In order to write, one must read, and read a lot. It is advice I give my students regularly, for both their English and Japanese writing. Fortunately, for the first half of this year at least, I will be in the position where I can do much reading and writing. One of my projects I plan for this year is to attempt to write a novella based on some of the material I have found about 19th century Australia-Japan relations. While there is quite a bit of material there to work with for a couple of academic papers, there are also big enough gaps in the stories to encourage me to try and 'fill in' the bits in between. It is a bit ambitious on my part, for sure.
My reading of late, therefore, has focussed on stories built around 'found objects', be they journals, diaries, recollections and so on. Today I finished Ruth Ozeki's remarkable A Tale for the Time Being, a pertinent mix of past and present, based on a found journal. It was both engrossing, and formidable...what sort of task am I setting for myself? Of the many intriguing elements, one was a Jungle Crow which visited a Canadian hamlet somewhat unexpectedly...
Later in the day, and closer to the project's objectives I read a 'novella' coincidentally with a Japanese theme...it felt forced and contrived after the beauty of Ozeki. I renewed my reservations, but for quite different reasons.
 |
| A feather, a metaphor... |
I went for my walk, camera in hand, to think...I found this feather. I didn't realise magpie feathers (for that is what I imagine it to be) had a touch of blue. On a writerly, readerly day, I imagined it was a sign from the Ozeki Jungle Crow...an awkward metaphor perchance but one from which I'm taking some encouragement.
[Camera : iPhone 4S, 5.53pm]
