Those of you who do read Mind Jazz from time to time, obviously would not consider me to be anything close to a well respected member of the fourth estate. ( I have other skills that translate to the visual side of creation) but when it comes to writing I do assume that you recognize an ability to summarize issues and from time to time make you snicker or snort a slight spew of acceptance and perhaps even consider that once in awhile I push your thought process in a different direction than where it normally resides....or not.
I have a style that I consistently adhere to
and I use
that
style
for emphasis and
"fun" but mainly
emphasis.
How much fun this generates, within the confines of your brain, can truly only be registered IF you choose to share your thoughts and ideas with me. Of course with my Aquarius nature....sometimes I get your feedback without you saying a word. It's amazing how close together the words psychotic and psychic appear in the dictionary.
A few of you actually do let me know outloud from time to time......
and those few seem to be enough to guarantee that I will continue to make Mind Jazz a part of my life until I no longer
can remember how to put the letters together......
In truth we eventually all end up eyxpkqyi.......
Sometimes the letters put themselves together due to the electronic nature of the machine I am using....and what appears, quite often, surprises me. Similar to talking without thinking.
Back in the early 70's I started using a Smith Corona Electric Typewriter and realized that letters simply started taking shape in formations that seem to make more sense than the non-electric typewriter I had been using. Tesla had a handle on electricity.....electricity has a handle on me.
Oddly at the same time, my hand written journal entries started to improve and as I sit here explaining my "literary" efforts to you, I can look behind me and count 24 finished journals with 20 more in a case to my right. The ones to my right are in the 10 x 12 size range while the ones behind me are considerably larger and include art as well as writing.
A few months ago I started printing copies of Mind Jazz "articles" but ran out of ink and decided that printing them would have to wait until my ship arrived.....and judging from the low tide that seems to be part of my f**ked up financial nature that ship won't be docking anytime soon. It does traverse back and forth on the horizon so I've got that going for me.
But like many things I do this opening was simply meant to be a diversion from the subject I originally wanted to write about.....
which is one of my favorite subjects
and favorite things to do.......
reading.
Since reading and writing go hand in hand my brain decided to bring up writing first and then ease you into reading....and reading in a manner that seems to be fading much like the hope for political integrity....of which we currently seem to have less than any time in recent history.
READING WHILE ACTUALLY HOLDING A BOOK
Have I lost you?
Is your Kindle or e-reader sitting within five feet of you and demanding that you stop following what this nut is saying about
actual books made with paper
and tucked inside a
cover.
I love the physicality of books and the reading part travels well beyond the term love.....it's more of a lifeline.
There are certain observations that I would like to share regarding contemporary styles and the actual ink-spillers who create the letters which allow books to become reality.
FICTION vs NON-FICTION
Contemporary vs Classical
Except for very rare occasions I have always preferred non-fiction because of the imagination needed to create....but that's just me.
Imagined dialogue by Elmore Leonard has always captivated me.
The literary talent of James Lee Burke simply has no peers in contemporary non-fiction literature.
Dean Koontz has developed into one of the best story tellers of our time and his place in history will only rise up the ladder of greatness.
For fun reading anything Clive Cussler is associated with is a guaranteed positive experience...especially the Issac Bell series.
Every book written by James A. Michener is a must read for both historical and story telling excellence.
SIDE BAR
The book I just finished, which motivated this "article" is called
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikery by Gabrielle Zevin.
Highly recommended reading if you love books and still enjoy visiting bookstores.
Please rest assured that classic fictional writers should be visited at least once or twice a year and for me to list those writers would take way too much time......but if you haven't read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings then you need to start right there. The art of telling a story from imagination has never been better presented and J.R. Tolkien sits alone when it comes to defining fantasy. It helps if you take an hallucinogenic and climb a mountain or two during the reading or just after finishing.
The more remote...the better.
And of course Rudyard Kipling, both stories and poems, should be required reading...PERIOD.
Charles Dickens to understand a time period and Edgar Allen Poe just to understand clouds in the mind.
By the way I had to listen to David Foster Wallace Infinite Jest instead of reading it just because.......and is it a great book? My opinion is that it is a PIECE OF WORK. Make up your own mind about what that means. It's funny how we just accept his suicide if we've experienced that book.
I would like to tell you that I've read James Joyce novels cover to cover but then I would be lying like everyone else on the planet.
After all is said and done.....If one were making a list of required reading for a 15 year old......I think my list would first start with everything Michener wrote. With his genius for historical research and wonderful story telling reading would simply become part of that person's nature.
I've said it before and I'll say it one more time.......the one truth I've fully accepted regarding human beings is.....we love to tell a story......and then some of us love to read those stories and we do it to learn more about the human experience....so we can attempt to write about it in a manner that sometimes makes sense, or at the very least makes the thought process.......expand.
I've been trying for thought expansion for as long as I can remember.
Only you can tell if I'm achieving my goal.
End of Part one on Reading and Writing......
Michael Timothy McAlevey
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