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richardwells's review against another edition
5.0
Just finished reading this the second time through. Its luminosity has not faded.
This is one of the few (of many) books on writing that actually taught me a thing or two. Highly recommended.
This is one of the few (of many) books on writing that actually taught me a thing or two. Highly recommended.
donasbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Instagram Review: www.instagram.com/p/B-splargELz/
I don't know what to say about this book. I know why they gave Annie Dillard the Pulitzer though. Her syntax is like a mix of honey and glue and I love getting stuck in her predicates.
Goodreads says I have read this book twice, and I have, read it through twice. But this is one of the books I read when I have writer's block. And because of the nature of my disability's expression, I am often blocked. I am a blockhead who plays with blocks in a block-shaped world. My opportunities to write come from water splitting through the wood, and sometimes what breaks the grain is a book. Like this one. And so I read The Writing Life endlessly, and have read it countless times. Sometimes I read only five pages, or sometimes I read it all the way up until Annie moves into her shed in the cold woods in the Pacific Northwest. Until I look with her at that bed in the corner and it reminds me, not her, of something, and that something pulls me to my desk every single time we reach the shed.
And sometimes I rub her cover and put the book back on the shelf, because I know I could not bear her sticky sentences. I would work to avoid it at all costs, and so I drag myself to the desk.
Annie Dillard's The Writing Life isn't a magical book, nor does it turn me into a psychologically compromised woman in its presence. It is a powerful text, capable of exerting powerful influence over those who read it. Especially those readers who happen to be creatives. Especially if those creatives happen to struggle with block or other challenges of process. It's a very short text, so if you hate it, the good news is, you won't have to hate it for very long.
Everyone stay safe and don't rub your eyes with your sleeves!
I don't know what to say about this book. I know why they gave Annie Dillard the Pulitzer though. Her syntax is like a mix of honey and glue and I love getting stuck in her predicates.
Goodreads says I have read this book twice, and I have, read it through twice. But this is one of the books I read when I have writer's block. And because of the nature of my disability's expression, I am often blocked. I am a blockhead who plays with blocks in a block-shaped world. My opportunities to write come from water splitting through the wood, and sometimes what breaks the grain is a book. Like this one. And so I read The Writing Life endlessly, and have read it countless times. Sometimes I read only five pages, or sometimes I read it all the way up until Annie moves into her shed in the cold woods in the Pacific Northwest. Until I look with her at that bed in the corner and it reminds me, not her, of something, and that something pulls me to my desk every single time we reach the shed.
And sometimes I rub her cover and put the book back on the shelf, because I know I could not bear her sticky sentences. I would work to avoid it at all costs, and so I drag myself to the desk.
Annie Dillard's The Writing Life isn't a magical book, nor does it turn me into a psychologically compromised woman in its presence. It is a powerful text, capable of exerting powerful influence over those who read it. Especially those readers who happen to be creatives. Especially if those creatives happen to struggle with block or other challenges of process. It's a very short text, so if you hate it, the good news is, you won't have to hate it for very long.
Everyone stay safe and don't rub your eyes with your sleeves!
kathrinpassig's review against another edition
4.0
Viele aufeinandergestapelte Metaphern und Anekdoten mit ein paar sehr interessanten Stellen dazwischen.
sarahellen's review against another edition
4.0
Beautifully written, full of imagery and metaphor. If you're looking for an informational or instructional book on writing, look elsewhere.
gossamer_lens's review against another edition
4.0
A little full of itself at points, but overall an interesting and passionate love letter to the practice and inner demand of a writer to write. Inspired me with a few thoughts applicable to my own writing. More invigorating than any "how to write" manuals.
caitlin_89's review against another edition
1.0
Yawn.
I've never read Annie Dillard, but based on how she writes about herself writing, I don't think I want to. Her quote on the cover about a work-in-progress becoming an untamed lion as soon as you leave it alone for more than a day or two was brilliant and vibrant and funny and struck a nerve that made me want to read the whole book, except... that was the best bit.
The rest of the book was philosophical poetry about what a tedious, soul-sucking drag it is to be compelled to build sentence after sentence in the name of some nebulous art.
Tldr: "Sucks to be a writer, but some of us who are blessed with good taste and true intelligence and the passion for consuming literature must be cursed with the burden of adding more art to the world that maybe no one will care about." - A.D.
Boo.
I've never read Annie Dillard, but based on how she writes about herself writing, I don't think I want to. Her quote on the cover about a work-in-progress becoming an untamed lion as soon as you leave it alone for more than a day or two was brilliant and vibrant and funny and struck a nerve that made me want to read the whole book, except... that was the best bit.
The rest of the book was philosophical poetry about what a tedious, soul-sucking drag it is to be compelled to build sentence after sentence in the name of some nebulous art.
Tldr: "Sucks to be a writer, but some of us who are blessed with good taste and true intelligence and the passion for consuming literature must be cursed with the burden of adding more art to the world that maybe no one will care about." - A.D.
Boo.