Storms in Steinhatchee

I lived in Steinhatchee Florida for several years before relocating to the Panhandle region. The town has its good and bad, like any other, but as the news has pointed out it has never before been hit by a major hurricane. Idalia has changed that.

Anyway, that got me to  remembering the Storm of the Century, the storm that clobbered the area in the spring of 1993.  I was there and remember the storm surge—including waking in the wee hours and finding ankle deep water in my place!. It got way deeper before things were over. I don't know how the surge compared with that of Idalia but it looks to have been comparable. Of course, this was a winter cyclone. The winds were heavy but not hurricane strength (much less Category 3). But it was a heck of a lot colder.

I borrowed some from that experience for scenes in my very first novel, the Young Adult title 'The Middle of Nowhere.' I also had to write a song about it. Not necessarily a 'true' personal account but one based on the event:

THE STORM OF THE CENTURY

March Twelfth, Nineteen Ninety-three,
That’s when the Storm of the Century
Came ravening from the wind-swept Gulf,
Howling like the hungry wolf.
When the Storm of the Century came calling,
When the Storm of the Century came calling.

The wind was throwing knives at the night,
And startled the clouds into sheepish flight;
I heard the black oaks together sigh
As they offered themselves to the sky.
In the dark, I prayed the storm would pass,
But the river was rising, the field was a glass
Where the moon played hide-and-seek with its twin,
While the endless ebon flood poured in.

And it was time to take higher ground,
But there’s not a lot to be found
In a Florida Gulf Coast town
When the Storm of the Century comes calling,
Oh, comes calling.

The river came knocking at my door,
The icy flow swept across the floor
To clutch at my ankles as I made my way
Into the gale, for I could not stay.
With two guitars and the clothes on my back,
I waded through the night with black
Water rushing around my knees;
The remorseless wind shouted symphonies.

And it was time to take higher ground,
But there’s not a lot to be found
In a Florida Gulf Coast town
When the Storm of the Century comes calling,
Oh, comes calling.

I saw a light, I climbed a stair,
Strangers gave me shelter there;
Some didn’t reach the dawn alive
But God agreed I should survive,
When the Storm of the Century came calling,
When the Storm of the Century came calling.

Stephen Brooke ©2003

Cabell

J.R.R Tolkien did not care for the work of the popular (in his day) writer of fantasy, James Branch Cabell, dismissing it as boring. Now I can find criticisms enough of my own for Cabell’s writing; I would also have to admit my forays into fantasy owe more to him than to Tolkien.

It is true that I might never have discovered Cabell at all had not the popularity of Tolkien, and fantasy in general, led to the reprinting of many classic fantasy novels in the late Sixties and the Seventies. Dunsany, Eddison, Morris—all perhaps left their mark on me. Dunsany, in particular, who is a far more subtle writer than Cabell.

Of course, I do love ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit.’ They are great novels in themselves and have some of the best world-building ever behind them. Tolkien set the bar for epic fantasy.

Cabell wrote anti-epics. His protagonists launch quests in pursuit of illusions. This is not to say he was cynical (or not too cynical); he seems rather fond of those illusions, of chivalry, of romantic love, while not taking them quite seriously. They provide a foundation on which he may build his witty tales and expound his sometimes dated (and sexist) views. But he is just as interested in exploring the fundamentals of existence as Tolkien—just on a more personal level.

Though all that is of interest, it is style and structure that more attracted me to Cabell’s fiction. There are complexities beneath the text that can be explored (though they needn’t be for enjoyment), anagrams, word games, intricate allusions to sources both real and invented. Some of his stories in actual historic settings veer close to the sort of thing Woolf did in ‘Orlando’ (or maybe vice-versa?).

If I were to make one great criticism of James Branch Cabell it is that he tended to write around ‘ideas’ and a bit of an agenda, rather than starting from the story itself. He can seem to be focused on illustrating and proving some point. That is rarely conducive to great writing, but he managed to keep it from getting too much in the way. None of his novels are, perhaps, ‘great’ but several are quite good.

Which ones? The famous—and infamous—‘Jurgen,’ of course, the novel that made his name. ‘Figures of Earth’ might actually be better, though a bit similar. His retelling of the Sleeping Beauty tale, ‘The High Place,’ is, to me, his strongest offering as a cohesive story, as well as being perhaps the most humorous. ‘The Cream of the Jest’ hasn’t as much of a plot but is conceptually complex, epitomizing his worldview. Almost all his work, incidentally, is available free from Project Gutenberg.

Some might label Cabell’s books frivolous or superficial. I suspect Tolkien did! They are also very American, which separates him from the important British fantasists of his time—even the humorous ones such as Bramah. Ultimately, he is a bit peripheral to the fantasy mainstream, yet he has certainly influenced many who followed (such as Gaiman). My own writing would not be the same had I not discovered and read Cabell when relatively young. Yes, he’s one of those ‘early influences’ all writers have.

I do recommend investigating a title or two, whether one is interested in fantasy—either reading or writing—or not. James Branch Cabell is a moderately important figure in Twentieth Century American literature, a popular author in his time and acclaimed by the intelligentsia before they moved on to the next fashion. I moved on too, but his work remains a part of my foundation.

Stephen Brooke 2023

Domains

We own three domains, all registered through GoDaddy: eggshellboats.com, stephenbrooke.com, and arachispress.com. The first of these, Eggshell Boats, redirects to this Blogger site; the other two go to sites hosted at Google Sites. We have not fussed with any DNS settings or such, but have implemented simple redirects. If one types arachispress.com into ones browser, one will go (or should go!) to https://sites.google.com/view/arachispress/home and that is what will display in the address window. We have no problem with this and it makes life simple—especially if we choose to move those sites elsewhere someday.

To be honest, though, we might have transferred them to Google Domains if they hadn’t suddenly up and decided to sell that service to Square. Just goes to show, it’s sometimes best to keep things simple and leave them as is.

Difficult Novels

On the first read of a ‘difficult’ novel, one should not attempt to analyze. Give it a non-critical read; if the author has written well, what they mean to say and to do with the book should be at least somewhat evident. Reread later, if a more in-depth understanding is desired.

To be sure, some of us are going to analyze anyway. We’ve simply read too much not to recognize what the author may be doing. Sometime, the ‘nuts and bolts’ that underlie the text can be a little too obvious! That can definitely be a fault with some literary fiction.

I am currently tackling for the first time (despite my advanced years!) the work of Proust. It is a surprisingly easy read, at least so far. And the many devices that were cutting edge when he wrote do not call undue attention to themselves. Unlike Joyce, who could be too clever for his own good.

Perhaps Proust is just a better writer. That does not mean I am particular taken with ‘Swann’s Way,’ the current book. It’s just good enough to keep me reading—again, at least so far.