The Big Ear: Stories

by Robin Hemley

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0895871645
• ISBN13: 9780895871640
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: John F. Blair, Publisher
• Length: 203 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Part II, Q & A with Robin Hemley

This is a continuation of my interview with Robin Hemley.Q: Among the famous authors of the past few centuries, whom do you consider to be the most boring to read?Hemley: For me, the hands-down winner is the French author Robbe-Grillet who could write a three-page description of a slice of tomato.And many literary theorists are quite adept at boring readers in the name of edification. But the list of those would be far too long.And even the most celebrated authors have written wonderful works as well as boring works. What we find boring changes over time. Shakespeare's epic poem, "Lucretia" comes to mind. In his own day, this was a famous work of his - I had to read it in college, and though I adore many of his plays, this poem was incredibly dry to me.Q: If you were asked to compile a three-book required reading list for the college students of America, which three books would you select?Hemley: Ack! I'd probably start with that biography you're forcing me to write.For me, that's one of those impossible questions. How could one possibly choose? Three books would be much too narrow for me. For that reason, I'd probably choose The Tao of Lao-Tze, The Illiad, and maybe the Old Testament. I'd want them taught in the original language, so the students would have to learn Chinese, Greek, and Aramaic. I might remove one of the latter two in favor of The Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, which I used to read as a kid. It has an introduction by Robert Graves and is pretty comprehensive, thought the version I have does not include Judaeo-Christian mythology, and should before I'd want to use it. I know the term "mythology" is out of vogue, but I'd use it as long as all belief systems fell under that category. That might be a substantial education: culturally, historically, spiritually, and in terms of language.Q: What is the function of your work? Entertainment? Social message? Something else altogether?Hemley: I'd like my work to be both entertaining as well as working towards discoveries. I'm not a writer who has a message in mind when he writes. Personally, I'm after discoveries, not messages. The highest kind of discoveries, and the most elusive, are spiritual discoveries. And to me, this is what many literatures have their roots in, the Eleusinian mysteries of ancient Greece, or the ontological tales that most cultures share.Q: What is your greatest work?Hemley: We end with a trick question. I'd love to have a greatest work, but right now I only have a "goodest work." And right now, my goodest work is, of course, the last book I wrote, which is something I think most writers want to believe. The last work they completed is the best, and the next one will be even better.

Rich characters

Robin Hemley's gift is in the detail, the nuance and the subtlety. In ten pages, he can develop characters more rich and layered than many authors do in a whole novel. These stories are warm, inviting and quietly moving.