This was such a refreshing piece to read this Sunday morning. A lot of universals to think about, to relate to. I’m glad to meet you here on Substack! I look forward to more.
Lovely writing. I had a similar trajectory into Existentialism for a while. Kerouac junkie myself. My husband prefers Mailer :) Keep up the tussle between sadness/death and beauty.
"I get down on things sometimes." Happy is the death of good writing. I just made that up, but there's something to say about being the fox in the hunt : )
This is you at your best, Michael. The words read like they are spilling out of your heart. Put all of your musings on writing and what it means to you in a wider sense into a collection and voila, you have a writer's bible.
Beautifully expressed, Michael, your existential make-up. I remember in the movie “This much I know is True”, the Mark Ruffalo older brother character says something like ‘Evidence of God is in our connection to one another.’ That, to me, is god.
"Mailer grasped that writers were a mix of tough and weak, masculine and feminine, hard and soft, sensitive and brutal."
Definitely agree that many of the greatest writers possess these kinds of extremes within a single self. The contradictions to which Whitman referred? Maybe. I think people can find long enough periods of unchanging life if they try hard enough: some biographies I've read suggest such lives have already been lived. But I think for writers it can be a challenge. When Jack London was at home in California, he had the desire to leave; and when he was away, he had the desire to return. He could never reconcile those two visceral feelings.
Hemingway - as I know it - commented that ‘you know you’re having an adventure when you wish you were home in bed’ not an exact quote. Familiar with for many years and always proved true
This was such a refreshing piece to read this Sunday morning. A lot of universals to think about, to relate to. I’m glad to meet you here on Substack! I look forward to more.
Lovely writing. I had a similar trajectory into Existentialism for a while. Kerouac junkie myself. My husband prefers Mailer :) Keep up the tussle between sadness/death and beauty.
"I get down on things sometimes." Happy is the death of good writing. I just made that up, but there's something to say about being the fox in the hunt : )
“Life is a bellowing bucket of bad contradictions.”
Yes sir. The journey is the pouring out and refilling of those buckets. Keep writing brother. It is your gift. 🙏
Thanks, Dee.
That's some powerful writing, Michael. You chose the right path! I've bought The Crew on the back of it.
Awesome!! Thank you! Hope you enjoy it, and please review on Amazon!
This is you at your best, Michael. The words read like they are spilling out of your heart. Put all of your musings on writing and what it means to you in a wider sense into a collection and voila, you have a writer's bible.
That. Is. A. Fantastic. Idea.
Beautifully expressed, Michael, your existential make-up. I remember in the movie “This much I know is True”, the Mark Ruffalo older brother character says something like ‘Evidence of God is in our connection to one another.’ That, to me, is god.
Yes! Connection.
I use the acronym G.O.D. for Good Orderly Direction. Onward!
That's a good one, too :)
Writing is so cathertic, isn't it?
Absolutely!!
"Mailer grasped that writers were a mix of tough and weak, masculine and feminine, hard and soft, sensitive and brutal."
Definitely agree that many of the greatest writers possess these kinds of extremes within a single self. The contradictions to which Whitman referred? Maybe. I think people can find long enough periods of unchanging life if they try hard enough: some biographies I've read suggest such lives have already been lived. But I think for writers it can be a challenge. When Jack London was at home in California, he had the desire to leave; and when he was away, he had the desire to return. He could never reconcile those two visceral feelings.
Yes! That inner dialectic.
I don’t know who said it but “you know you’re home when you wanna go on an adventure and you know you’re on an adventure when you wanna go home.”
Love it.
Hemingway - as I know it - commented that ‘you know you’re having an adventure when you wish you were home in bed’ not an exact quote. Familiar with for many years and always proved true
Yes
Thank you. More Mailer reflections to come.
Michael, excellent piece of writing right there. Enjoyed reading it and in fact, I read it twice. Thanks for sharing. - Jim
Thank you, Jim! I'm starting to realize that I think readers like my very personal writing most, even more than the book reviews, politics, etc. Good to know. Thank you for reading. If you want more, you might consider my novel: https://www.amazon.com/Crew-Michael-Mohr/dp/B0CTRRBM6J/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8