I leave for Paris tomorrow, so I
have been doing a fair amount of planning of what I want to bring. As
a reader and a writer, that means I've spent most of my time trying
to figure out what books and projects to bring along with me. (I'll
handle the clothes and other incidentals later. I mean, the flight doesn't leave until, like, 8 or something.) Packing, as a reader,
is all about balance. You never want to be stuck without something to
read and you don't want to pay the extra fee for having too heavy of
a bag. Furthermore, you need to leave at least a little room for the
books you are going to buy on vacation, because, let's face it,
you're going to buy books on vacation. Paris poses an extra problem,
because along with being one of the great walking cities, eating
cities, and drinking cities, it is also one of the great sitting
cities which naturally leads to being a great reading and writing
city. So, with all that in mind, here are the books and projects I'll
be bringing with me to Paris.
BOOKS
Eventually, I'll find myself back in my
hotel room winding down from a long day of coffee, cheese, wine, and
walking, and I've always found big old critically acclaimed fantasy
epics relaxing to read before I go to bed. Hurley's series has come
highly recommended by a number of people I know who read more fantasy
than I do, so the first volume was a natural fit. I've also, already
read about half of it and have really enjoyed it so far, so I know
it's a safe bet for the nightstand in the hotel.
Anne Carson is a genius. That's just science. Eros the Bittersweet is her exploration of the
idea of of “Eros” in classical literature and all the ideas of
language, metaphor, and storytelling that grow out of that
exploration. Though the content is challenging, the book
is organized in relatively short chapters, so it's easy to
incorporate into a coffee-sit. You can read a chapter, look up, watch
the people around you, talk, stash it back in the satchel to take
with you to a park, read another chapter, rinse and repeat.
I love Jesse Ball and the galley of his
new novel is the perfect packing size. Furthermore, as I as was
chatting with another bookseller at Porter Square about my upcoming
trip she said something to the effect of, “It's nice to start
something on a trip." I don't entirely know why this was a compelling argument, but it was. Also, read more Jesse Ball.
My original packing list was just the
three books above. For reasons lodged in the mysteries of
consciousness, I wasn't particularly motivated to read a Paris-themed
book in Paris. But then I was shelving at Porter Square and came
across this fucking thing. I mean, just look at it. I mean, according
to the jacket it was “embraced by the young Situationists as a kind
of manual for living off the grid.” What the fuck else was I
supposed to do? I'm not made of stone.
PROJECTS
I'm not setting
any goals and I'm not sure if I'll do any writing, but as with
reading, I don't want to find myself inspired to work and not have
anything with me. Furthermore, Paris has been so important to so many
English-language writers, including some of my heroes (Joyce and
Stein), that it would feel almost sacrilegious to go to Paris without a
notebook and a few drafts. Also, if you're curious what I'm working
on, well, here's your answer.
This is a novel
that (at the moment) will be composed of two distinct parts. The
first part, which is the one I'm working on, is composed of vignettes
of varying length and set at varying times in the titular character's
life. The second part will be (at least at the moment) a linear
narrative of a particularly dramatic series of events in Alisoun's
life. (Chaucer fans will take note of the spelling.) Because it's
told in vignettes this is a really handy side project because I can
basically write about whatever is in my head at the moment I feel
like writing for as long as I feel like writing about it. Though I do
have some vague hopes and goals, the current state of this project is
very much anything goes. Which makes it perfect for hanging in the
satchel while I wander around Paris. Also, in case you can't see from
the picture, this was the notebook I got for attending the sixth
Winter Institute.
Draft of a
Chapter from the New Novel
Specifically, the “Coyote
Casablanca” chapter if that makes any sense or is in any way
intriguing. I decided I didn't want to bring my laptop so made sure I
had drafts that I could read and edit if I felt so moved. This way,
progress doesn't have to stop completely on my novel. Furthermore,
drafts can be easier to pick away at if motivation comes in little
bits and bites and fit a lot better in my satchel.
Draft of Short
Story: "The Morning Skate"
Because the
first thing you think of when you hear the word "Paris" is “Quebec
Major Junior Hockey League.” This actually began life as a chapter
in an essentially abandoned novel. I've been chipping away at it for
a few years now and I think I'm almost done. It's about
a youngish, sports journalist, working on a feature-length story
about his home town's junior hockey team. One of the reasons I like to
juggle a lot of different writing projects is that I always want to
have something to work on, regardless of my mood, energy level, or
ideas. And packing a bunch of drafts is a lot easier than packing a
bunch of notebooks and a laptop.
Draft of a Short
Story, "The Summer Slip"
This is actually
a story my father started that I'm going to finish. It's about a
family opening their summer camp for the first time after the
patriarch and grandfather of the narrator died. They struggle a bit
early on to remember all the steps to getting the camp ready for the
summer, which they eventually connect to the idea of “summer slip,”
the stuff students forget over the summer. It also features of a short collection of classic Lewiston Quebecois swearing. I purposely set this draft
aside a few months ago with the intention of letting it rest for
awhile.
The Satchel
Notebook
Everything else,
should there be anything else, will go in the catchall satchel
notebook.
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