20th-century English Literature
Transcript: THE SHORT STORY: Kurt Vonnegut on how to write a short story: Katherine Mansfield “W. M. Bannatyne & Co., Ltd. “10th Octbr., 1907. “Dear Sir:— “My daughter, Kathleen, has shown me the letters you have written in respect to her literary contributions, and I desire to thank you sincerely for the practical encouragement you have given her. At the same time, I should like to assure you that you need never have any hesitation in accepting anything from her upon the asumption that it may not be original matter. She, herself, is, I think, a very original character, and writing—whether it be good or bad— comes to her quite naturally. In fact, since she was eight years of age, she has been producing poetry and prose [...] “As to Kathleen's statement concerning her age, this, I notice, you politely question, but I can assure you that she spoke quite correctly when she told you she was only eighteen years old. “Until the close of 1906 she was a student at a college in London, and left that institution to return to New Zealand with me, and other members of my family, in October of that year. I may add that she has always been an omnivorous reader, and posesses a most retentive memory. [...] “In concluding, may I ask you to be kind enough to treat this as a private letter and not to mention to Kathleen that I have written you concerning her. “I am, “Yours very truly “Harold Beauchamp.” “47 Fitzherbert Terrace “Wellington. “23. ix. 07. “E. J. Brady, Esq. “Dear Sir— “Thank you for your letter— I liked the peremptory tone—With regard to the Vignettes I am sorry that (they) resemble their illustrious relatives to so marked an extent—and assure you—they feel very much my own—This style of work absorbs me at present but—well—it cannot be said that anything you have of mine is ‘copied’—Frankly—I hate plagiarism. “I send you some more work—practically there is nothing local—except the ‘Botanical Gardens’ Vignette. The reason is that for the last few years London has held me very tightly—and I've not yet escaped. “You ask for some details as to myself. I am poor— obscure—just eighteen years of age—with a voracious appetite for everything—and principles as light as my prose— “If this pleases you—this MSS.—please know there is a great deal more where this came from— “I am very grateful to you and very interested in your magazine— “Sincerely “K. M. Beauchamp.” Bliss: the Beginning of Katherine Mansfield http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/bliss-2011 "It seems to me very important that women should learn how to write." Letter to Katherine Mansfield. 1921. 13 November 1913 [to J.M. Murray] I am reviewing Virginia to send tomorrow. It's devilish hard. Talk about intellectual snobbery -her books reeks of it. (But I can't say so). You would dislike it. You'd never read it. It's so long and so loathsome... Virginia Woolf Virginia Woolf by Vanessa Bell Virginia Woolf by Roger Fry, 1917. Kew Gardens December 25, 1927 An Impressionistic Sketch By THE NEW YORK TIMES KEW GARDENS By Virginia Woolf Kew Gardens," despite the appearance as a large, thin book, is really very short - nothing more than an impressionistic sketch. Mrs. Woolf transports us to Kew Gardens on a hot Summer day, permits us to see there six or eight people, most of them in couples, who are caught momentarily as they pass by, and gives us a picture of the gardens themselves. The sketch has not body enough to be in any sense important. The people who pass by are recognizable by class or type, but they are human beings only superficially. In fact it is the flowers and trees of Kew Gardens, the hot, sultry air, which are most vivid. For this piece, like all of Mrs. Woolf's work, has distinction of style; and, though it is not equal to her best writing, it has her characteristic quality. A random quotation will reveal Mrs. Woolf's both observant and poetic eye: "How hot is was! So hot that even the thrush chose to hop, like a mechanical bird. In the shadow of the flowers, with long pauses between one movement and the next; instead of rambling vaguely the white butterflies danced one above the other, making their white shifting flakes the outline of a shattered marble column above the tallest flowers; *** and in the drone of the aeroplane the voice of the Summer sky murmured its fierce soul." "Kew Gardens" is a trifle, but a pleasing for those who admire sensitive impressionism. Kew Gardens Camille Pissarro, 1892. Path to the Great Glass House, Camille Pisarro, 1892. Woman with Parasol in the Garden. Renoir, 1875. Kew Gardens Lucien Pissarro, 1892 River with Poplars Roger Fry, 1912 The Flageolet Player on the Beach Paul Gaugin, 1889 James Joyce Joyce's childhood in Dublin Joyce, when I knew him first, was a student in the Old Royal University [...]. He was very noticeable among the crowd of students that frequented the National Library [...]. He was tall and slender then, with a Dantesque face and steely blue eyes. His costume as I see him in my mind’s eye now included a peaked cap
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