Revels before Lent

[SleepyWitch]

Well, gee, I'll take a stab at interpretation, if only to show what a simple dolt I am. I see a couple of things going on in this story. I took the story to be about how Julia's life has, up to this point, been on hold, placed in the background in favor of a focus on academia. She seems socially and emotionally stilted as a result, and realizes (without expressed realization) that there's something missing only when it is presented to her in a mediocre form, to which she instantly succumbs. She is certainly not emotionally dead, as shown by her concern for the boy in the beginning, but emotion has taken on a secondary significance for her, which makes her somewhat harsh and calculating (as you said above, your friend is nicer than Julia.) She is innately lacking any desire for personal (romantic/emotional) attachment, as shown in her choice of friends, viz. the homosexual Roland, and her choice of liaison with an absolutely off-limits man. As for regarding academia as the main perpetrator in this outcome, I couldn't say that it's necessarily about the effect of a prolonged acquaintance with academia, but more about anything that could have this effect of relegating one's personal life to a secondary importance, and the insistence that life will reassert itself eventually. Also, it seems that Julia lives in a constantly updating mind. She doesn't seem to have the capacity to make solid plans (not that there's anything in the story that makes this explicit, just the feeling I get) nor is she able or willing to dwell on the immediate past (as implicit in the fact that she's working continually in stages on marking papers, and throughout the story saving documents and moving on to something else.)

I like your interpretation a lot! except for the passage I've highlighted. The reason why she doesn't mark all the papers in one go is because that conference keeps her busy. Another person would maybe not mark the papers at all at this stage and do it the following week (which would cause some inconvenience for her students because they'd have to wait for their marks longer).
but you are right that she sort of drifts into the Bernhard thing and that's were the irony is: she's very organized when it comes to her work and certainly knows how to deal with silly students, but when it comes to her personal life, it's a different story

and come to a clearer conclusion

I will work on that *one of these days* (when Sleepy says that, it usually means sometime between now and the day I die )

[SleepyWitch]

I still don't understand why Roland and the incident with the kid who gets attacked are in the story

yep, you're right: the transition from the first to the second part is veeeeery clumsy.
but here's why I still want the incident with the boy to be in there:

Don't wallow in self-pity. She told herself, but the thought that she had been able to help the boy had a coppery tinge, it could not make up for the fact that she lived in a world where little kids drank themselves senseless and tried to kill each other. But what am I supposed to do about it?
Of course, she had wanted to take a different route to her aunt's home in the first place, but Roland had taken a wrong turn.
Julia squared her shoulders defiantly. She had never really understood why Naturalist writers were so fascinated by the scum they called 'real' people, why they relished rolling in the grime and filth like swine roll in the mud. What could that possibly teach us about ourselves? How did elevating all that blood and soot onto the plane of literature contribute to making those things go away? How did it relate to humanity? No, her job was to stick to what she was best at, to cling on to the good, the true and the beautiful. There needed to be something the antisocials could look up to,....

I don't know if it comes across very clearly, but as I see it Julia is a bit frustrated about the world around her. She doesn't like violence, ugly things etc. But the incident with the boy doesn't turn her into a socialist heroine who sets out to save the world and do something to help people like the boy.
Rather, her frustration makes her withdraw and hate the world as it is, because she can't do anything about it.
She decides she needs to cling on to the beautiful things in life...
And what is her brilliant solution: she resorts to random middle class adultery.
---> Julia, you're full of sh**

[Jean-Baptiste]

well, I'm glad I wasn't entirely off base. Yes, I can understand your explanation for the papers; notice I left a way out for myself on that bit about plans.

I agree somewhat with Virgil on the beginning situation. I think it is definitely a necessary part of the story, but as you say, the transition is sketchy. I think you should be able to bring out its significance a bit more, without stopping the story for explanations. Perhaps a sentence or two strewn in later would do the trick.

[Virgil]

yep, you're right: the transition from the first to the second part is veeeeery clumsy.
but here's why I still want the incident with the boy to be in there:

OK, it can work, but I think it does need to be better integrated.

I don't know if it comes across very clearly, but as I see it Julia is a bit frustrated about the world around her. She doesn't like violence, ugly things etc. But the incident with the boy doesn't turn her into a socialist heroine who sets out to save the world and do something to help people like the boy.
Rather, her frustration makes her withdraw and hate the world as it is, because she can't do anything about it.
She decides she needs to cling on to the beautiful things in life...
And what is her brilliant solution: she resorts to random middle class adultery.
---> Julia, you're full of sh**

Her frustration is there. Although it could be sharper. What may be missing is the regret or whatever she feels after. Perhaps our differences are because of our writing styles. You seem to prefer subtlety and I prefer clarity. I guess the question you should ask yourself is, when is it too subtle?

random middle class adultery.

Are you implying that the upper and lower classes don't have random adultery?

[Matsiah]

Are you and I two pieces of a mind split asunder? Through all of your thunder I sat, only to hear similar sounds between storms. All the while, wearing ear plugs. To you I cast hypothetical hugs. - But seriously, without fully reading your most recent stories, I found similarities to already written writing of my own - that have never been posted - when only observing the first paragraph. I'll read this lengthy story through soon, and cast back info from Matt's black...Processor.

[SleepyWitch]

hi Mats,
thanks for your comment
why don't you post your stories?

[SleepyWitch]

Are you implying that the upper and lower classes don't have random adultery?

nope I'm not implying that, but I think the lower classes make less fuss about it.. for them it's not such a big issue or rather they just do it without blowing it up into a big tragedy....

[Matsiah]

slightly timid when posting works I want to publish. I have an interest in freelance but I'm really wanting to write a novel. Therefore, every 'story' I write is potential publication - least in my mind. Listings are easy, it's sticking to writing that's hard; which is odd, when hearing so many struggles of pursuing publication. Going off what I've read, the trick is a good query letter and a elegant manuscript. Then, simply have a meaningful and proper story. Anyway, I can't post one that you reminded me of, because it is a novel and is slightly scattered around - between computer and paper. Basically with that, I used a character by the name of Roland, as a base character. It's a good name. Also, the recently posted story about the lake, was vary similar in various aspects. I could post that... 'Tis not concluded; however, lively at genesis. I'm still considering a new title but it is currently: (A) Treacherous Lake. I'll post it now.

[Matsiah]

I'm struggling to post because: I'm roughly 2000 words above average. I would revise, but, 2000 words? I'm curious, must those attachments be in MS Word format?

[Logos]

Matsiah, its easy if you want to post a story, just break it up into (two or more) sections (depending on how long it is) and post it in multiple posts to the same topic.

[Jay]

Unless you're talking about the short story competition, in which case 2000 words is the nonnegotiable limit

And yes, MS Word format. If you're using OpenOffice, just save it as .doc, not sure about other applications though. (this part applies for short story competition as well)

[Virgil]

Poor Sleepywitch is having her thread hijacked.

[SleepyWitch]

yeah, all those nasty moderators coming here to post off-topic msgs
but at least that way the thread stays active

[zanna]

Hey sleepy!
I really liked your story. Good stuff. Very sophisticated, and nitty-gritty reality. All I can write is mush, currently. Roland seems like a half-character to me, like I just met him, but don't really know him yet. You've said over and over that it's only part of the whole story, so I'll let ya off the hook. If you ever get the rest of the story out, let us read it, so we can get to know the other characters better. And, I like the thoughts that Julia "thinks" that we can "hear." I'm a fan of using that every once in a while, too. Best of luck with your work.

[SleepyWitch]

Hey sleepy!
I really liked your story. Good stuff. Very sophisticated, and nitty-gritty reality. All I can write is mush, currently. Roland seems like a half-character to me, like I just met him, but don't really know him yet. You've said over and over that it's only part of the whole story, so I'll let ya off the hook. If you ever get the rest of the story out, let us read it, so we can get to know the other characters better. And, I like the thoughts that Julia "thinks" that we can "hear." I'm a fan of using that every once in a while, too. Best of luck with your work.

thanks
er, actually that is the whole story... Uncle Pen suggested I should make it the first chapter of a novel, but actually i can't see that happening.
the Roland bit is the first part of this story and the Uncle Bernhard thing is the second part, if that's what you mean?