To Read & To Write

A work of art can be understood as something to one, and something completely different to another. And then, it means something to the author. Sometimes there is a line of clarity, where everyone agrees, and other times the ideas produced by a work are so vastly different that we wonder how to make sense of it at all. We all know and have felt this frenzied state of interpretation. Moreover, we go back to old and new pieces time and time again; a song, a book, a poem, a painting, and as we experience it there is another realization: that time itself has changed the thing, placing it into newer, broader categories of meaning and truth. A.S. Byatt's Possession , winner of the Man Booker Prize in 1990, is a perfect representation of that kaleidoscopic manifestation of art, lived by its creator and then posthumously, and then into academic elucidation. The story, which claims many voices, is mastered by the study of what begins as a singular poet: Randolph Henry Ash. The stud...

Marianne Williamson's “Everyday Grace: Having Hope, Finding Forgiveness, and Making Miracles” is a magical book on how we can live life better and more fully, every moment of our lives. This book is addressed to everyone, and starts off with a wonderful interpretation of the Harry Potter world, in which we all start off as plain Muggles and find the magic within our lives with a little help. Further on, there are deeply moving interpretations of fairy tales, such as Cinderella: “When Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother waved her wand… a shimmering energy of golden light surrounded the object of her attention… mice turned into horses, a pumpkin turned into a carriage, and rags turned into a beautiful ball gown. Translated: People around us, once we have shown more faith in them, show up for us more powerfully than we had thought them capable; a job we had thought beneath us, once we throw our creativity into it, becomes the vehicle for great success, our lack in some area, once changed...