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Let’s start with a confession: I’ve never read anything by Rainer Maria Rilke. When all of the hip kids in graduate school were exchanging knowing glances and speaking the author’s name as if it explained everything, I played along and pretended to know what they were talking about, but in all honesty, I didn’t. In fact, I didn’t even know whether Rilke was a man or a woman, alive or dead. All I knew was that the author was apparently at the center of a sublime cult, the members of which were transfixed by the beauty of his (or her) work. They spoke as if reading Rilke was akin to being touched by the hand of God. Either you got it or you didn’t. Unfortunately, I suppose, I didn’t. Upon reading Michael Allen Cunningham’s Lost Son (Ubridled Books 2007), however, I’m beginning to wish that I had.
Lost Son is a work of historical nonfiction that examines the emotional and intellectual development of the author in question–and does so beautifully. From the opening pages, the reader is transported to turn-of-the-last-century Europe, and Cunningham does a wonderful job of depicting Rilke’s world in a strikingly visceral fashion. When Rilke arrives in Paris on a cold and wet winter day, it’s impossible not to feel a chill. More importantly, Rilke emerges from the narrative as a complex figure, and his early efforts at writing a biography of Rodin prove both amusing and insightful… At least to someone who’s never read Rilke.
Clearly, this novel is well-researched and written with passion. Cunningham, in other words, is one of those guys I used to play along with back in grad school — nodding and pretending to have joined the cult when I actually had no clue. And, I should add, I still have no clue. Maybe one day when I find the time, I’ll read some Rilke. In the mean time, I have to content myself with Lost Son. All told, not a bad deal.
I guess it is only fair that I discuss this subject at least once. I am going to be honest; I haven’t done any real research on the subject or anything. I only have my opinion on it and that is what I am going to share with you today.
The way I see it, blogs are important for both the readers and the writers. Blogs are on-line journals that give their writers instant gratification that they are being read by someone. It is far too lonely to write something that you think is great and told time and again that it isn’t good enough. A blog is a forum in which you can say how you feel and others who are suffering from the same affliction can join you and rally with you.
Writers, no matter how much they want to say on the contraire, put a piece of themselves in everything they write. It might be a small strand or it could be a loosely veiled autobiographical piece, but either way a writer’s life is in their work. Since I feel that blogs are on-line journals, then it is extremely important for fans to read their favorite author’s blog. It will give you a better understanding of the writer’s life and what they are thinking in their heads. You will get another piece of the puzzle that will help you solve the why in a story.
Since blogs can be about anything, it helps people get things they have been thinking a place to go. I actually lost a lot of weight by writing everyday on a blog. It was like my confessional box. I would write about how long I went to the gym, what I did when I was there, and how much weight I lost. Sure, it wasn’t all out in the public like most blogs (I didn’t want people I didn’t know seeing me as a fatty), but the encouragement I got from knowing people were reading my blog and rooting for me helped me stay on track. I knew I would be held accountable for not going to the gym or eating that Tastykake, so it really helped me.
Simply put, blogs are on outlet for everyone. They are an on-line journal that you can determine what you want it to be about and how public you want to make it. For readers, they give fans a daily dose of their favorite author and help readers understand their favorite authors better. As for writers, it can help newbies get their name out there and for an established writer, it can give them a way to reach all their fans quickly (a lot quicker then a book being published).
The publishing world is changing. Blogs are pushing new writers on the scene that may not have had a chance to be discovered so quickly. Maybe someone who never even thought about writing a book sees the importance of getting their material and their voice out into the writing and reading community. I’ve said before the book, as we know it will never die; but I do believe blogging will help us create more readers and more writers.
Let’s start with a confession: I’ve never read anything by Rainer Maria Rilke. When all of the hip kids in graduate school were exchanging knowing glances and speaking the author’s name as if it explained everything, I played along and pretended to know what they were talking about, but in all honesty, I didn’t. In fact, I didn’t even know whether Rilke was a man or a woman, alive or dead. All I knew was that the author was apparently at the center of a sublime cult, the members of which were transfixed by the beauty of his (or her) work. They spoke as if reading Rilke was akin to being touched by the hand of God. Either you got it or you didn’t. Unfortunately, I suppose, I didn’t. Upon reading Michael Allen Cunningham’s Lost Son (Ubridled Books 2007), however, I’m beginning to wish that I had.