i appreciate structure in my life, but unfortunately i don't have a lot of it. this month, i have calculus every morning from 8 to 10, i tutor from 10 to 10:30, i audit chinese class from 11 to 12, i have history of europe from 1 to 3 and i tutor again from 4 to 8. that doesn't leave a lot of room for fun (or homework, oops). if i could, i would make myself, say, study for the GRE from 9 to 10 every night or work on my calculus homework from 1 to 3 every day. instead, i spend three hours making a new blog, moving the icons around on my iphone, playing doodle jump, reading economics papers that having nothing to do with my classes, re-reading old magazine articles and planning my fulbright application.
needless to say, i haven't had much of a break the past few weeks. the weekend before july 4, i bought some post cards, and i had one left over (i wrote on the back, but never sent it). no need to throw away a perfectly good postcard, so i stuck it on the front of my binder.
as a mississippian, i've definitely heard of eudora welty. i know she wrote delta wedding and some short stories, and i know she's pretty famous, especially in the south. but i've never actually read anything she wrote. yesterday i was sitting in history class, and my deskmate pointed at my binder and said "aw, is that your grandmother."
"no, it's eudora welty."
"who?"
i was appalled. this girl is a college junior in mississippi and had never heard of one of our state's most famous writers. "she is one of the most famous writers in mississippi."
"oh, i like the classics more."
psh. classics. this girl doesn't even know who eudora welty is. she wouldn't know a "classic" if it slapped her across the face.
but then i thought, who was i to judge her for not knowing who eudora welty is? i only know her name, where she's from and one book she wrote. authors aren't like politicians or celebrities. you shouldn't passively know of an author - you should know her. you should relate to her, understand his happiness and his pain. french and chinese both have different words for "to know." in french, connaître means "to know a person." in chinese, it's 认识. "to know a fact" is translated differently, as savoir and 知道 in french and chinese, respectively. with authors, reading a plot synopsis of their famous novels and knowing some facts about their early lives doesn't cut it. it's not enough because through their literature, we can meet them and get to know them, not just know of them. and we should.
although i've only read a handful of her short stories, i feel like i'm getting to know ms. welty already. maybe in a few weeks and a book or two later, we'll be on a first name basis.
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