When the London Review of Books called Barbara Pym “a brilliant comic writer,” they had scenes like this in mind. Here’s how Pym does it: First, emotion is expressed – not by someone beautiful and in love, but by Daphne, the lonely older sister of the vicar. She points … Read More
Month: March 2023
“His job wasn’t to recreate reality, but to immerse viewers in a kind of dream.”
When writing stories, the most important thing is to tell everything that happened, right? Well, maybe not. Hart argues that the author’s goal is not to describe the world in all its complexity. Rather, consider the advice offered by David Lean, director of Lawrence of Arabia. He said his breakthrough … Read More
“So I decided to fashion a special kind of collage.”
How would a dissident playwright, who spent five years in prison before becoming the first president of Czechoslovakia, construct a memoir? If you imagine a creative architecture not seen before, you are right. It’s an engaging mix of observations, flashbacks, interviews, commentary, and memos to his staff at Prague Castle. … Read More