The Construction of a Piece of Art – When a Poem Becomes a Novel

Probably the most intriguing thing I find about Vladimir Nabokov’s “Pale Fire” is the construction of the piece.  For as long as I can remember, and even at the beginning of class when we started talking about the literary canon and what it meant, I was never really able to wrap my brain around why a piece of literature was considered great.  I’ve been pondering what greatness in literature meant and that has led me to think about all the art forms.  Just because I like a particular piece of work certainly doesn’t make it great.  Sometimes my favorite song is despised by others as garbage.  I’ve read literary works that have bored me to tears and they are considered some of the greatest achievements in literature by others.

It seems as though I’ve had a breakthrough in my understanding of literary greatness after reading part of Nabokov’s “Pale Fire.”  At the beginning of the reading, I read it as poetry, understanding the stanzas and recognizing the meter and rhyme.  I was having difficulty understanding what was happening as I read it this way.  I decided just to start over and eliminate the rhyme and meter and just read the words using the punctuation as it was written and glossing over the poetic elements of it.  Then the story just started to appear in my head and I was intrigued.  Learning about the wife Sybil and the daughter he adored and eventually terrible tragedy that occurred when his poor, unfortunate daughter stepped through the ice on the lake and drown.

What started to happen to me as I read the story, it occurred to me, or my brain actually reminded me that it was in fact a poem!  In class, it was stated that this novel is something that is meant to be re-read and I certainly didn’t understand what that meant at the time.  Now I do.  I am in absolute awe at the construction of this piece of literature.  It doesn’t seem possible that someone would have the acumen to be able to sit down and construct something like this piece.  Make an entire story, give it depth, mood and make it interesting while incorporating it and constructing it into the stanzas and rhyme of a poem.  It doesn’t seem possible or at the very least a major undertaking.  I’m inspired by this work because of the sheer effort it must have taken to put it all together to make it work.  Just like I’m in awe of someone who can solve the mysteries of science and math, I’m in awe of Nabokov because of this achievement.  I haven’t even finished the piece yet but I’m intrigued, inspired and reminded that poetry takes on all forms in life…even novels.  Just because of this achievement, I understand somewhat how a piece becomes part of the literary canon and in my opinion Nabokov sealed his place on the list of greatness with “Pale Fire.”  Now I understand why a book like this was written to be re-read considering I’m already planning on another reading just to see what I’ve missed so far.  It’s almost like a good mystery now too. 

Question About the Death of Humanity

After reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, I find there are so many areas in which to delve so I’ve decided to touch on two that were striking to me.  The first of which is how one’s soul or even one’s heart can change.  We’ve all had occasions to change our minds about people.  One we thought was a friend surprised us, changed from someone we trusted, and became an enemy.  I am also intrigued with how the very nature of a person can sometimes change so drastically.  It reminds me of the questions I have regarding the Nazi soldiers in World War II.  These barbaric torturers were men that once led very normal lives.  They had wives, children, mothers and fathers and probably would never have even conceived of harming another person in the course of their day to day activities.  However, the war happened upon Europe and they were thrust into a situation that opened the door to their depravity.  They became blood-thirsty murders responsible for the deaths of millions of people for the crime of being Jewish.  When and how this switch occurs from regular human to murderous evil has always been a query of mine.

In reading Frankenstein, at the end of the story when the monster is standing over Victor’s dead body and speaking to Walton I was struck with this same question.  The monster stated he was created good and became the murderous monster he looked to be on the outside.  When he was created, he “felt the cheering warmth of summer, and heard the rustling of the leaves and the chirping of the birds” but because of the crimes he believed committed against him, he abandoned the beauty he perceived in the world and committed his existence to revenge, death and destruction.  I wonder if the same could be true of the Nazi’s or any other.  It made me think if perhaps Mary Shelley herself was commenting on how our own human nature can abandon us in the heat of rage and we forever leave behind the beautiful and surround ourselves with misery.

Another aspect of the story that I found interesting is that the creature, created by Victor, was a nameless demonic wretch throughout the novel.  The named character Victor was at the onset, a brilliant scientist, completely dedicated to creating the being and bringing life to dead tissue.  Surely his success would have resulted in recognition and ceaseless notoriety.  However, in the end, Victor dies alone and his brilliance dies along with him.  Ironic in that the nameless creature now lives on in the story as described by Walton to his sister who we can assume would have perpetuated the tale.  Even today, although it is only the media’s portrayal of the monster, when we think Frankenstein, we imagine the monster.  We imagine the creature even though the moniker Frankenstein belonged to Victor.  The monster who had no name, assumes the identity, and Victor disappears only to join the others who passed before him at the hand of his own creation.  Perhaps this could even be considered the creature’s final torment, essentially stealing both his life name and humanity.         

Where Ladies Fit Into Frankenstein

I wanted to attempt to find my own feminist reading of Frankenstein before I began researching what others have to say about the topic. I was first perplexed by the fact that the females in the story are rarely the focus of the tale, but ultimately the story lands into the hands of Margaret Seville. We never hear from this woman, but the message Shelley is sending is quite powerful. It is as if Shelley is saying here is my revolutionary work and it is for you (women) to really take hold of and own. Presumably, if Margret does not receive the letters from her brother the entire story disappears, and that seems to easily reflect how Frankenstein also functions. If women don’t get the message of the story, then the message will be lost. Once this is realized by the reader, it really helps build the idea that Shelly has in fact inserted feminist plots, and that she needs women to decipher them.

Shelly also seems to send the message that women who are traditionally beautiful and non confrontational meet a tragic fate. The women we get to know best are Victor’s mother, Elizabeth, and Justine and each woman meets a tragic end. While alive they are painted as pictures of perfection (pretty, patient, and not threatening to the men) and Shelley kills all of them. It could be that Shelley is asserting that being a traditionally proper pretty lady will only lead to a tragic end.

When it comes to the monster being a representation of a women I feel that it then makes Victor a representation of God because he is also a creator. When the monster asks for someone to be equal with, it would be the same as a female asking God to create a humble man who could appreciate women for their company not for their beauty. The monster’s cry for love would equate to the female’s plea for appreciation and the ugly monster companion would equate to a female getting a companion who seeks company not domination.  Though, I am not quite sure where to place the belligerent nature of the beast once he learns that he will not gain a companion. I believe this Shelley saying that if women cannot be respected that we should begin raising hell until men begin to respect us.

Perceptions and Expectations in Frankenstein

Despite having read Frankenstein before, revisiting this story on the back of Tristram Shandy, Cloud Atlas, and Northanger Abbey has unearthed some previously ignored aspects of the novel that are quite illuminating. Chief among them is this whole concept of the narrator. In the case of the previous three novels read in class, the narrator is (mostly) an actual person who is relating a story to a reader, who is either a specific person or anyone in general. Tristram Shandy, in particular, took this concept to a whole new level, with a narrator who does a terrible job at telling his life story, calling on the reader to read the book not as an autobiography, but as a story of someone who tries but fails at telling a proper autobiography.

Going into Frankenstein, a novel celebrated primarily for its horror themed plot, one expects the narrative to simply tell the story as it is. This is a story, after all, about a scientist who creates a monstrosity by dabbling into the forbidden sciences, and is thrown into a harrowing ordeal as he is tormented by his creation. What more could one ask for in a story to be drawn in? Alas, this is not necessarily the whole picture of Frankenstein.

It becomes increasingly clear within the first third of the story that there is another aspect to this story: that of one's perception of events and expectations of what lies beyond those perceptions. The monster is a scary hodgepodge of organic parts and as such Victor and the reader assume that it is inherently evil. In Chapter 7, the monster strangles William to death. A horrible thing to be sure, but is it really befitting the horrific nature of the creature? Most human beings are capable of strangling others to death. Why didn't the monster do something more grisly, like eat William and leave his mutilated remains on display? The story plays on our expectations of a monster to artificially inflate our perception of it as an unbelievably evil thing, even if its chosen manner of killing William isn't particularly monstrous.

However, on an even more implicit level, the actual narration of the story comes into question when the letters from Elizabeth and Alphonso start showing up. Throughout the narration, it is evident that Victor is narrating the events to Waldon, and not the reader. He frequently makes pauses in the middle of the story to directly address him before resuming. Therefore, as we read the story of Frankenstein, we are to assume at the same time that Victor is sitting there telling that very story to Walden as we read it. The problem is, how is it, then, that Victor can accurately recount what is said in these letters? It is hardly plausible that Victor, in his physically weakened state, is somehow able to recall every word of those letters with accuracy. As readers, we thus have to call Victor's reliability as a narrator into question, and this compromises the entire narrative as a result. Are we simply reading a story, or are we listening to a physically and mentally disheveled man recounting a story with no guarantee that his words aren't tainted by his biased perception of what actually happened?  

Frankenstein

While I was reading the first volume of Frankenstein, I was most captivated with Shelley’s romantic style. I was first tipped off when I read through the Letters section and the narrator, Robert Walton, really emphasizes his emotions. Walton wants so badly to connect with someone intellectually and spiritually, which are keys to the male figure during the Romantic Era. Furthermore, romanticism is also revealed through Frankenstein’s commentary about connecting with nature, as he says, “When happy, inanimate nature had the power of bestowing on me the most delightful sensations. A serene sky and verdant fields filled with ecstasy.” (last page of ch.6) Though the story has several other functions, it certainly does emphasize how the natural world directly impacts man’s life. It is important to take note of this style because it really jumpstarts the emphasis of the narrator and looking inward at one’s emotions and inner feelings.

Because of this romanticism, the primary men in the story are taking on what is seen to be a much more feminine role. The men express emotion and voice their love for nature and beauty, and this is traditionally something women would do. Walton and Frankenstein don’t always fit the previous eras’ characteristics of what it takes to be a man, but both men are suitable men for the romantic age. This new ideology helps build the idea that emotion does not necessarily equate to lack of strength or intelligence.

I can’t help but ponder the idea that maybe one of the reasons women were able to gain more and more respect in society after the nineteenth-century is not because women were perceived to be stronger and more evolved, but because authors like Shelley reveal how men actually have many stereotypically female traits. Instead of lifting women up to meet men’s expectations, men were subconsciously brought down to the female level making it harder to argue natural superiority.

Cloud Atlas: A Celebration of Storytelling

Having (initially) suffered through the indecipherable gobbledygook of Sloosha's Crossin' and having commenced on the descent of the novel's story arc, it became clearer and clearer to me that Cloud Atlas isn't so much an actual story as it is a celebration of the art of fiction writing. As the various chapters wrap themselves up, a sense of familarity starts to settle in, as if these formerly curious strangers were slowly revealing themselves to actually be old friends. Heroes arise and band together. Villains make themselves known. Nefarious plots  and hidden truths are revealed in a pattern not unlike the various books and movies we've engaged in.

To illustrate, in all the chapters, the ambiguous nature of the various characters slowly sharpen to set apart the good guys from the bad guys, often in various dramatic ways. In Sonmi 451, what was initially a conversation between an ascended fabricant and an archivist gradually turns into a battle of wits between a freedom revolutionary and an evil corporation's pawn. Sonmi becomes more flagrant in expressing her opinions and her revolutionary ideas to the archivist, rather than just telling her story. In turn, the archivist becomes more expressive himself, protesting Sonmi's heretical ideas. In the Pacific Journal, Henry Goose suddenly makes himself known as a real villain, poisoning Henry in an effort to steal his livelihood.

If I had read these stories as simply stories, then I would have been a bit disappointed. Nothing happens here that is particularly surprising. I've seen all of this before. However, one has to read Cloud Atlas as a whole. One of its major thematic points is that regardless of the circumstances of the world, whether it is ruled by corporations or annihilated in nuclear fire, and regardless of how people speak or look or think, there will always be people who are good and bad. There will always be people looking to exploit one another, people looking to simply get by, people who want to do the right thing, and numerous combinations of all of the above.

In making this point through its unique structure, Cloud Atlas also becomes a kind of love letter to storytelling. Its chapters stand wildly apart from one another in terms of setting, characters, plot, and voice. The abrupt shifts between these elements from chapter to chapter were difficult to not be annoyed by. Yet I think the reason I kept reading, and I think this is the same reason most people kept reading, was the element of storytelling that has compelled people to engage in stories since the beginning of the human race; this element of the human spirit, and the interplay and the battle between those that are good and those that are evil, and our eagerness to see which triumphs over the other. We have even made terms for these things: protagonist, antagonist, rising action, climax, falling action. The very existence of these terms revolves around the idea that stories are conflicts between something that is good and something that is evil, and these conflicts must be encased in a journey of sorts, and I think this is what Cloud Atlas is celebrating.

Mitchell's Style

David Mitchell worked incredibly hard to create a book filled with innovative literary techniques, but throughout the entire story I found myself wondering what his real intentions are. Obviously he wants to challenge the reader as he changes plots and syntax so abruptly, but is he as concerned with the actual substance of the novel as he is with creating all of his twists and connections?  Quite often during many of the stories, especially the Sonmi and Adam Ewing tales, I found myself reading without absorbing anything because I didn’t find the story to be very enticing. Now, I am not denying that I am probably just really missing the point here, but for some reason I feel something is absent from the novel.

Mitchell is extremely concerned with showing off his abilities to manipulate the plot with his changes in style, but the book would be even more enjoyable if he had fewer characters and a more developed narrative. Considering how many pages each story uses, it is pretty easy to sum up their entire tale in just a couple paragraphs. It seems to me that Mitchell is more concerned with his own mastery of each genera and language, than the actual substance of the story.

Furthermore, it took at least a few pages in each story for me to regain the ability to really understand what the characters were saying, and for an author that’s really risky. For example, Sloosha’s Crossin’ is my favorite story, but if I were reading it for leisure I would have set the book down after the 2^nd page, never to pick it up again. But, if Mitchell had cut back on some of the syntax, then his story becomes clearer, and he opens up more room to create an even more interesting storyline.

Now that Cloud Atlas is nearly 10 years old, I am curious to see how Mitchell would change the story, if at all. As the concept of having really twisty plots has popularized, I believe the book could become irrelevant because the storyline is not strong enough to hold its own against similar novels.