On my birthday I went to dinner and a movie with my parents. We saw Brothers Bloom, which was really good. It's a con-men caper reminiscient of classic movies. Of the two brothers, Stephen is kind of the mastermind - he plans cons like he's writing a story. The ending is very touching and one of the last lines is this (paraphrased probably. I'm going with memory which is not perfect):
...............What we do now is we live like we're telling the greatest story ever told.
It's a wonderful idea, and a lovely way to end the movie. But how possible is it to really live a great stroy from start to finish? Very few people have the rescources or drive to have a really fascinating plot summary. Those who do seem to die young. Take Errol Flynn, for example. He was born in Australia, got kicked out of several schools, owned a plantation, sailed around god knows where, and was a hollywood star by the time he was 30. He inspired the phrase "in like Flynn," married three actresses (not all at once), developed an addiction to morphine. Adventures ensued on and off screen until he died at 50. And that's just the bare bones of his life. Just the blurb on his book inspires excitement!
My personal plot summary will likely be pretty typical: School, Work, Marriage, Retirement. The only stand out moments will be when I was sick and if something amazing happens (like publishing a book or winning a Tony for my play). In the overall scheme of things, those are pretty small blips in an otherwise ordinary life.
I prefer to live like I'm telling a series of vingettes. The over-arching storyline is not so important. I think it's better that way; to live life like you're telling a series of short stories; a volume of poignant moments that are held together by the overall progression of life. The little moments that fall inbetween the story are the ones worth reading.
8 comments:
If you get a play produced, I promise to go see it. :)
You have plenty of time to sail around the world and own a plantation. No worries.
-Rusty
P.S.
I'm not your 'net stalker or whatever, but I did add you on Twitter. :)
-Rusty
I on the other hand am your net stalker.
I know what you've been up to on the internets and I'm very unhappy.
What have I been up to on the internets for you to be unhappy about?
It's been fun reading and at times contributing (mostly positively I hope!) to your blog, this past year or two.
Good luck with your writing Cassie.
- Rusty D.
Thanks Rusty! It's been nice having you here.
Interesting... Good Thoughts, I may have to go looking for this movie, btw. If you have enough interesting short stories, then it does become an interesting overarching storyline.
Olive Juice!
No. It becomes a very interesting and well selected volume of related short stories. Read as a whole, there can be eked some sort of overarching story, but it is unimportant to the volume and each story can stand perfectly well on its own.
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