In chapter 8 the dump becomes the stage for the children to express themselves, to act a different life, to put on scene the fruit of their creativity.
They turn trash into something different, something nicer, something better. “They plan, measure, figure, design, invent, construct, stage dramas”. On the dump there are Ginella’s mansion, the roadhouse, the pagan island, the palace, whatever she wants to be that day. Mazie finds a magazine with painted pictures that will become the wallpaper for her dollhouse.
In the evening the stage becomes the house porch where the children can wider their horizons, unleash their imagination, whisper secrets, tell stories, sing songs, make dreams float.
Despite their everyday tasks, errands, jobs, they feel the need to find a time and a place to feed their souls.
Another theme Olsen explores is the life of workers in a factory. The place where Jim works is seen as hell. There is a reference to Dante’s Inferno: “ abandon self all ye who enter here”.
Working in a factory is described in terms of a constant, repetitive, monotonous, alienating activity linked to fast-paced machinery : ”everyone the same motion all the hours through”. The author uses repetition to render this idea: “over and over” and the adjective “constant”:“the one constant motion”.
She gives a long, exhausting list of “knockers, pitcher-uppers, stickers, headers, rippers, leg breakers, breast and aitch sawyers, caul pullers …”. Sometimes the list is even without commas: “steamed boiled broiled fried cooked”. Sometimes she links two words together: “steamhiss machinedrum”. It’s a fast-paced writing which parallels the fast-paced machinery.
Your description of how the children use the setting of the dump by which to foster their dreams does remind me of that poem Haley mentioned, "My Papa's Walz," which also is about a conflicted relationship that a boy, now grown, is having about his father. The "waltz" is really a scene of abuse, where the father has probably been beating the boy or in some other way, behaving violently toward him, yet the scene is described in terms of a dance, a "waltz" the boy is having with his father, who has likely been drinking, too. So this idea of couching something ugly and horrible in terms of something beautiful or fun is powerful. And Olsen brings that complexity to this story. Thank you, Haley, for introducing us to this piece. It's not a happy story, but it's authentic, raw, and real. And I think we all need more "real" right now.
I've been thinking of Yonnondio as essentially a long descriptive poem. There is so much mastery in the word paintings of these vivid scenes. I think I'd like to hear an audio version if there is a good one.
Wow, that's a great alternate rethinking of this text, Maryann. There are definitely parts that could read like poetry. I did an audio version of one of the books I co-authored, and this one would be really fun to read -- not fun in any traditional sense, but fun in terms of bringing the characters to life.
I am not sure I have enjoyed this book, but I have enjoyed all your commentary Haley! So much of the second half of the novel felt like it was just slipping through my fingers in a way I wasn't able to grasp. The commentary about Anna though was bone chilling and by far my fav aspect of the novel.
It's frustrating and so realistic that we don't get a resolution of the story. There is no deus ex machina Quaker woman come to rescue at least one of the family. The childless Bedners don't offer to take one of the children (at least not that we know). NO ONE IS COMING TO THE RESCUE. The Holbrooks have suffered everything from bitter cold and snow to hellish heat and dust, degradation, violence, illness, and betrayal, and yet the will to live, to create, to laugh with a baby is not completely suppressed. How not? It has me wrestling with whether as Anna I'd have the drive or the love or the just plain stubbornness to get out of bed and continue to try to make a home for the children. Mazie lives in my head somewhere near Francie from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but where school saves Francie, it crushes Mazie. NO ONE IS COMING TO THE RESCUE. There are Mazies and Annas and Jims still striving to find hope to hold on to. In the unresolved ending Tillie Olsen has demanded, "Don't turn away. Look."
A beautiful book despite the harsh environment it describes. I just love the writing. Anna is so realistic and believable. Enduring striving working sacrificing. The life of millions of women. I was shocked that it just ended. But endings of novels are artificial. We usually stop in a neat place. Lizzie and Darcy marry, Lily Bart dies. But life isn't like that. It continues. An individual life ends but family and friends continue. This is more real- we have shared the Holbrook world for a while. Now we will part and continue separately.
I agree! I felt like I myself was in a fever dream the second half, particular the last two chapters. Also, as a mother, this novella was so difficult to read. Truly heartbreaking and raw and so honest. Olsen is such a master and I cannot wait to read more of her work.
In chapter 8 the dump becomes the stage for the children to express themselves, to act a different life, to put on scene the fruit of their creativity.
They turn trash into something different, something nicer, something better. “They plan, measure, figure, design, invent, construct, stage dramas”. On the dump there are Ginella’s mansion, the roadhouse, the pagan island, the palace, whatever she wants to be that day. Mazie finds a magazine with painted pictures that will become the wallpaper for her dollhouse.
In the evening the stage becomes the house porch where the children can wider their horizons, unleash their imagination, whisper secrets, tell stories, sing songs, make dreams float.
Despite their everyday tasks, errands, jobs, they feel the need to find a time and a place to feed their souls.
Another theme Olsen explores is the life of workers in a factory. The place where Jim works is seen as hell. There is a reference to Dante’s Inferno: “ abandon self all ye who enter here”.
Working in a factory is described in terms of a constant, repetitive, monotonous, alienating activity linked to fast-paced machinery : ”everyone the same motion all the hours through”. The author uses repetition to render this idea: “over and over” and the adjective “constant”:“the one constant motion”.
She gives a long, exhausting list of “knockers, pitcher-uppers, stickers, headers, rippers, leg breakers, breast and aitch sawyers, caul pullers …”. Sometimes the list is even without commas: “steamed boiled broiled fried cooked”. Sometimes she links two words together: “steamhiss machinedrum”. It’s a fast-paced writing which parallels the fast-paced machinery.
Your description of how the children use the setting of the dump by which to foster their dreams does remind me of that poem Haley mentioned, "My Papa's Walz," which also is about a conflicted relationship that a boy, now grown, is having about his father. The "waltz" is really a scene of abuse, where the father has probably been beating the boy or in some other way, behaving violently toward him, yet the scene is described in terms of a dance, a "waltz" the boy is having with his father, who has likely been drinking, too. So this idea of couching something ugly and horrible in terms of something beautiful or fun is powerful. And Olsen brings that complexity to this story. Thank you, Haley, for introducing us to this piece. It's not a happy story, but it's authentic, raw, and real. And I think we all need more "real" right now.
I've been thinking of Yonnondio as essentially a long descriptive poem. There is so much mastery in the word paintings of these vivid scenes. I think I'd like to hear an audio version if there is a good one.
Wow, that's a great alternate rethinking of this text, Maryann. There are definitely parts that could read like poetry. I did an audio version of one of the books I co-authored, and this one would be really fun to read -- not fun in any traditional sense, but fun in terms of bringing the characters to life.
I am not sure I have enjoyed this book, but I have enjoyed all your commentary Haley! So much of the second half of the novel felt like it was just slipping through my fingers in a way I wasn't able to grasp. The commentary about Anna though was bone chilling and by far my fav aspect of the novel.
It's frustrating and so realistic that we don't get a resolution of the story. There is no deus ex machina Quaker woman come to rescue at least one of the family. The childless Bedners don't offer to take one of the children (at least not that we know). NO ONE IS COMING TO THE RESCUE. The Holbrooks have suffered everything from bitter cold and snow to hellish heat and dust, degradation, violence, illness, and betrayal, and yet the will to live, to create, to laugh with a baby is not completely suppressed. How not? It has me wrestling with whether as Anna I'd have the drive or the love or the just plain stubbornness to get out of bed and continue to try to make a home for the children. Mazie lives in my head somewhere near Francie from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but where school saves Francie, it crushes Mazie. NO ONE IS COMING TO THE RESCUE. There are Mazies and Annas and Jims still striving to find hope to hold on to. In the unresolved ending Tillie Olsen has demanded, "Don't turn away. Look."
You put it perfectly!
This one is going to stay with me a long while.
A beautiful book despite the harsh environment it describes. I just love the writing. Anna is so realistic and believable. Enduring striving working sacrificing. The life of millions of women. I was shocked that it just ended. But endings of novels are artificial. We usually stop in a neat place. Lizzie and Darcy marry, Lily Bart dies. But life isn't like that. It continues. An individual life ends but family and friends continue. This is more real- we have shared the Holbrook world for a while. Now we will part and continue separately.
I agree! I felt like I myself was in a fever dream the second half, particular the last two chapters. Also, as a mother, this novella was so difficult to read. Truly heartbreaking and raw and so honest. Olsen is such a master and I cannot wait to read more of her work.
This was such a good book. Many of the descriptions of Mazie’s inner life nearly match my own as a kid. I’ve never encountered that in fiction before.