april 6, 2012

French author Christine Montalbetti describes writing process

BY JAKE BARTMAN
Staff Writer

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

The Pioneer Log arts BY MARISSA FIELDER

Photographer

NOVEL READS
A Book Column

On Tuesday, April 3, the distinguished French writer Christine Montalbetti visited to speak about her writing career and ambitions for the future. Montalbetti is the author of five novels and a number of other works of literature that have won accolades across France and internationally, and of which several are even in the process of being translated into English. Montalbetti spoke primarily of her novels Western, Journe amricaine and Lvaporation de loncle. Western is an interesting take on the traditional Western film genre that has garnered attention both for its plot and for its use of innovative stylistic devices. Montalbetti compared her narration in parts of Western to scenes from films that have little outward action, but are tense and gripping as they leave the reader wondering what is about to happen. Nothing is happening, but take care because it could, Montalbetti explained. The author also noted her interest in small details. One scene in the novel focuses on bugs crawling by a characters

This photo was taken over spring break when I was kayaking in a mangrove forest off the gulf coast of Florida. I spent the week with some of my best friends who go to Eckerd College, and throughout that time I got a chance to experience an entirely new environment. This picture is an attempt to capture the feeling of gliding down canals of untouched floating forest and the quiet sense of space that surrounds you there. The branches are covered in crabs.

: Buckfast and Furious

Claire Cushing (12) and Lauren Lederman (12) host their show Wednesdays from 3 to 4 p.m.
Fiona: Tell me about your fan base. Claire: Our biggest fan is from Northern Ireland. He actually claims to be our biggest fan because he is six foot five. Most of our friends and family from all across the country listen in. Lauren: I was told once by people that run KLC that there were listeners from outside the U.S. and we said that was probably our show. We have listeners from Scotland, the U.K. and Ireland. Claire: We have a good friend group in the U.K. that listens regularly even though its midnight there. Fiona: How would your describe your dynamic as DJs? Lauren: We lovingly call each other DJ Led and DJ Cush. I think we both come with music we are interested in playing and then we play it. We do our research. We know what albums are coming out and when the artists are coming to Portland.

PHOTO FROM STATESMAN.COM

BY MARLY WILLIAMS
Staff Writer

PHOTO BY MAGGIE MCDERMUT

BY FIONA CORNER
Sports Editor

Fiona: Explain your show. Lauren: We started off the show with the tagline, We play musical caffeine, playing bouncy music for cloudy midday Portland weather. Claire: That was last spring, when that was our inspiration. If youve never heard of the drink Buckfast, its a tonic wine. It has tons and tons of caffeine in it. Lauren: Its pretty bad and disgusting. I mean, its caffeinated wine.

Its a dynamic cocktail between two opposing feelings. Even the playful side of my novels are mournful.
feet, create drama with its description of a potential massacre of the insects. Montalbetti also personifies inanimate objects in a way that is often hilarious, like a tumbleweed passing through town and a wad of paper that aspires to be like it. She explained that doing so creates a dialectic between humor and sadness. Its a dynamic cocktail between two opposing feelings. Even the playful side of my novels are mournful, she said. The author likes to mix large words and complex sentences into her prose, and occasionally addresses the reader directly. In Western, she encourages her readers to relax, and quit being so stiff, so that they might slide and toboggan through sentences. In a way, Im more comfortable with long sentences, she said. Montalbettis most recent novel Lvaporation de loncle takes place in Japan and uses similar techniques. She detailed her trip to Asia for inspiration, and noted that she is very affected by her environment when writing, which she called a physical activity. In her talk, Montalbetti indicated that the primary goal in her work is to connect with her readers and to carry them with her through the story. I would like the novel to be a place where we can share our experiences, she said. There are always three parties present [in the story] me, the reader and the characters.

Claire: Its an experience. And we have had this. We went to Scotland together and this is where the idea for a radio show started. We both had this gross experience drinking Buckfast and thought we would turn it into a joke. Lauren came up with Buckfast and Furious. We started out playing upbeat music. Now we play anything. Lauren: Thats part of our show. We like listener interaction, pop music, stuff from the 70s. Claire: Someone dedicated a song to a beard once and we played a Ruben Studdard song.

CONCERT TONIGHT: support Rock n Roll Camp For Girls

friends and our music. This festival is an opportunity to not only showcase local Portland bands to the LC student community, but also introduce underclassmen to a subculture of Portland in which they can define their own cultural experience for themselves. Headlining the festival is Grass Widow. [The band is] incredible they play intricate layers of simple sounding lines, but patterned together and integrated in a way that makes sense to the band that they are. Its so unique, said Seiler. Next is Deep Time, formerly named Yellow Fever, plays simple and catchy guitar-heavy songs; Youll be singing their melodies all day long, said Seiler. Following will be STLS, a drumcore duo featuring former members of Explode into Colors and The Haggard. Reynosa play upbeat cumbia latin punk, The second after you hear them, theyll be your new favorite band. Then, Like a Villain graces the stage, playing really minimalist Phillip Glass clarinet...She has this quintessential jazz voice and she uses the clarinet and loops it, and sings over it in this really eerie dark way. Its really intense and incredible, said Seiler. Mega Bog and Prank War will also play, followed by Sassfest, a product of the Rock n Roll Camp for Girls. The show certainly isnt one to miss, and the proceeds go to a good cause. Rock n Roll Camp for Girls is a non-profit summer camp that focuses on empowering girls ages eight to 17 through music creation and performance. The camp provides an accepting environment where girls can learn to shred, be and love themselves and learn about social activism through workshops and mentoring. Since 2001, the camp has grown tremendously and spurred the documentary, Girls Rock! The Movie. Although Adventures Close to Home is free for LC students, proceeds from raffle tickets will directly benefit the Rock n Roll Camp for Girls. Besides showcasing regional music, feminism and the Rock n Roll camp, Seiler hopes students and administration alike will take something meaningful from the event. This is going to be an annual thing, and I really hope that it is always in the hands of students, said Seiler. Its not just about Sunburn or a concert, its about trusting students to lead and make decisions, giving them that responsibility. If you think you have an idea that other students would be excited about, you totally have access to the resources to make it happen! Tonight, 4 p.m. to midnight, Stamm, free for students, $10 general public

POSTER BY DEANNA HORTON

CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE The festival provides an opportunity for LC students to experience music in a welcoming and all-ages environment. With many of Portlands all-ages venues closing in the past couple of years (notable The Artistery last spring), Adventures Close to Home presents an unfortunately rare pleasure. Many of the bands playing the festival are well-acquainted with the house show scene. House shows remain an entirely independently operated space where we can define our own cultural experience, said Seiler, We are sharing our houses, our

On a rainy Portland afternoon, it probably doesnt sound ideal to curl up with a nice cup of tea and over 400 pages of literary criticism. English majors see literary criticism as a regular, though not exactly beloved, part of their academic career, while everyone else most likely dismisses it as unbearably pointless and dry. Getting most people to read fiction is hard; getting people to read non-fiction is even harder. For a nation of people who can barely read books themselves, reading books about books seems like a laughably high order. However, Geoff Dryers Otherwise Known as the Human Condition may very well change the way many people view two daunting and often overlooked literary genres: non-fiction essay and literary criticism. The book, released last April, recently won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism. The New York Times also ranked it among 2011s Top 10 Non-Fiction works. Geoff Dryer has written four highly acclaimed novels, most recently Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi, and is a regular critic and essayist. Otherwise Known as the Human Condition is a collection of Dryers essays published over the last 20 years. He describes the contents of the book as a compilation of bits and bobs from his writing career. These highly entertaining and intelligent bits and bobs include essays about Rebecca West, Ian McEwen, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Albert Camus. Many other essays will also intrigue the less literary minded folk, such as the pieces about ecstasy, Def Leppard, haute couture and the infinite joys of having sex in hotel rooms. In the book, Dryer asserts that there is no real divide between the literary critic who reflects on, analyzes and reviews novels and the person who writes those novels him- or herself. Both play equally important roles in illuminating our understanding and appreciation of literature as well as our notion of the sweeping and ubiquitous human condition. People dont usually turn to literary criticism or a book of essays for entertainment, personal enlightenment or artistic fulfillment. Dryers book will change that. It is entertaining and educational while also brimming with resonant wisdom, philosophical depth and great emotional power. Dryer reminds us why humans need art and encourages us to experience and appreciate it as often and as fully as possible. Art, for Dryer, is just something otherwise known as the human condition.