August found me, quite by accident, reading several books dealing with the period of time immediately before and during the Second World War or during a fictional period several years after the war. They each provided a different way for me to think about how the rise of authoritarianism affects individuals.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers is the one that takes place before the war. McCullers expertly writes the interior lives of her characters, highlighting the disconnect that so often occurs between the things we experience internally and the way we express ourselves to others. Her characters are complex and vulnerable. They (for the most part) mean well, but their actions rarely follow what they mean to do. The novel filled me with yearning, not for the world of the story but for connection with others.
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess takes place in a fictional post-war period when the youth, fueled by drugs and nihilism, devote their leisure time to violence and terror. Competing factions attempt to use this delinquency to their political advantage and provide an interesting look at how individuals can be seen by those in power as pawns to manipulate as they seek to gain or solidify power. In the introduction by the author, it’s clear that this is not Burgess’s favorite of his books, but I enjoy the way he uses language and his critique of mid-20th-century culture.
But the book that really stuck with me this month is One Man’s Meat by E.B. White. In this series of essays written for Harper’s Magazine between 1938 and 1944, White chronicles his move from Manhattan and a job at The New Yorker to a saltwater farm in Maine (I, too, had to look up what a saltwater farm was). He combines his musings about farm life, nature, and the culture of coastal Maine with the rise of fascism in Europe, the way those around him react to it, and the thoughts it prompts in him about the nature of freedom, nationalism, and personal responsibility. I don’t agree with all of White’s conclusions, but I love the combination of the daily focus on bird migrations and farm chores with reflections on world events. A few days ago when I revisited the posts I’d written about the weekly hikes my kids and I took during 2015 and 2016, I realized that this style of writing is very similar to what I did in these posts—especially the Week 40 post—so perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that I resonated with White’s essays.
My experience reading these three books along with my old posts prompted me to reflect on my relationship with writing. I realized that for decades—perhaps since I first learned about creative writing in third grade—I have used writing to help me make sense of the world, whether by writing through patterns and connections I observe as a way to bring order and meaning to my daily life, or by writing through the patterns and connections I see in books and essays I’ve read, or a combination of the two. For the past few years, I’ve de-prioritized writing for a variety of, in retrospect, not very good reasons. Now that I’m leaning into creativity through voice acting and music, I’m feeling more like leaning into creativity through writing. Now that I’m nearing 50 and not nearly as nervous about asking strangers questions as I used to be, I’m also curious to revisit some of the ways I’ve used writing to build my relationship to my community (I’m still terrified of asking strangers questions, which should give you a sense of how I felt about it 20 years ago).
So, perhaps you’ll see a little more action here than you have in recent years.
Here’s what I read in August (in addition the three books I’ve already mentioned):
August Completed Books:
My favorites from August:
- One Man’s Meat by E. B. White
- The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
- Learning to Disagree by John Inazu
Currently Reading:
- Overcoming the Fear of Success by Martha Friedman
- I’m the King of the Castle by Susan Hill
- Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie
- Women Who Run with Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
- Nightshade by Michael Connelly
To-Read for September:
In addition to my StoryGraph, you can see my Litsy profile for status updates throughout the month.
Imperfect Happiness 