#Muse media #Annie Proulx on Love

 

Love...#Muse media

#Muse Media are a series of short posts that combine different media with a notable author.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpCaQSRwdd0[/embed]“Late in the afternoon, thunder growling, that same old green pickup rolled in and he saw Jack get out of the truck, beat up Resistol tilted back. A hot jolt scalded Ennis and he was out on the landing pulling the door closed behind him. Jack took the stairs two and two. They seized each other by the shoulders, hugged mightily, squeezing the breath out of each other, saying, son of a bitch, son of a bitch, then, and easily as the right key turns the lock tumblers, their mouths came together, and hard, Jack’s big teeth bringing blood, his hat falling to the floor, stubble rasping, wet saliva welling, and the door opening and Alma looking out for a few seconds at Ennis’s straining shoulders and shutting the door again and still they clinched, pressing chest and groin and thigh and leg together, treading on each other’s toes until they pulled apart to breathe and Ennis, not big on endearments, said what he said to his horses and his daughters, little darlin.” Annie ProulxBrokeback Mountain

Love is portrayed in novels in as many ways as there are to love. But in the quote above from the novella Brokeback Mountain, Annie Proulx manages to capture the most intense sense of passion and desire to make it a visceral need. If it's not already obvious, the two characters have not seen each other for a long time - at least a year if not longer as I recall. If you want an example of writing that makes every word count, this is it. And she conjures not only love and passion, but by her use of phrases such as "stubble rasping" and repeating "son of a bitch" she manages to impart the sense of maleness that is integral to the scene, and the love affair the book portrays. And yet even then, there is a tenderness as Ennis calls Jack "little darlin".  It's one of the few books that I have read, then seen the film, and then  reread the book and still cried at the final scene.

In the video above, Annie Proulx talks about the making of Brokeback Mountain and gives some insight on her process of how she came up with the story and well as the film being made. Even watching the first minute I think you will find worthwhile.

Perhaps her love of the printed word helps to give us some insight as to how she can portray her signature characters from the American range so vividly.

 “You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.”

Annie ProulxMountains in the Wind River Range, Wyoming

 What  kinds of love scenes  do you like in a novel? Do you have a favorite love story ?

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