tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post7915552928815414835..comments2023-10-26T06:59:22.098-04:00Comments on Practicing Writing: Quotation of the Week: Willa CatherErika D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-60295690427236136222009-12-24T10:47:03.590-05:002009-12-24T10:47:03.590-05:00I think Cather might be referring to an age when w...I think Cather might be referring to an age when we are still innocently impressed by the world around us, before we grow wise and analytical. Ironically, it takes growing wise and analytical to see the meaning in those childhood experiences.Laurelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03667568381515877224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-75014625393709777242009-12-23T11:43:26.386-05:002009-12-23T11:43:26.386-05:00One can imagine that life was quite rich in a time...One can imagine that life was quite rich in a time when people actually were occupied with and interested in each other. Her comment may have come from that. Today we are strangers to our children and they to us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-70196278928379522232009-12-23T11:09:32.302-05:002009-12-23T11:09:32.302-05:00acquired yes, processed, no.acquired yes, processed, no.jessica handlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18295903432546706050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-28284559972051484912009-12-23T08:39:33.342-05:002009-12-23T08:39:33.342-05:00Thank you all for your comments. I will have to lo...Thank you all for your comments. I will have to look for that essay collection, Anne! You know, I have to wonder if some of Cather's "certainty" in her quote may have to do with how quickly people "aged" in her own time. I mean, 15 was basically adulthood, and people did not necessarily live as long as they do today. On the other hand, I do think that while we (hopefully) Erika D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/18401341362484574738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-84790366527281425732009-12-22T12:27:57.504-05:002009-12-22T12:27:57.504-05:00I think our earliest memories continue to haunt us...I think our earliest memories continue to haunt us, and the house of childhood is a place we come back to again and again, but I don't agree. I think if we are honest and we are lucky, we will continue to be inspired by the life around us and inside us. And it was also Willa Cather who wrote a wonderful essay collection titled Not Under Forty, by which she meant the essays were not intended Anne Whitehousehttp://www.annewhitehouse.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-56415951106265872342009-12-22T12:06:45.068-05:002009-12-22T12:06:45.068-05:00If that were so, it would make for pretty sad writ...If that were so, it would make for pretty sad writing. It's like that "everything you need to know about life you learned in kindergarten" saying.<br /><br />I love the Bernard Malamud quote from "The Natural" -- “We have two lives, Roy, the life we learn with and the life we live with after that. Suffering is what brings us toward happiness.”Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425802.post-40909368537968765042009-12-22T08:09:53.494-05:002009-12-22T08:09:53.494-05:00I don't know if I completely agree. After I&#...I don't know if I completely agree. After I've completed a manuscript, I notice that parts of it are working out my childhood issues. But my present is also an issue I inadvertently force my protagonist to face in some way.Theresa Milsteinhttp://www.theresamilstein.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com