For my first MFA submission, I'm reading Eudora Welty's autobiography and a bunch of her stories. I've read some of the more famous ones, like Why I Live at the PO, before. But not much else. I'm not finding her stories all that engaging--I think because there is a lot of distance between the narrator and the story, so I don't feel as connected to the characters as I'd like (here's the seminar I took on narrative distance coming in handy!). But at the same time, I find the stories really sticking with me for a reason I can't yet articulate.
Have you read Eudora before? What do you think? I'd love to hear feedback from other readers!
4 comments:
I've found that a lot of my students have a hard time getting into Eudora's work--mostly because of the narrative distance, but also because her characters are so strange and hard to relate to. Reading her autobiography might help. She definitely wrote about where she came from, so that might give you some insight. "A Worn Path" is one of my favorites by her...
Erin, that's so funny you say that cause I just read that one! Can you tell me what you liked about it so much? Or maybe this is a discussion best for coffee and brunch???
I had the same pairing last semester, and found myself similarly unengaged (esp with the memoir for some reason). I decided to *really* read for craft and that changed everything. She is quite a master at drawing characters and uses dialogue to do it really well. And I really liked "why I live at the p.o." I still prefer Alice Munro, and not just because she's Canadian. Funny you saying that you're not so into the blog this week because I've been all impressed with how much you're blogging.
I too had those same books assigned and also had a bit of trouble- mainly because her style I found quite formal (dated perhaps?)
At least you're blogging.
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