Hold this Thought - Fiction

East of Eden: Barbara Brown

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:00:00 -0700

This is Barbara Brown, and this is the last broadcast of "Hold this Thought." I thought it only fitting that I close by sharing a Thought from one of my long-time favorite books.

In East of Eden, John Steinbeck writes:

'A child may ask, "What is the world's story about?" And a grown man or woman may wonder, "What way will the world go? How does it end and, while we're at it, what's the story about?"

I believe that there is one story in the world.... Humans are caught -- in their lives, in their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in their avarice and cruelty, and in their kindness and generosity too -- in a net of good and evil. I think this is the only story we have and that it occurs on all levels of feeling and intelligence. Virtue and vice were warp and woof of our first consciousness, and they will be the fabric of our last, and this despite any changes we may impose on field and river and mountain, on economy and manners. There is no other story. A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well -- or ill?'

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: Hunter Guarino

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:00:00 -0700

In A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, the main character, 15-year-old Francie Nolan, reacts strongly to the declaration of World War I and what it might mean:

'"Dear God," she prayed, "let me be something every minute of every hour of my life. Let me be gay; let me be sad. Let me be cold; let me be warm. Let me be hungry ... have too much to eat. Let me be ragged or well dressed. Let me be sincere -- be deceitful. Let me be truthful; let me be a liar. Let me be honorable and let me be sin. Only let me be something every blessed minute. And when I sleep, let me dream all the time so that not one little piece of living is ever lost."'

The Trap: Sarah Baird

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 01:00:00 -0700

The Anchorage Public Library's Community Reads program features books about Alaska Native culture. In The Trap by John Smelcer, Johnny must decide whether to go after his trapper grandfather in plummeting sub-zero temperatures in the Alaskan wilderness.

"Ravens may be among the most intelligent of creatures. Johnny had once watched a dozen ravens steal scraps from a wolf trying to protect his meal. While the others stayed a safe distance, one raven grabbed the wolf's tail and yanked it until the annoyed canine turned and chased him into the forest, momentarily abandoning his prize to the murder of ravens that quickly fell upon it. And no one in the village had ever seen a raven nest or hatchling. It was almost as if their presence in the far northland was by magic. And yet they were as ubiquitous as the changing seasons. It was no wonder the raven had become a central character in the myths belonging to Johnny's people."

The True Meaning of Smekday: Sherri Douglas

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 01:00:00 -0700

In The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, a young girl is suddenly left motherless and alone.

"I think there's a part of the brain, probably somewhere in the back, that won't give up believing in magic. It was the part that made cavemen believe that drawing elks on stone would make for a good hunt the next day. And it's still chugging along, making you think you have lucky socks, or that your kids' birthdays will win the lottery. It made me think I could stop time in the cemetery with a wave of my hand, or summon Mom to my side with her name. Currently it was very busy, thinking over and over about how to go back in time, and what I should do when I got there."

The Legend of Bagger Vance: Lucian Childs

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 01:00:00 -0700

In the movie, The Legend of Bagger Vance, golfer Rannulph Junuh, the character played by Matt Damon, drinks to forget what he experienced in World War I. Young Hardy Greaves asks him a question, and Junuh replies:

"Now, the question on the table is: how drunk is drunk enough? And the answer is that it's all a matter of brain cells. ... You see, every drink of liquor you take kills a thousand brain cells. But that doesn't much matter 'cause we got billions more. First the sadness cells die so you smile real big. And then the quiet cells go so you just say everything real loud for no reason at all. That's okay, that's okay, because the stupid cells go next, so everything you say is real smart. And finally, come the memory cells. These are tough sons of bitches to kill."

A River Runs Through It: T.L. Ridges

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 01:00:00 -0700

In "A River Runs Through It," Norman Maclean and his father try to help his brother, Paul:

'"Help," he said, is giving part of yourself to somebody who comes to accept it willingly and needs it badly.

So it is ... that we can seldom help anybody. Either we don't know what part to give or maybe we don't like to give any part of ourselves. Then, more often than not, the part that is needed is not wanted. And even more often, we do not have the part that is needed. It is like the auto-supply shop over town where they always say, 'Sorry, we are just out of that part.'"

"We are willing to help, Lord, but what if anything is needed?"

... "It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us."'

Middlemarch: Rev. Beatrice Hitchcock

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:00:00 -0700

In Middlemarch by George Eliot, Dorothea is speaking to Will about her simple life:

"'...I should like not to have so much more than my share without doing anything for others. But I have a belief of my own, and it comforts me.'

'What is that?' said Will, rather jealous of the belief.

'That by desiring what is perfectly good, even when we don't quite know what it is and cannot do what we would, we are part of the divine power against evil -- widening the skirts of light and making the struggle with darkness narrower.'
...
'Please not to call it by any name,' said Dorothea.... 'You will say it is Persian, or something else geographical. It is my life. I have found it out, and cannot part with it. I have always been finding out my religion since I was a little girl. I used to pray so much -- now I hardly ever pray. I try not to have desires merely for myself, because they may not be good for others, and I have too much already....'

'What is your religion?' said Dorothea. 'I mean -- not what you know about religion, but the belief that helps you most?'"

The Trap: Karen Keller

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 01:00:00 -0700

Anchorage Public Library is presenting a Community Read through mid-March for the whole family -- a selection of books about Alaska Native culture. In one of the books, The Trap by John Smelcer, the grandfather speaks:

"They say the People of the North have a hundred names for snow. This may not be completely true, but anyone who has lived any time on a frozen land knows that snow has more than one name.

There is sleet, and hail so big around that the sound of it falling on a tin roof is deafening. There are dry, soft flakes that fall gently without hurry or anger, like the lazy flakes in a Christmas-card scene. There is wet snow that sticks to the branches of trees, turns to ice, and breaks their limbs when too much has gathered. Some snow falls straight down, some slant-wise, and some from everywhere, even from beneath as if the freezing earth itself is storming.
...
Only the foolish would say there is one word for snow. Anything that lasts so long and buries a world must be many-named."

A Series of Unfortunate Events: Valerie Oliver

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:00:00 -0700

In The Wide Window, from A Series of Unfortunate Events, the Baudelaire orphans are desperate after reading the supposed suicide note of their aunt.

"'I'm not sure,' Klaus said, looking over the note one more time. 'I might have begun figuring something out. Something that could help us. But I need more time.'

'But we don't have any time!' Violet cried.
...
'Then we're going to have to make some more time somehow,' Klaus said determinedly.
...
'How can we make more time?' Violet asked.

'You're the inventor,' Klaus answered....

'But you can't invent things like time,' Violet said. 'You can invent things like automatic popcorn poppers. You can invent things like steam-powered window washers. But you can't invent more time.'"

Out Stealing Horses: Sherri Douglas

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 01:00:00 -0700

In the novel Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson, Trond Sander has just been run off the road by an aggressive truck driver. He sits in his car, recovering:

"I saw the lynx brightly outlined only fifteen metres in front of the car. I had never seen a lynx before, but I knew what it was that I was looking at. The evening was perfectly still around us, and the lynx turned neither to right nor left. It just walked. Softly, not wasting energy, filled with itself. I can't recall when I last felt so alive .... Everything that was me lay taut and quivering just beneath my skin.

Next day at the shop I told them about the lynx. It was most likely a dog, they said. No-one believed me..., but I saw what I saw, I have the image of the big cat somewhere inside me and can call upon it whenever I like, and I hope that one day ... I shall see it again. That would be great."

A River Runs Through It: Scott Banks

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 01:00:00 -0700

In Norman Maclean's "A River Runs Through It," beautiful passages can be found on almost every page.

"Like many fly fishermen in Western Montana where the summer days are almost Arctic in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise.

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.

I am haunted by waters."

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: Mary Katzke

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 01:00:00 -0700

This passage from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith describes the moment of "ignition" so well.

'Oh, magic hour when a child first knows it can read printed words!For quite a while, Francie had been spelling out letters, sounding them and then putting the sounds together to mean a word. But one day, she looked at a page and the word "mouse" had instantaneous meaning. She looked at the word and the picture of a gray mouse scampered through her mind. She looked further and when she saw "horse," she heard him pawing the ground and saw the sun glint on his glossy coat. The word "running" hit her suddenly and she breathed hard as though running herself. The barrier between the individual sound of each letter and the whole meaning of the word was removed and the printed word meant a thing at one glance. She read a few pages rapidly and almost became ill with excitement. She wanted to shout it out. She could read! She could read!
From that time on, the world was hers for the reading.'

The Berry Fairies of Alaska: Teresa Ascone

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:00:00 -0700

This is Teresa Ascone, and this passage is from my book The Berry Fairies of Alaska. The cautionary tale of Jasill, a bearberry fairy, describes how every power has its price:

"Jasill enjoyed many compliments on her clear complexion, luminous eyes, and shiny hair. One day, gazing into the looking glass, she saw a tiny laugh line which caused her great dismay. She began to use her magic to erase every dimple, crease or spot from her face. Her anxious eyes looked for her reflection everywhere. Whether mirrored in a dewdrop or mud puddle, her own face fascinated her. ... Her face began to look like a china doll's -- beautiful, but rigid and unmoving. Suddenly one day she died, still perfectly formed yet fatally fragile -- the misuse of her magic had caused a wasting away of her spirit until there was nothing left but a lovely shell."

Kabbalah: A Love Story: Glenn Cravez

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:00:00 -0700

In Kabbalah: A Love Story by Lawrence Kushner, Kalman and his father face his childhood bookshelf.

"...his father reverently pulled out the remains of a children's book ... Boniface the Bunny.

... "You made me read this to you over and over again before you'd go to sleep. Why, I think I had it memorized." Whereupon Kalman's father handed him the book and, to Kalman's astonishment, proceeded to recite the first few pages from memory.

But Kalman had no recollection of the story whatsoever. All that love, all those evenings -- vanished.

And so it was that in this way, Kalman learned that merely finding a book is no guarantee that you will understand what it means unless there is also someone there who read it to you when you were very young and who may, indeed, have it memorized."

The Condition: Sherri Douglas

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:00:00 -0700

In The Condition by Jennifer Haigh, Gwen and Courtney go out for a dive, swimming toward the reef.

"At the edge of the reef Gwen touched Courtney's shoulder, and pointed down. The ocean floor gave way here, sloping sharply downward; from where they hovered, the drop was probably a thousand feet. There were no words to express the shock, the sudden vertigo -- and then, the profound feeling of safety. Floating above the chasm, buoyant and perfectly balanced, was as close as you could come to flying. Gwen had experienced it dozens of times, but still the feeling overwhelmed her. She was gliding like a spirit who'd escaped its container. She had no body. It was the freest feeling she had ever known."