.SOMETIMES RAW.

“Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” –  E.L. Doctorow

I love to write. English is not my first language but reading a lot and consistently improving by writing a lot is a good training. I have read that “Bird by Bird” is just an awesome book for any writer to get new ideas and inspirations so I purchases it and read it in one sitting.

I was always into writing. As a child I had a diary and wrote something in it daily. I also loved writing assignment and research papers in college. Writing in English however is challenging for me. In my working life I was able for a while to write, analyze and assess but I could not really live out what writing ability I may possess. At some point I thought it give it a try with my own blog. I love to read other blogs and follow some on a daily basis but I thought I could never start my own. Then again, why not? I love to read so I can definitely write a review about any book.  Who else than Anne Lamott can describe and advice how to go about the whole business of writing? I have read many other books on writing but none of them left this deep feeling of “yes, I can do this!” 

I connect with any book I read. Some great books I cannot appreciate however because of where I am in life at that moment but when I read them again under different circumstances it changes my entire take on the book. Do you have this feeling sometimes? I just want to kick my writing up a notch and Lamott helped me just getting more confident. “Bird by Bird” is just full of wisdom if you want to start writing but are afraid of having no ideas or if you are just uncomfortable. She describes and offers advice in a very funny way which I love. She tells you what to do if you are stuck (writers block). Lamott also states that almost all good writers started out terribly. Sometimes I thought that a writer just sits down and types along until the book is done. Of course they all have drafts that they rewrite the next day because it simply sucks. Lamott gives writing lessons as well and this book is basically what she teaches in her class.

She offers a plethora of tips and ideas if you just want to write more generically or don’t want to start out with a novel.  You get a great idea on structure of writing and to simply keep your readers interested and entertained.

Lamott describes how difficult and painful writing really is. It is a lot of fun, don’t get me wrong but it is hard. Especially if you doubt that your stuff you put out there is good. She is a great teacher who lets you know that with a lot of discipline you can do it if your true passion is writing. The book is a pleasure to read if you are feeling depressed or down (about writing.)

Enjoy!

“Then from far away across the world he smelled good things to eat, so he gave up being king of the wild things.”  – Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are [“Wo die Wilden Kerle wohnen” – the German translation of the book] 

I heard about this book a long time ago, however I did purchase it at STRAND Bookstore for my son two weeks ago. And of course a little bit for myself as well. This book is just awesome. The illustrations and drawings entwined with the story is just really well done by Sendak. I want to share the story here and why I love it.

Max is the main character and he just loves to scare things by putting on his wolf suit. His mother calls him “Wild Thing” and one night just sends him to bed without dinner. That night (is he dreaming or not) a huge forest begins to grow in Max’s room and ocean built up to take Max to the place where the wild things are. Max tames the wild things and crowns himself as their king and then the craziness. As soon as he sent the monsters to bed and everything is quiet he is feeling so lonely that he decides and realizes that it is time to sail home to the place where someone loves him no matter what.

Now Max gets hungry and goes back home where his mother had left his food still warm for him. First I thought, “Okay, leave the supper out for me before  my room is becoming a freaking forest inhabited by monsters and then put me to bed”. What do you think I am gonna do that night? Sleep? Nope! All I would do is hide under the bed with a knife, my husband’s flashlight and simply just hoping that if THIS is the night it all goes terribly wrong I have the courage to look all these monsters directly in the eye and not peeing myself. Any other kid would probably made a nest in his bed or a fort protected by a teddy bear and some pillows and did not sleep but stayed quiet until the next morning. But not Max.

This is the story I read to my son last night and I think it is just awesome. Hands down! It feels like reading through intimidation and fear. Sendak’s message that even if you misbehave sometimes, there will be dinner waiting on the table is just great. Interpretations of unconditional love as well as that it is just not that good to be a king who has all the power over these wild creatures is my take on the story. And in the end Max still misses his home. Simply a subversive masterpiece.

And while doing a little more research I found this! However, this movie is a lot  different than the book with so much more story added.  Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjlpX7NRlT8

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” – Albert Einstein

I wrote an article on reading where I described my son’s favorite book and my passion for reading to him. Also how I want to get my son interested in books. I do order books constantly when I am not in a bookstore to browse which is actually one of my favorite things to do. I ordered some books for my son but somehow they have gotten lost and mixed up. A few weeks ago a package arrived out of the blue in my mailbox. This is why I love to order online. Every time you receive a package it seems like a gift to yourself from yourself! Awesomeness!

So I unwrapped the envelope of my lost order and out fell “The story of Babar”. Instantly a thousand memories flooded back into me when I saw this book that I actually did not have ordered but was so happy to have received. I remembered the entire story almost by heart having read it so many times to my sister and brother when they were kids. And my mom read it to me almost every single day when I was tiny. I remember Babar was our friend. My siblings and I used to love this story so much. Babar was definitely our friend way back then maybe because the story was just so sad and we wanted Babar to feel better. If you haven’t read the story yet (and I recommend you do) here is a little insight. Babar’s elephant mother is killed and he is chased by hunters and escapes to a foreign world of the city. He returns to his community and finally becomes king of the elephants. Enough, this is not supposed to be a book review! 🙂

When this book arrived the other day I just realized again how important children’s books really are. And how important it is to read to your children. I forgot about this book I have to admit after all these years. But it finally arrived here. Back with me. I was so happy – all these dreams, love and forgotten memories came back up. Having been through so much reading I know how a single book can make you happy. How a single book can guide you and simply this magic that comes for a fairytale like this can inspire. So I want my son to know this as well. I want to help him to find the pages and words that he needs to make sense of this beautiful world – the same chance I had in life.

I will read Babar to my son when he is ready. These days we are more into “Where the wild things are” by Maurice Sendak and “The very hungry caterpillar” and a plethora of Pixi “Connie” booklets in German.

Since my second address is either Barnes and Noble or The Strand Bookstore my son’s address is the same. Our next goal is; besides discovering our neighborhood,  to go to the Public Library. Reading fairytales to my son will help him make sense of this big world outside – just in time. And of course I am proud and honored to be his mother who is reading to him all these great stories  while he listens in wonder.