Survey - read an online book or a physical book?

Here is the question. Would you rather read a book online, or read a physical book? Please reply in the comment section to let me know what you think. I have my preference, which most of you reading this probably can guess, but I'd rather not reveal all until I have the results of this informal online poll.

My son Ben is reading Great Expectations for his 8th grade honors English course. The teacher has put a link online and asked all the students to read the book online. If you have ever read Dickens, you know that he writes very long, complex books with dozens of characters. Personally, I enjoy Dickens very much, but he is not an 'easy read.' There are benefits to reading online. You can search for a name, and see every instance of that name, or go to a specific place where that name is mentioned. There are drawbacks as well. Yesterday I walked to the library to check out Great Expectations. Oops - there goes my bias.

I'll reveal the results of the survey in my next blog.

Creating characters

One of the best parts of writing fiction is the freedom to create characters. In the case of historical fiction, certain restraints limit what an author can do. What is known about a person cannot be altered, I believe, but within the framework of what is known, there is still a lot of freedom to flesh out the person, to breathe life into her or him, to make them real. In my case, Joanna Vassa was a real person. Visiting her gravesite was a moving experience for me. Since I've been writing about her for about 5 years, she is real to me, but even characters I have made up have become real to me. Joanna lived. She married. She loved. She lost. She died. I hope, through inspiration and prayer, I am creating veracity as I imbue her with life on the pages of my book. As you read other works of historical fiction, think about what the author had to work with, and how they created a character, not out of nothing, but out of something.

Then there are the fully imagined, fictional characters. I have come to love and admire my main characters, but some of the minor characters, who were not even in my original outline, have really brought a smile to my face, and sometimes I laugh out loud as I'm writing their lines -- the novel is dialogue-heavy. Near the end of the book, you have to read almost to the end to find him, is Abner. He says what he thinks. There are no filters, no barriers, no judging whether something would be appropriate or not. Abner is a shoeless, illiterate 10-year-old boy, with freckles sprinkled across his face, a single mom, an abusive dad, and two little sisters. He says whatever he thinks. For instance, he asks Joanna "Why're ye brown?" Or, when asked about his pa, he tells Joanna his pa died, and adds, "He weren't such a nice person no'ow. He liked the drink."

Kids tell the truth. And then, at some point, they learn to think about what they're saying, and how it might affect others. They learn to dissemble, and they learn to lie. When they are small, and they ask out loud "why is that woman so fat?" we tend to try to shut them up. We want them to be honest, but not that honest! And then, much later in life, we tend to re-embrace that honesty kept to ourselves for most of our lives. Have you noticed how older folks feel the freedom to say what they want, and are not as cautious about how it will affect others? The best characters are so lifelike because they remind of us real people. That's the art, the challenge in creating characters.

Don't disparage the sparrows

I like birds. I feed and watch the birds in my yard, I go birdwatching -- by myself, or with my son Ben -- and I go on birdwatching walks led by experts. A few weeks ago I went kayaking with a friend and we saw a yellow crowned night heron and a great blue heron, up close and personal. They are big, beautiful birds, and though not rare, not entirely common either.

So I just put some bird seed down in my backyard, and within minutes a common house sparrow landed and began to eat. My dad used to feed the birds in our backyard growing up, and he would coo at them and talk to them. The scrub jays came right up and took peanuts out of his hand. He treated each one with tenderness. So when this sparrow landed in my yard I thought, don't disparage the sparrows. It's so easy to disregard common one -- birds, even people. In the city we see hurting people all around us; it's common. And it becomes easy to disregard them. I pray that I will not disparage the commonplace - whether they be birds or people. May I instead, notice the common ones and thank God for them.

The "A" grade

As I read my World Lit students' first papers I was happily surprised to find myself giving out A, after A, after A. I love giving A's! These papers were very well written, and they had insights into Gilgamesh that truly impressed me, causing me to consider things I hadn't thought about. I could take no credit for their exemplary writing, as I didn't teach them how to write an essay, but I did take a small amount of credit for their thorough understanding of the text.

I opened class with telling them how impressed I was with their essays and how happy I was to grant so many A's. One student replied by saying "I thought professors hated giving A's." Now I'm not sure what led him to that conclusion, but what a pity a student would think his professor would only grudgingly award an A to a deserving essay. I don't allot many A's, only because they are not earned. But when I can give an A, when the student clearly deserves an A, I am only too happy to write on their paper a nice, fat . . . . .

Small victories

Warning: I'm going off topic for this blog. Yesterday I had a small victory, and I wanted to share it with any who read this blog, and to encourage you in your own small victories.

We live in Jersey City, which is notorious for two things -- litter and jaywalking. Of course there are many positive aspects to living in Jersey City -- the diversity, proximity to Manhattan, waterfront, church. But the litter really bugs me. I mean really, really bugs me.

So the cemetery next to our church is usually full of litter. Guys hang out in front of the cemetery and drop bottles, cans, wrappers, boxes, newspapers, and other assorted trash. They apparently have no concerns about how it looks. When I walk by it every day I cringe inside. Occasionally I clean it up myself, when I absolutely can't stand it any more.

Several months ago I called the head of Commercial District Services - the folks who sweep up and clean Bergen Avenue, right down on the corner. I asked if they could take a half-block detour and clean in front of the cemetery. By the way, the cemetery is owned by the city, so they are the responsible party. He told me they would discuss it at their meeting, and never got back to me. I tried a few more times and couldn't reach him.

Yesterday, in a fit of frustration, I called again. He acted immediately. When I walked by the cemetery on my way to school this morning there was not a piece of paper, a bottle, or even a cigarette butt in sight. Not only did he send someone to clean it early this morning, he sent me emails showing 'before and after.' What a lovely sight - just grass and gravestones. He promises me they will now keep it clean.

This is a small victory, but for me, and important one. How our neighborhood looks is important to me, and it sets the tone for our block.

Is there something that really bugs you, that maybe you can do something about. Take some action. You might be surprised at how God can use you to make a difference.

The Help

If you have not yet read The Help -- read it. If you have not yet seen the movie -- see it. Usually I like to read books first, then see movies, but in this case I saw the movie, then read the book. This is the first time I have seen a movie based on a book and they were incredibly closely aligned. I think back to Hunt for Red October, or Shogun. The books were much better than the movies.

In The Help, the casting was perfect. The movie brought to life the characters in the book, who were already pretty lively! The plot in the book was carried over almost perfectly to the movie. There were some subtle, and one or two not-so-subtle, changes, but all in all, they were magnificent reflections of each other.

The books evokes the time period well. Historical events, like the murder of Emmet Till, the bombings of churches, sit-ins at Woolworths' counter, John Kennedy's assassination, were present but background to the characters and the story. The characters run the story and they are beautifully realized. I especially like Minny and Celia.

This is what good writing looks like. A good story well told. That's what I'm aiming for in my book, but when I read a good book like this, I'm almost tempted to give up, stop writing, and just keep reading.

Read the book - you won't regret it.

Lessons from Students

School has begun. Just as I look forward to the ending of a semester, I also happily anticipate the beginning of a new semester. Classes started on Wednesday and I've met with Comp and World Lit students. In World Lit I asked my students to write a page or two on this question: why should we study world literature? Some of their answers were very insightful. I'll share a few of them with you here. I'm paraphrasing!

When we read about other cultures and other time periods, we learn about not just about those people, but we learn about ourselves.

Reading about long-ago time periods can help students escape the pressures of modern-day technological society. Reading about a time without cell phones and computers, or even electricity, can provide a much needed respite from the stresses of everyday life.

Learning about other religious traditions can make us more tolerant and understanding, which is important in the society we live in where many religions are practiced.

The journey we take by reading a book or story could change how we see the world.

Amen.