tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185330878180221800.post2741934464473560047..comments2024-02-03T00:25:31.402-05:00Comments on Life's an art!: On God, Fate, and MetaphorFaith E. Houghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03823750019164801104noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185330878180221800.post-68812153334833684182010-08-12T00:02:46.802-04:002010-08-12T00:02:46.802-04:00I haven't read Holes yet, but I've been me...I haven't read Holes yet, but I've been meaning to. I've read books that take the characters through amazing journeys that make me question my own. And when the metaphor is subtle, I appreciate it and the author's skill in conveying it all the more.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185330878180221800.post-50544497050052400102010-08-11T17:12:56.457-04:002010-08-11T17:12:56.457-04:00YES!!! This post rang so true for me, Faith. Metap...YES!!! This post rang so true for me, Faith. Metaphor is the breath and heartbeat of life-changing fiction.Samantha Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15712749844855298929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185330878180221800.post-67840299608431601292010-08-11T11:46:14.941-04:002010-08-11T11:46:14.941-04:00Wow, that is a shocking quote. Why do people ever ...Wow, that is a shocking quote. Why do people ever say, "We all know...." Since when has the entire world agreed on ANYTHING? <br /><br />Thanks for the beautiful post, Faith! I agree with you wholeheartedly. It would be a tragedy if children's literature lost metaphor. <br /><br />AmyA.L. Sonnichsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11358456786727534289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185330878180221800.post-23901670953563489112010-08-07T16:45:35.902-04:002010-08-07T16:45:35.902-04:00I've been told I create some mean metaphors. I...I've been told I create some mean metaphors. I don't try to, they just happen. It's how I think so that's how I write. Great post.Hannahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16915603693944523761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185330878180221800.post-16896475670064275102010-08-04T19:32:24.889-04:002010-08-04T19:32:24.889-04:00I don't know if your above mentioned author is...I don't know if your above mentioned author is as renown or as well respected as those below, but I don't think they had any problems with metaphors. Then again, he may have a special insight that these writers, poets, and great thinkers did not!<br /><br />“An idea is a feat of association, and the height of it is a good metaphor.” - Robert Frost<br /><br />“All slang is metaphor, and all metaphor is poetry.” - G. K. Chesterton<br /><br />“Since finding out what something is, is largely a matter of discovering what it is like, the most impressive contribution to the growth of intelligibility has been made by the application of suggestive metaphors.” - Jonathan Miller<br /><br />“A world ends when its metaphor has died.” - Archibald MacLeish<br /><br />“The metaphor is perhaps one of man's most fruitful potentialities. Its efficacy verges on magic, and it seems a tool for creation which God forgot inside one of His creatures when He made him.” - Jose Ortega y Gasset<br /><br />“Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space.” - Orson Scott CardAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185330878180221800.post-20717762724844593952010-08-04T00:55:22.715-04:002010-08-04T00:55:22.715-04:00Faith, that's so funny, in a bleak way. I occa...Faith, that's so funny, in a bleak way. I occasionally heard similar statements from academics during the time I spent getting my grad degree. What's sad is the assumption that everyone in the world thinks *just like you.* I would never say "We all know God exists" to an audience, simply because I don't want to make that assumption, even to a group of professing believers. Who knows who might be struggling in that moment with doubt, just as there were many in that author's audience who disagreed with his extreme blanket statements. Saying things like that is alienating and doesn't have any positive results.Rosslyn Elliotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11304732306399786236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185330878180221800.post-12720639985044338432010-08-03T21:40:13.340-04:002010-08-03T21:40:13.340-04:00I love this post, Faith! Writing has always helped...I love this post, Faith! Writing has always helped me order situations and even other subjects in my mind. I'm visual, so it helps to get part of it on paper.<br /><br />I love metaphor and Holes. I was going to point out the bit about parables, but you beat me to it in your last comment. One of the Savior's most powerful stories was The Good Samaritan, and it was fiction loaded with metaphor.Myrna Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13534358757278599925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185330878180221800.post-69041411925118470992010-08-03T14:02:07.731-04:002010-08-03T14:02:07.731-04:00Danyelle, you're right about forcing metaphor-...Danyelle, you're right about forcing metaphor--sure, that wouldn't work. But one of the signs of a great book is one that can make it all seem perfect...like there is no way an author could have planned it on his/her own.<br />Laura, don't you kust "love" how that author tried to make it sound like we were all stupid if we didn't agree with him? Grr, so arrogant. And probably afraid of something.<br />MT, Narnia=awesome.<br />And Natalie, LOTR=super awesome. Neither Narnia or LOTR could be, well, even possible without metaphor. Along with pretty much every great piece of literature ever written. We'd have to throw out Jane Austen, Dickens, A Wrinkle in Time....and so on. Along with the Bible, which I'm sure this author would love to happen, regardless of its astounding literary merit. But think about it: Christ used metaphor in much of his preaching...we call them parables. I guess if it was good enough for Christ, it's good enough for me... ;)<br />Talli, I've never met a kid who hasn't loved Holes. ANd very few adults, either. Has anyone ever read Sachar's most recent, The Cardturner? Another marvelous story, also full of metaphor.<br />Rose, I'm sorry you had a "why me?" moment; they can be so difficult to get through without a little help sometimes. I'm glad my post could be that!Faith E. Houghhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03823750019164801104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185330878180221800.post-58148441858048689702010-08-03T13:11:56.666-04:002010-08-03T13:11:56.666-04:00Right... that's why The Lord of the Rings tril...Right... that's why The Lord of the Rings trilogy is so incredibly amazing... I mean, because there's absolutely NO metaphor there... *dripping sarcasm* <br />Take the meaning out of life... and you've taken the heart and soul of out it, too. What's left? ...a shallow, empty shell?Nataliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04097980869256853686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185330878180221800.post-45067755201933405442010-08-03T12:47:17.135-04:002010-08-03T12:47:17.135-04:00Wow, this is a great post. I seemed to read this a...Wow, this is a great post. I seemed to read this at a perfect time because I was just thinking the whole "why did this just happen? why me?" And I think the same thing too--everything happens for a reason. Sometimes we just need reminding.Rose Cooperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11848631652522951216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185330878180221800.post-40949492432303706242010-08-03T11:40:05.083-04:002010-08-03T11:40:05.083-04:00Wow. That is quite the quote - I've never hear...Wow. That is quite the quote - I've never heard someone challenge others NOT to use metaphor. Crazy. <br /><br />Incidentally I taught 'Holes' to a class of Year 8s (14-year-olds) and they loved it.Talli Rolandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04780882465745107715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185330878180221800.post-53559609566716423152010-08-03T11:19:38.677-04:002010-08-03T11:19:38.677-04:00I don't hear about situations like that very o...I don't hear about situations like that very often. How crazy! My favorite book series - Narnia - is loaded with metaphor. Thank heaven for metaphor, and I'll continue to use it in my own writing.MTeacresshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00381461599028233499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185330878180221800.post-39787171894861508482010-08-03T10:31:45.574-04:002010-08-03T10:31:45.574-04:00Holes is one of my favorite middle-grade books! It...Holes is one of my favorite middle-grade books! It's such a fascinating story, and the characters are so true to life.<br /><br />Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course, but saying "we all know" was really ignorant on that author's part! We all don't agree on anything, lol! Metaphors are a beautiful way to write a story, and realizing its significance is what makes stories, like Holes, resonate with us long after we read it.Laura S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13934230198562773803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185330878180221800.post-61332987519172629042010-08-03T01:04:10.685-04:002010-08-03T01:04:10.685-04:00This sounds a little crazy to me. Metaphors are on...This sounds a little crazy to me. Metaphors are one of the most powerful way a person can use words to convey something. They force one to look within and to think.<br /><br />Forcing something to happen is one thing. The reader will see through that faster than it takes to read all the words. But when those things happen on their own, that's when you have a book that people will think about, talk about, and remember.Danyelle L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10366276085080565870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185330878180221800.post-69892195856445120712010-08-02T21:18:01.852-04:002010-08-02T21:18:01.852-04:00You are very right, and very wise, Karen: "Bo...You are very right, and very wise, Karen: "Books contain an ordered universe. And metaphors help to relate that to our universe, which at times seems confusing."<br />This is one of the REASONS I write. Like you, books helped me through some of the hardest times in my life. And I hope I can provide that to another child.Faith E. Houghhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03823750019164801104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185330878180221800.post-77075269618667471042010-08-02T20:51:52.523-04:002010-08-02T20:51:52.523-04:00What an inane comment for this author to make! &qu...What an inane comment for this author to make! "We all know that God doesn't exist" ??? What kind of crap is that? No one told me. Anyway, one of the reasons kids read is to make sense of the world. Books contain an ordered universe. And metaphors help to relate that to our universe, which at times seems confusing. It helps to read. I couldn't have gotten through my teen years without books.<br /><br />And Holes is one of my favorite books EVER!Karen Jones Gowenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01153821980625034810noreply@blogger.com