I am writing this now as I have just returned from a five-day visit to my hometown to visit my parents and my dog. This trip was extra great because Matt was able to join me for a couple days of it and was able to hang out with my family for a bit. He left a day ahead of me though and so last night, having little to do except watch a movie I decided to take in another viewing of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
I won’t get into any talk on fantasy role-playing or nerds or doing a Masters degree in Tolkeinology but I will say that the film made me think a bit and not for the reasons you might think. It was actually one line from the film (and I think it was in the book as well though I’m not positive) where Gandalf is riding away from Rohan on his horse and says to the animal, “Run Shadowfax, show us the meaning of haste!”
Amazing.
I have always been a sucker for good one-liners and phrases that are not so much spoken as they are experienced. Anyone that has a good grasp of English or indeed any language (though English is the only one I understand with any real confidence) is certainly a blessed individual. It’s a fact that if someone has the sagacity to assemble a sentence that is both eloquent and delivered with expert timing then he or she makes it to the top of my, “I Want To Be Friends With This Person” list. Luckily for me, nearly all my friends possess this ability.
I won’t lie, I think that I do okay in the words department. At my current job I must confess that I get a thrill out of using words like ‘sequester’ or ‘misanthropy’ especially when I’m using them to refer to my relationship with a particular customer or what I might do to them (sequester them in a cramped closet until the store’s close perhaps). These are usually met with blank stares and a quick change of subject. I love that part.
But because I have a real problem with instant Karma, it’s not long that I’m able to sit and stroke my own ego. I merely have to pick up one of the novels that I’m reading and right there on any given page is a phrase or sentence that I could never even hope to realize on my own. Right now I’m reading Glen Duncan’s Death of an Ordinary Man, which, even though I’m not far into it, is already nothing short of amazing. Page six for example: “Nearby a bulbous conifer tilted like a giant microphone awaiting a quote from the sky.” Uhm, thank-you. I think I might have actually applauded that one while sitting at the airport.
Lately I’ve been sending queries off to different literary agents asking them to read my novel which itself has done nothing over the past year except take up space on my computer. When I write and send each query I am convinced that not only is my book groundbreakingly original, it’s also touching and relevant. I like to think that the New York Times would declare it “essential.” But then I read a little phrase in a book like Duncan’s and I come back to earth. Some people literally command language.
I addition to the writing and the sending of the novel queries to the randoms in New York I have also started interning at a publishing house in Vancouver. I use the term intern only because that’s how they kindly refer to me at Arsenal Pulp Press. I think bumbling volunteer might be more accurate but I do genuinely love how ‘intern’ sounds—it resonates with WASPy New England ivy-league nepotism for some reason. Anyway, everyone at the publishing house is extremely well read and moreover, well spoken. I went to one of the marketing meetings the other day and within a few minutes I was somewhat lost. There where so many impressive words and expertly designed sentences flying around that I felt as though I were a fresh visitor in a foreign land. Some people are able to just rattle off the most impressive words on a whim. These individuals have that ability and because of that I feel that my brain may have expanded ten-fold that afternoon via osmosis alone. It’s a steep learning curve definitely, but a welcome one.
The funny thing about a really great sentence or phrase or quote is that it is the property of its creator and its creator alone. Though someone might try and pass a truly grand blurb off as his or her own it never works—some of the original steam is lost for some reason. I’ve tried on occasion to heist a phrase or statement from a book or film or political figure but it never pans out. The words don’t really fit in my mouth and they end up feeling like a pair of tight jeans put on backwards. Itchy vocabulary? No thank you. I’ve given up mimicking in favor of the invention of my own truly great expression though it seems to be taking longer than I’d like; I want an axiom that’ll put the world off its axis. Ultimately it’s worth the wait because a great nugget of a quote to call your own or a placement of a word that is yours and yours only is really all you need in life …that and a dictionary of course.
Degrees of... 