If you'll forgive a "deep thought" on this Sunday evening ...
Sometimes I have a sense of all writers, past and present, contributing to a huge body of work that is our collective literature. While only a few names from each generation are remembered, the influence of those with forgotten names still lives on. Those who read that "forgotten" work were changed by it, and incorporated something different in their own work as a result.
The river of stories flows on, and those of us who dig the channels for the river may be able to point to a specific curve that we shaped, or we may find that our work is not readily visible, that it's covered by the water. Either way, the river flows.
Sometimes I have a sense of all writers, past and present, contributing to a huge body of work that is our collective literature. While only a few names from each generation are remembered, the influence of those with forgotten names still lives on. Those who read that "forgotten" work were changed by it, and incorporated something different in their own work as a result.
The river of stories flows on, and those of us who dig the channels for the river may be able to point to a specific curve that we shaped, or we may find that our work is not readily visible, that it's covered by the water. Either way, the river flows.
Interesting thought. I often hear this in music and see it in art, but I know it must be true in literature, too.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I've got Sting's "All this time" flowing through my mind.
Nice swimming with you!
DeleteSuch a beautiful perspective on our roles in the formation of the collective body of work. Thank you, Jenn.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting. :)
DeleteI think that's a lovely way to look at writing. It's funny to think of how many people we've touched with our writing, often without even knowing it.
ReplyDeleteYes--I think of all the books I've read and loved, and there's no way to thank every author personally.
DeleteThis is a lovely image, Jenn. How wonderful to think of yourself as part of a body of work that holds such brilliant prose and delightful characters. Gave me goosebumps! Me in with Aristotle, Hemmingway and E.B White? Heart be still.
ReplyDeleteYep, there we are, floating along!
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