Ask the Author: Ken Craft
Answered Questions (18)
Ken Craft
Hi, Richard, and sorry I missed your first question. I'm of two minds. I buy into the concept of yin and yang and how the cosmos is nurtured by the balance of opposites, right down to the most spectacular human examples of good and evil. On the other hand, many children experience joy without ever having experienced suffering (though that will come).
As for Tolstoy, I'm a big fan of the character Levin in ANNA KARENINA. Second would be WAR & PEACE (I particularly like Nikolai and his sister Natasha, as well as Prince Andrei's epiphany lying on the battlefield and looking up at the sky above Austerlitz).
Short story-wise, I enjoyed "The Cossacks" and all of The Sevastapol Tales. I also liked the early story "The Snowstorm." Of the later work, I'm partial to "Master and Man," but in truth, it's been a while since I've read LNT, so these memories are as hazy as they are fond.
As for Tolstoy, I'm a big fan of the character Levin in ANNA KARENINA. Second would be WAR & PEACE (I particularly like Nikolai and his sister Natasha, as well as Prince Andrei's epiphany lying on the battlefield and looking up at the sky above Austerlitz).
Short story-wise, I enjoyed "The Cossacks" and all of The Sevastapol Tales. I also liked the early story "The Snowstorm." Of the later work, I'm partial to "Master and Man," but in truth, it's been a while since I've read LNT, so these memories are as hazy as they are fond.
Ken Craft
Thanks for the rec, Alan. The only other Shapiro I've read (and much enjoyed) is The Year of Lear, which focuses on 1606. I will be sure to check out the 1599 outing in 2021.
Ken Craft
Hi, Melissa. Thanks for reading my post about Hugo's Rules of Thumb for Poets. Alas, I am one of those outliers who does not participate in Facebook. That said, I'm happy to encourage those reading this to both "like" and "follow" the Richard Hugo FB page and to read your stepfather's fine work while they're at it! Good luck to you!
Ken Craft
From Frost: "The best way out is always through." From Thoreau: "A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone."
From Montaigne: "Confidence in others' honesty is no light testimony of one's own integrity." From Voltaire: "Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do." And from Jane Kenyon: "Be a good steward of your gifts. Protect your time. Feed your inner life. Avoid too much noise. Read good books, have good sentences in your ears. Be by yourself as often as you can. Walk. Take the phone off the hook. Work regular hours."
From Montaigne: "Confidence in others' honesty is no light testimony of one's own integrity." From Voltaire: "Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do." And from Jane Kenyon: "Be a good steward of your gifts. Protect your time. Feed your inner life. Avoid too much noise. Read good books, have good sentences in your ears. Be by yourself as often as you can. Walk. Take the phone off the hook. Work regular hours."
Ken Craft
Yes, I found Vol. 1 of "My Struggle" the strongest, but after reading five, am determined to see it through when the final volume comes out (in the States) this fall. As for KOK's love life: TMI!
Ken Craft
I will be happy to look in my edition of Herbert's collected poems, but a friend has borrowed the book and I will not see her again until later this month. I will get back to you then!
Ken Craft
Ted, I think you will find answers to your questions in this interview with the sherpa himself: https://kencraftpoetry.wordpress.com/...
Ken Craft
You can always contact me via my profile page, Jessaka. Just click "Send Message" and your note will arrive via Goodreads mail (a sight faster than the USPS). Thanks for checking out my poetry. I've a way to go before I'm Li Po, but you have to start somewhere!
Ken Craft
"Everything in this document is just boilerplate. Sign here."
Ken Craft
Thanks for the question, Austin. I go with my instincts and teach works I like and I think my students will like. With poetry, for instance, when you ask students to simply mark their favorite lines, they almost always circle poetic elements, proving that good writing, identified as a literary element or not, is good writing. Thus, over time and with much reading, student writers become immersed in good literature. They begin first to imitate the work of the greats and then begin to branch off into their own styles using their own voices. The bottom line: reading feeds writing, and vice-versa.
Ken Craft
Hannibal, Missouri's lazy summer--Listening to the cicada-eternal, adventuring the Mississippi, and enjoying the freedom from responsibility and mortality that comes with boyhood.
Ken Craft
I like to read a classic I've never read and reread one I have read, but long ago. This summer those choices will probably be DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP or A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN (former) and DUBLINERS (latter). Beyond that, I hope to make inroads on my "To Read" list, which you can browse here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Ken Craft
The mysteries in my life would make for a lousy book where nothing happens. One that might only please readers who enjoy character studies. Or mood pieces, maybe. With description aplenty. But plot, in the Hollywood sense? No.
For that reason, I'm the last writer in the world who would pen a memoir. I lack alcoholic, abusive parents. I have no violent siblings. And there was too much Mayberry in my RFD upbringing, all of which helped to develop a melodramatic imagination to fill in the blanks (and then some).
Good question, though!
For that reason, I'm the last writer in the world who would pen a memoir. I lack alcoholic, abusive parents. I have no violent siblings. And there was too much Mayberry in my RFD upbringing, all of which helped to develop a melodramatic imagination to fill in the blanks (and then some).
Good question, though!
Ken Craft
Glad you liked it! God knows we could all use a little more joy. Not sure what "PM" choice means, but that's OK.
Ken Craft
I like Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley, the dysfunctional drinkers in Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, because they are good metaphors for so many "modern couples." They can but they can't. They love each other but they don't. And they try but they fail.
To me, that's realistic stuff as opposed to all the sweeping romance you find in so many "happy" couples found in books. Can we replace Tolstoy's "All happy families are alike..." with "All happy couples are alike..."? If so, "All unhappy couples are unhappy in their own way."
I also like the end note Jake and Brett finish on. It's this memorable line: "Isn't it pretty to think so?" I've often thought that MANY things in life come down to that summation. Pretty to think so, but just not the case.
To me, that's realistic stuff as opposed to all the sweeping romance you find in so many "happy" couples found in books. Can we replace Tolstoy's "All happy families are alike..." with "All happy couples are alike..."? If so, "All unhappy couples are unhappy in their own way."
I also like the end note Jake and Brett finish on. It's this memorable line: "Isn't it pretty to think so?" I've often thought that MANY things in life come down to that summation. Pretty to think so, but just not the case.
Ken Craft
Go to my profile page, click the little down carat to the right of the "Follow Author" button and then you'll see a drop menu. One of the options on the menu is "Send Message." Click that and voila! You're in private message business! (Though I got your note via FB and responded, you might want to know for future reference!)
Ken Craft
Got it. Thanks, Carol!
Ken Craft
Thanks, Carol! What's a "PM"? A prime minister? Would you like a Maggie Thatcher or a Benjamin Disraeli?
Seriously, I can send you a signed copy. You can reach me via the ABOUT page on kencraftpoetry.wordpress.com.
-- "Crafty" One (formerly "Newengland" here on the Daily Goodreads Planet.
Seriously, I can send you a signed copy. You can reach me via the ABOUT page on kencraftpoetry.wordpress.com.
-- "Crafty" One (formerly "Newengland" here on the Daily Goodreads Planet.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more