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A Writer’s Quest

Jun 06, 2014
by Caroline Miller
art as truth, Cynthia Ozick, Evan Hughes, Franz Kafka, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Louis Bogan, Virtinia Woolf
4 Comments

As I read the latest edition of The New Republic which featured remarks about three writers — FranzKafka,  Karl Ove Knausgaard and Virginia Woolf — I concluded they all agreed that writing is work.  Kafka struggled deep into the night so that he might labor without distractions to experience, “a complete opening of the body and soul.” (“The Particularity of Genus,” by Cynthia Ozick, The New Republic, April 2014, pg. 38.)

 The second point on which all three authors concur is that to find truth one must escape the entrapment of ordinary life. Norwegian writer, Karl Ove Knausgaard, explains that “to create literature of lasting value, a writer must try to carve out a freedom from the strictures of society, to stand outside the realm where consideration comes before honesty.” (“The Man Who Wrote too much,” by Evan Hughes, The New Republic, April 2014 pg 34.)

For Kafka truth was found in the solitude of near madness.  For Virginia Wolfe it was observed objectively and written down “calmly and completely” without wasting talent on “fears, discriminations and hatreds.” (Virginia Woolf on Women,” remarks by Louise Bogan reprinted from a review written 12/18/1929  on Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, The New Republic, April 2014, pg. 2) For Knausgaard, it is to write without thinking of the consequences. (Ibid,  pg. 32)

 But, like Socrates, I am inclined to ask if artists of any medium can be trusted with Truth?  Their truth, like anyone else’s, is the product of their experience, extended a little by imagination.  That being the case, then objective Truth is delusional.  The quest for reality becomes a fool’s errand.  How any author can speak about Truth strikes me as curious. Yet the general view among these three writers is that art must cut to the bone, banishing, as Woolf counsels, all  softness and sentiment.  (Ibid. pg. 2)  Yet in what way does sentiment and softness error?  Are they not as true a part of human psychology as rage and fear?

 Though not a writer of talent compared to these whose judgment I question, I remain unconvinced that truth must always lie near the jugular.  That is too narrow, too macho a view.  In my world, truth can be found in the creation of a simple flower arrangement.

woman arranging flowers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Courtesy of www.shutterstock.com)

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4 Comments
  1. Bill Whitlatch June 6, 2014 at 10:03 am Reply
    Thanks, I enjoyed that and, yes I agree you can find truth in "Leaves of Grass".
    • Caroline Miller June 6, 2014 at 10:41 am Reply
      Oh, understatement. I thought "Leaves of Grass" was the truth." Thanks for your comment Bill.
  2. Christine Webb June 9, 2014 at 8:19 am Reply
    Thank you, Caroline. Really enjoyed your thoughts, and questions, this morning. Am most grateful that anyone can find their Truth without going to the extremes these authors were able to entertain. Truths can be revealed in just the briefest moment of quiet reflection while waiting in 4 lanes of work hour traffic, walking along the busiest of sidewalks in any major city, or while working in a flower bed alongside buzzing bees, chatty friends, persistent pets or inquisitive children. The difficult part for me is to stop thinking, and listen.
    • Caroline Miller June 9, 2014 at 8:51 am Reply
      You've put your finger on the essential element: stop and listen. Thank you for your comment, Christine.

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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