welcome to my world of written word.
by c.h.ha
reflections of the cwp year 1
June 12th, 2009 by Christine
I wrapped up my first year in the MFA program about a month ago. I must say that it came with its fair share of challenges, but these were outweighed by the rewards. Never before have I been able to say I’m thoroughly enjoyed learning what I’m learning, being around the people I’ve met. They come from all walks of life: twenty-somethings to fifty-year-olds, from New Mexico to Bulgaria, novices to the heavily published. I’ve enjoyed absorbing what everyone had to offer, but I still can’t help but feel incredibly insecure with my own writing and intellect. It’s funny because I talk about this with a friend who is in the PhD program, a graduate of the Iowa program, and he, too, feels just as insecure as me.
At the counsel of faculty, I’ve decided that because I am not in a rush to graduate and make money or move away, I will take my time through the 3-year program and take the classes I really want to take, taking the time to really absorb what I learn. No need to get caught up in a whirlwind and have to leave before I know it. The longer I stay in school, the more people I meet, the more I learn, and the more opportunities I could come across. Those points sold me. I may stretch it out to 4 years. Or how about 5? Then I could graduate alongside with the other PhDs I entered the CWP with.
Along with these reflections, I wanted to share 2 of the best books I read over the course of School Year 08-09.
- Catfish and Mandala (Andrew X. Pham) - This book has made to my favorites list. I read it for Contemporary American Fiction, but it’s not a fiction. It’s 100% memoir. (I know this because I emailed Pham for a presentation and paper I did on the novel.) Pham writes about his rediscovery of his roots after his sister commits suicide. He quits his job and bicycles from his Californian home all the way to Vietnam and, obviously, has a mess of adventures along the way. Perhaps I’m biased because we’re the same ethnicity so I enjoyed relating to many of his first-generation Vietnamese-American experiences; I recognized the differences in customs, the family dynamics and the food (o glorious food!) of Vietnam. But Pham writes with a perfect balance of poignancy and humor, and the format of the memoir weaving the narrative between 3 time periods (adulthood, adolescence, and childhood) provides texture to the story. I loved the book, and I think all of my classmates did too. (This is usually not the case as we often disagreed on every book.) I gave it to my dad to read, and it was interesting to see our different cultural perspectives come into play as I could see everything from Pham’s point-of-view, but my dad frequently stood on the side of the Vietnamese who saw Pham as a foreigner, a Viet kieu. Regardless, I recommend this book to everyone.
- The Things They Carried (Tim O’Brien) - Okay, I’m realizing that my picks are heavily influenced by my nationality. I read this book for my Reading & Research hours, which is an independent study course you take one-on-one with a faculty member that allows you to focus on reading what you need/want to read in order to write what you need/want to write. Since I am working on a collection of short stories based on the first- and second-generation Vietnamese-American experience, this book was recommended to me by CD, my fall Fiction Workshop instructor. I’ve read excerpts from the collection before but never in its entirety. How have I managed to miss this? O’Brien is a Vietnam vet who took his experiences and spun it into a world of fiction. Many have claimed this to be the best thing ever written about the Vietnam War, and there have been many. O’Brien’s words gave me chills because they really brought me to the moment. He really knows how to tell a true war story. I found myself crying at some parts in the book, and what more can you ask for from reading but to have your emotions rocked? I haven’t yet given this to my dad to read but I will someday. I’m not quite sure he is in the mood for another reminder of his past.
Other notable mentions this year include The Interpreter of Maladies (Jhumpa Lahiri), The Hours (Michael Cunningham), Autobiography of Red (Anne Carson), Holocaust (Charles Reznikoff) - poetry, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Haruki Murakami), Music for Torching (A. M. Homes), The Girl in the Flammable Skirt (Amy Bender), and In Persuasion Nation (George Saunders). If you have the urge to pick up a book, look into any of the above. But be forewarned, some of them will blow your mind (I don’t mean this all in a positive way), so be careful in choosing.
overboard
June 8th, 2009 by Christine
I love the new book smell, but this is taking it a little too far.
interpretation, please
May 28th, 2009 by Christine
JS emailed me this morning recounting a dream he had last night:
“so basically i was home and i look in the back yard, and it’s filled with buffaloes.. like a heard. But I realize that their look kinda thin and I can start seeing their rib cages. And I notice that there was a big whole/gap in the fence to the neighbors. But the neighbor was my cousins’ family. And the buffaloes were theirs. They just some how go through the gap in the fence. So i was worried what to do. So i called my cousin and asked what i could do, and he said use carrots to lure them over to the other side of the fence. But he said be careful cause last time he did that one of them rammed him really hard and knocked him to the floor. than i was like ok i’ll try and i woke up.
pretty weird huh?
here’s what one of the websites say about buffaloes…
‘the buffalo represents power and resolution. If you dream of a buffalo, you might have a considerable amount of income within next few weeks. If the buffalo is killed or injured, it is a bad omen: do not undertake any new ventures. Dreaming of a herd of buffalos will bring you a peace of mind and abundance. If buffalo allows you to pet it, you will have a nice tranquil married life.’”
I have no idea what this dream means. Is it bad that the buffaloes were starving? Does this represent the drought in power and income? And why was JS shooing the buffalo away? Is he throwing away abundance and peace of mind?
Perhaps because the he was trying to get rid of the buffalo, he is planning on being rid of marital bliss. And maybe the carrot he used to lure them away is, in fact, a DIAMOND CARAT. Okay, I know I make no sense. But why did JS dream of buffalo? I asked him if he was craving buffalo wings, and he said no.
to bm or not to bm
May 26th, 2009 by Christine
JS wants to go on a diet before the wedding. I want to regulate my very irregular BM. (I’m talking about once every 7 days.) TL told JS this morning that she and I should both start a healthy carb diet. She’s started by eating salad for lunch. I had rice and pork belly and kim chi pancake. I guess with them 2 trying to eat healthier I will try too.
JS and I just came back from HEB. To my surprise we did not venture down the frozen food aisle at all. As a matter of fact, we hardly ventured down any of the packaged food aisles either. They say the way to eat healthiest is to shop the perimeter of the grocery store because that’s where all the freshest foods are. We mostly bought produce and dairy. We’ll see how long I can keep this up before I start going into Dorito withdrawal. Before I really start though I’m going to pour me a bowl of Apple Jacks. At least I’m eating it with organic 2% milk.