope you guys have a fun class :( See yall next week.

I love, love, love, love, love Ford. It may just be because I didn't feel a real connection with Link's stories, but Ford's stories are the kind you lay in bed all day and enjoy! Reading these stories (well, most of them) didn't take the least bit of effort at all! And you get to go back and really think about them after you've finished reading them which is not something I felt I could do with Link's stories. By the end of Link's stories I was always irritated because of the lack of closure, and with these stories, I'm not.

My favorite was definitely The Green Word, though. It gave me the "warm, fuzzy" feeling that you get when you read a good book. I really liked the battle between "good" and "evil', and the end when you find out the The Green Word is love. It made me think that although the king thought he was right to get rid of the people in the forest, they were promoting love of all people...I think. Either way, I liked it a lot!

Finally!!

YES!!!

I GET IT!

I actually read a story.....and knew everything i needed to know about it so that it made sense! I read actual tales....it was amazing....

I really really enjoyed Ford's stuff so much more than Link's work. I guess I just don't have a head for her writings. Ford's style was so normal...I'm very happy....

P.S. Boatmans Holiday....I feel a paper brewing somewhere involving that story....I claim dibs....

The Words are in My Brain

I have really enjoyed reading Ford's stories. Every single one ends in such a way that I find myself thinking about the characters and their world's long after I put the book down. If you read the story notes at the end of each story Ford makes a comment about his inspirations for the story. Many of these are drawn from his own personal experiences. As much as I find myself day dreaming about his characters I wonder if he really did meet a man who could hide words subconsciously.

As others have mentioned, Ford does not leave as much of the interpretation of his stories to the reader as Link does. He fills in plot details while leaving just enough room to make one wonder about the rest of the world his characters live in. These details bring his stories to life for me. I love how he draws me into his world then just before the story finishes he writes something that leaves me with chills. I must say that I like the way things are going with these readings now.

Words are more than just a pretty face

Ford has an excellent gift for description, I think.  Whereas Link's style took on a dream-like quality of image after image, developing a crazy-good story, Ford's style often has the ability to paint gorgeous portraits of his characters, worlds, et cetera.  His description  of Hell within "Boatman's Holiday" is a perfect example of this.  Depending on what I'm in the mood for in reading, I find it difficult to choose between the apples and oranges of Link and Ford's respective creations.  That said, I felt that Ford's ideas in his stories were excellent, especially his opinions on art and more specifically, the use of words.  "Boatman's Holiday" underlines the fact that existence comes from thoughts and memory, which is preserved through the written word.  In a more obvious example, "The Weight of Words" engenders the idea that words written in a calculated manner can have an unimaginable effect on the manuscript's readers.  The thought of a mathematical formula designed to "weigh" the value of words intrigued (and somewhat frightened) me.  But my mind drifted to an actual example of weighted words and texts being measured.  Microsoft Word!  Ever take a look at the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Score after you check for spelling errors?  I wondered how my computer measured the readability and grade-level of my writing and it turns out THERE IS A MATHEMATICAL FORMULA!  True, it isn't nearly as outlandish as Ford's theoretical formula, but the fact it exists, that words are components of a formula and everything may, in fact, be calculated mathematically, is still downright creepy.  There is probably a formula out there for the perfect piece of art, based on materials, colors, size, etc.  I don't think I like math having that kind of control...