Notes from Around the Block- Olive the trees have olives
- Wanda Hickey and the Frog Pond
- A recently discovered DNA thread: forwarding news articles
- A Bride in Blue
- The Gates to a President’s Hell: Water and the IRS
- Marriage in Oxymoronica
- The Present Moment
- If your life were a book
- From the mouths of old babes
- The Atlanta Teachers’ Onion, then and now
-
Category Archives: On fiction
The Present Moment
by cheri block Yoga has taught me to push my mind back to the present moment every time it strays. I find this effort rewarding but challenging. Staying in the present moment is experiential; that is, we guide ourselves into, … Continue reading
Posted in Life, On fiction
Tagged Buddhism, mindfulness, Naturalism, Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage, yoga
19 Comments
If your life were a book
by cheri block We all have a life story. It has a plot and subplots, many settings, and a host of characters. Most of us like to focus on our life theme. We might remember ourselves in this way: My … Continue reading
Kafkaesque
by cheri block I’m back at it this morning. “It,” you ask. “What is it?” It is my evolving definition of the term Kafkaesque. Oh sure, definitions of this adjective abound in all sizes and shapes. As Frederick Karl said … Continue reading
Posted in Life, On fiction
Tagged California, California public education, City of Fremont, Franz Kafka, Frederick Karl, Kafkaesque, W.G. Sebald
33 Comments
My Thesis, Entry Two: On writing well…one critic’s view
by cheri block I’ve been reading a number of essays on Kafka and today, I came across a provocative paragraph written by David Constantine, a German language and literature professor who retired from Oxford in 2000. He writes about Kafka’s … Continue reading
Posted in On fiction, Writing and Teaching
Tagged Kafka, Writing, Writing a Master's Thesis
31 Comments
Franz Kafka and Me
by Mrs. Sabraw Sometimes, when you are sure that your experience is unique, it helps to read the classics. My students used to moan and roll their youthful eyes, eyes full of whim and mischief, whenever they saw a stack … Continue reading
Literary Criticism at LAX
by cheri block My daughter Sara (also an English major and teacher) called me to make sure I hadn’t gotten into any trouble at the airport. “Hi Mom, how’s it going down there?” ” Ahh, Sara, the usual cast of … Continue reading
Posted in Life, On fiction, People, Writing and Teaching
Tagged Dr. William M. Chace, Gilead, Illiad, LAX, literary seepage, Sara, Stanford
27 Comments
Does Sir Thomas More live a real life?
by cheri block From Ivan Ilych to Bob Miller to Sir Thomas More… I continue to assess their lives by comparing my criteria to their life experience. Here is my bit about playwright Robert Bolt’s characterization of Sir Thomas … Continue reading
Does Jane Smiley’s Bob Miller live a real life?
by cheri block When Scotty McLennan assigned Jane Smiley’s novella Good Will as part of the curricula for his class The Meaning of Life: A Spiritual and Moral Inquiry Through Literature, I had never heard of the book. I began … Continue reading
Posted in On fiction, Writing and Teaching
Tagged Good Will, how to live a real life, Jane Smiley
17 Comments
Does Ivan Ilych live a “real” life?
by cheri block Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilych is worth the read. In my paper, How to Live a Real Life, I evaluate Judge Ilych’s life (which is really a death) and his death (which is really a life). … Continue reading
Posted in Education, On fiction, Writing and Teaching
Tagged a real life, mindfulness, Tolstoy
20 Comments
Joe and Siddhartha
by cheri block Had his lungs and heart held out for just six more months, Joe would have been eighty years old today. His presence in my life was like a bonfire that burned for forty-five years with an endless … Continue reading
