Watching ‘Friendly Persuasion’ Again and Still Enjoying the Story and Performances

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn Film, writingLeave a comment

“Friendly Persuasion is a 1956 American Civil War drama film produced and directed by William Wyler. It stars Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Anthony Perkins, Richard Eyer, Robert Middleton, Phyllis Love, Mark Richman, Walter Catlett and Marjorie Main. The screenplay by Michael Wilson was adapted from the 1945 novel The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West. The movie tells the story of a Quaker family in southern Indiana during the American Civil War and the way the war tests their pacifist beliefs.” – Wikipedia

My pacifist beliefs were in their formative stages when this film was released, so I had many reasons for wanting to see it. I liked the film when I saw it in 1956 in the shadow of the Korean War and during an era when the Southern States still took a great deal of pride in their fight against the Union in the Civil War.

For those of my generation, I think “Friendly Persuasion” still holds up well, though I’m fair certain the light-hearted touch–rather a Disney-like approach–would be criticized today for its reliance on humor within the Quaker family more than its portrayal of more true-to-life battle scenes.

The film was drawn from the 1945 novel of the same name by Jessamyn West, a Quaker who wrote a plotless novel story about Quaker life. She was drawn into the making of the film through her willingness to pull together materials from her novel about the Civil War era that would make a cohesive story for the movie.

I found it interesting that while West was working on the book, she had tuberculosis from which she wasn’t expected to recover. Family stories about growing up as a Quaker were shared with her by family members, and had a strong influence on the first edition.

There are many types of Quaker beliefs, so I did not agree with those who criticized the movie for purported inaccuracies in dogma.

Fans of Gary Cooper will like his out-of-type performance in this film.

—Malcolm

With no outline, whatever happens is a surprise

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn writingLeave a comment

A few of my posts have mentioned the benefits I see in writing novels without the constraints of an outline.

Among other things, the freewheeling approach makes writing the book as much fun as reading the book. Every time I start a new chapter, I have no idea what’s coming.

In my novel-in-progress, an FBI agent is in an abandoned house with her prisoner. She glances out one of the back windows and sees 25 armed women standing at the edge of the woods behind the house. Seems like they’re planning to storm the place.

I wasn’t ready for this! Now I’ve got to figure out what the agent will do to get out of the potential mess. She can’t start shooting because many of the women are her friends.  She’s in disguise, so they won’t know her, and that’s good. I think. Maybe.

No outline = fun and/or thrills and chills at the keyboard.

–Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of the four books in the Florida Folk Magic Series. They’re available in multiple formats including a Kindle volume that contains the whole series.

‘Journeys Out of the Body’ by Robert Monroe

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn new age, writingLeave a comment

“According to his own account, while experimenting with sleep-learning in 1958 Monroe experienced an unusual phenomenon, which he described as sensations of paralysis and vibration accompanied by a bright light that appeared to be shining on him from a shallow angle. Monroe went on to say that this occurred another nine times over the next six weeks, culminating in his first out-of-body experience (OBE). Monroe recorded his account in his 1971 book “Journeys Out of the Body” and went on to become a prominent researcher in the field of human consciousness. Monroe later authored two more books on his experiments with OBE, Far Journeys (1985) and Ultimate Journey (1994).” – Wikipedia  

(Learn More About Monroe in Ronald Russell’s book shown above with a link to its Amazon page)

From the Publisher

“The definitive work on the extraordinary phenomenon of out-of-body experiences, by the founder of the internationally known Monroe Institute.

“Robert Monroe, a Virginia businessman, began to have experiences that drastically altered his life. Unpredictably, and without his willing it, Monroe found himself leaving his physical body to travel via a “second body” to locales far removed from the physical and spiritual realities of his life. He was inhabiting a place unbound by time or death.

“Praise for Journeys Out of the Body

“Monroe’s account of his travels, Journeys Out of the Body, jam-packed with parasitic goblins and dead humans, astral sex, scary trips into mind-boggling other dimensions, and practical tips on how to get out of your body, all told with wry humor, quickly became a cult sensation with its publication in 1971, and has been through many printings. Whatever their ‘real’ explanation, Monroe’s trips made for splendid reading.” —Michael Hutchinson, author of Megabrain

“‘Robert Monroe’s experiences are probably the most intriguing of any person’s of our time, with the possible exception of Carlos Castaneda’s.’ —Joseph Chilton Pierce, author of Magical Child

“‘This book is by a person who’s clearly a sensible man and who’s trying to tell it like it is. No ego trips. Just a solid citizen who’s been ‘out’ a thousand times now and wants to pass his experiences to others.'” —The Last Whole Earth Catalog

Related Sources

The Monroe Institute – “Founded in 1971 by Robert A. Monroe, the Monroe Institute is widely recognized as a leading center for exploring and experiencing expanded states of consciousness. For over 50 years, our immersive programs have empowered participants to undergo profound transformations, gaining a fresh outlook on life and discovering a deep sense of purpose.”

HemiSync – “Combining rich atmospheric tones with ambient instrumentals and electronic accents, this peaceful composition leads you to a place of deep inner stillness. The Hemi-Sync® frequencies are designed to gently hold you in a state of “no time” — the perfect setting for escaping the rigors of the day, where you can relax and allow the tranquility to permeate your mind, body and soul. Length: 40 minutes.”

—Malcolm

PEN AMERICA MOURNS THE DEATH OF ‘WRITER’S WRITER’ PAUL AUSTER

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn authors, writingLeave a comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 1, 2024

MANHATTAN, NY, AUGUST 19, 2022 Paul Auster reads a passage from Salman Rushdie’s book at a PEN America rally at the New York Public Library in Manhattan, NY. Photo by ©Jennifer S. Altman All Rights Reserved

(NEW YORK) — PEN America mourns the death of prolific author and longtime friend of PEN Paul Auster, who died on Tuesday at age 77. Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, said the following:

“In addition to shaping the worldviews of generations of Americans through his bracing and beloved novels, Paul Auster was a writer’s writer, consistently standing in solidarity with authors in China, Iran, Russia and around the world who were persecuted for what he was able to do freely: exercise his imagination and tell stories.  A dean of New York City’s literary community, he was a friend and mentor to many and a treasured colleague and stalwart supporter of PEN America and writers in need everywhere.”

Auster, who once served as the Vice President and Secretary of PEN America, and his wife Siri Hustvedt have been active supporters of PEN America’s efforts on behalf of jailed writers worldwide. They joined other members of the literary community in PEN America’s event in support of Salman Rushdie after the horrific attempt on his life in 2022.

Auster participated in the PEN World Voices Festival and numerous other PEN events, including a 2009 event where he read a series of autopsy and death reports of detainees held in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan, and another where he read new poems from Liu Xiaobo, who received the 2009 PEN/ Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award.

‘The Demon of Unrest’ by Erik Larson

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn booksLeave a comment
Larson

The Bibliography of the American Civil War says there are over 60,000 books about the war in print. If I were an editor at Crown Publishing  Group and received a proposal via an author’s agent for yet another book, my primary thought would be “What will this book add to the discussion.” No doubt I would be influenced by a proposal from the author of The Devil in the White City which made a big splash in 2003.

Larson writes on his website, “At the heart of the story is a mystery that still confounds: How on earth did South Carolina, a primitive, scantily populated state in economic decline, become the fulcrum for America’s greatest tragedy? And even more bewildering, what malignant magic brought Americans on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line to the point where they could actually imagine the wholesale killing of one another?”

If these thoughts were part of Larson’s agent’s proposal on my desk, I would want to read more. When Larson’s readers see the listing for this book, due to be released at the end of May, they’ll also want to read more, according to, well, me.

From The Publisher

“The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Splendid and the Vile brings to life the pivotal five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War—a simmering crisis that finally tore a deeply divided nation in two.

“A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, People, Time, Los Angeles Times, Men’s Health, New York Post, Lit Hub, Book Riot, Screenrant

“On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter.

“Master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter—a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals. Lincoln himself wrote that the trials of these five months were “so great that, could I have anticipated them, I would not have believed it possible to survive them.”

“At the heart of this suspense-filled narrative are Major Robert Anderson, Sumter’s commander and a former slave owner sympathetic to the South but loyal to the Union; Edmund Ruffin, a vain and bloodthirsty radical who stirs secessionist ardor at every opportunity; and Mary Boykin Chesnut, wife of a prominent planter, conflicted over both marriage and slavery and seeing parallels between them. In the middle of it all is the overwhelmed Lincoln, battling with his duplicitous secretary of state, William Seward, as he tries desperately to avert a war that he fears is inevitable—one that will eventually kill 750,000 Americans.

“Drawing on diaries, secret communiques, slave ledgers, and plantation records, Larson gives us a political horror story that captures the forces that led America to the brink—a dark reminder that we often don’t see a cataclysm coming until it’s too late.”

From Publishers Weekly

Sumter – 1861 Photo

“In this twisty and cinematic account, bestseller Larson (The Splendid and the Vile) recreates the five-month period between Abraham Lincoln’s 1861 election and the outbreak of the Civil War, focusing on the intensifying showdown over Fort Sumter in Charleston, S.C., where Maj. Robert Anderson, the U.S. Army commander, faced a swelling Confederate force with his outgunned garrison of 75 soldiers. Larson mirrors Anderson’s struggle to hold his post while avoiding provocations that might lead to war with Lincoln’s tightrope-walk attempt to stand firm against secession without goading the South into it. As he traveled to Washington, D.C., to take office—arriving in disguise after dodging a rumored assassination plot in Baltimore—Lincoln vacillated over whether to resupply Fort Sumter or surrender it.” – Publishers Weekly

—Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell, author of magical realism and contemporary fantasy novels, previously served as a book reviewer for a Georgia regional magazine.

Bad Plants – White Snakeroot

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn plants, writingLeave a comment

“Milk sickness, also known as tremetol vomiting or, in animals, as trembles, is a kind of poisoning, characterized by trembling, vomiting, and severe intestinal pain, that affects individuals who ingest milk, other dairy products, or meat from a cow that has fed on white snakeroot plant, which contains the poison tremetol.” – Wikipedia

White Snakeroot

Milk sickness, which likely killed Nancy Hanks, Abraham Lincoln’s mother, used to be prevalent in newly settled areas in the Middle West before farmers knew White Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima) with its charming and showy flowers was toxic and that when cattle rate it, they passed the poison along to humans.

Anna Pierce Hobbs Bixby is credited with discovering the plant’s toxicity of the plant to livestock and humans with the help of a Shawnee medicine woman.  She died about 1870, but her research about white snakeroot wasn’t published until the 1920s.

Amy Stewart, in Wicked Plants, writes that Bixby campaigned to eradicate the plant but that  “her attempts to notify authorities fell on deaf ears, perhaps because women doctors were not taken seriously.”

Like other poisonous, but beautiful, wildflowers, white snakeroot is often used in gardens featuring other dangerous ornamentals such as moonflowers and foxglove.

–Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of folk magic novels set in Florida.

Thank goodness I didn’t see ‘Night Watch’ when it first came out in 1973

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn Film, writingLeave a comment

I would have been ticked off paying for the tickets.

My wife and I were looking through the movies on DISH for something but didn’t really find it. The night before, we watched “Elvis” (2022 with Austin Butler and Tom Hanks) which we liked, so we took a chance on “Night Watch.”

What a mess. I liked Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey in “Butterfield 8,” but I didn’t think the same kind of chemistry was there in this mystery/thriller. Very different roles to be sure, but even so, I think the most patient viewers would have gotten tired of Taylor’s repeated claims that there were dead people in the boarded-up house next door. Frankly, Taylor–whose character was recovering from a nervous breakdown–was over the top manic about the dead people which nobody else saw, including the viewers and the police.

The reviews were mixed, “Time Out called it a “tired, old-fashioned thriller”; whereas The New York Times wrote, “Elizabeth Taylor, and about time, has got herself a good picture and a whodunit at that”; and Variety opined, “Lucille Fletcher’s Night Watch isn’t the first average stage play to be turned into a better than average film. Astute direction and an improved cast more than help”. – Wikipedia

“Tired” and “old-fashioned” summed up my reaction. But then, I never liked Laurence Harvey, merely tolerating him in “Butterfield 8.” How many of you have seen this film, either at the theater when it came out or years later on a satellite or cable channel? Did it seem tired to you? Would you have gone nuts if you ever saw bodies in your neighbor’s house on a dark and stormy night?

–Malcolm

Blinken must raise Tibet, Panchen Lama on China trip

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn Tibet, writingLeave a comment

April 23, 2024

by International Campaign for Tibet

US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken must raise the “deteriorating” situation in Tibet both privately and publicly during his trip this week to China, the International Campaign for Tibet said today.

ICT, an advocacy group that promotes human rights and democratic freedoms for the Tibetan people, sent a letter to Blinken today, 22 April, 2024, on behalf of its roughly 50,000 members in the United States. Blinken is scheduled to visit China 24-26 April.

In the letter, ICT President Tencho Gyatso urges Blinken to “raise the issue of Tibet during your meetings with Chinese leaders later this week as well as publicly in front of the press.”

The topics for Blinken to address include China’s kidnapping of the Panchen Lama, the high-ranking Tibetan Buddhist leader who will turn 35 during Blinken’s trip; China’s attempts to interfere in the succession of the Dalai Lama, who is now 88; and China’s responsibility to resume negotiations with Tibetan leaders to resolve Tibet’s status.

China has occupied Tibet, a neighboring country in the Himalayas, for over 65 years, turning it into one of the worst human rights crises in the world. Under China’s iron rule, Tibet now has a global freedom score of 0 out of 100, according to the watchdog group Freedom House. Click here to read more.

‘The Nature of Personal Reality’ by Jane Roberts (Seth)

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn booksLeave a comment

“Dorothy Jane Roberts (May 8, 1929 – September 5, 1984) was an American author and poet, who claimed to be psychic and a spirit medium channeling a personality who called himself ‘Seth.’ Her publication of the Seth texts, known as the Seth Material, established her as one of the preeminent figures in the world of paranormal phenomena.” Wikipedia

The Seth books channeled by Janes Roberts were very popular during the 1960s-1980s. I’ve read most of them and believe that The Nature of Personal Reality is the most practical in terms of how the reader can put the ideas into use. I’ve been greatly influenced by the Seth Material even though much of the information in the other books is interesting chiefly in a big-picture, philosophical sense rather than having a direct application to ourselves. It works! But, it requires dedication to use since it runs counter to everyday beliefs and concepts. I seldom meet anyone who believes that we create our own reality.

I can tell that interest in the books has waned because not only are they seldom mentioned, but the Amazon listings don’t include the original publisher descriptions the books had when they were new. So, while my link on the cover picture is to the book’s Amazon page, the publisher’s description below comes from the Internet Archive.

About the Book

“From the Bestselling Author of Seth Speaks, The ‘Seth Books’ by Jane Roberts are world-renowned for comprising one of the most profound bodies of work ever written on the true nature of reality.In this perennial bestseller, Seth challenges our assumptions about the nature of reality, and shows us how we create our personal reality through our conscious beliefs about ourselves, others, and the world. He stresses the individual’s capacity for conscious action, and provides excellent exercises that show us how to apply his empowering insights to any life situation. His message is clear: we are not at the mercy of the subconscious, or helpless before forces we cannot understand. ‘We are Gods couched in creaturehood,’ Seth says, ‘We are given the ability to form our experience as our thoughts and feelings become actualized.’

“You are a multidimensional personality. Trust the miracle of your own being. ‘Make no divisions between the physical and the spiritual in your lifetimes, for the spiritual speaks with a physical voice, and the corporeal body is the creation of the spirit.’ — Jane Roberts, Speaking for SethPraise for The Seth Books by Jane Roberts ‘The Seth books present an alternate map of reality with a new diagram of the psyche . . . useful to all explorers of consciousness.’ — Deepak Chopra, M.D., author of The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success ‘Seth was one of my first metaphysical teachers. He remains a constant source of knowledge and inspiration in my life.’ — Marianne Williamson, author of A Return to Love “I would like to see the Seth books as required reading for anyone on their spiritual pathway.’

“The amazing in-depth information in the Seth books is as relevant today as it was in the early ’70s when Jane Roberts first channeled this material.” — Louise Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life ‘Quite simply one of the best books I’ve ever read!. — Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull  ‘I count Jane Roberts’ brilliant book, The Nature of Personal Reality, as a spiritual classic and one of the influential books in my life. As I closed the last page, I looked up at a new world —boundless and filled with possibility.’ — Dan Millman, author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior The Nature of Personal Reality had an important influence on my life and work. ‘Seth’s teachings provided one of the initial inspirations for writing Creative Visualization.’ — Shakti Gawain, author of Creative Visualization ‘The Seth books were of great benefit to me on my spiritual journey and helped me to see another way of looking at the world.’ — Gerald G. Jampolsky, author of Love Is Letting Go of Fear ‘As you read Seth’s words, you will gain more than just new ideas. Seth’s energy comes through every page — energy that expands your consciousness and changes your thoughts about the nature of reality.’ — Sanaya Roman, author of Living with Joy ‘To my great surprise — and slight annoyance — I found that Seth eloquently and lucidly articulated a view of reality that I had arrived at only after great effort and an extensive study of both paranormal phenomena and quantum physics….’ — Michael Talbot, author of The Holographic Universe”

–

The book is in sync with James Allen’s As a Man Thinketh, the 1903 book I’ve mentioned often in my work. The book is available on Amazon and free of Project Gutenberg.  The concepts appear in many places, but this book brings them together.

—Malcolm

Male author writing from a female character’s POV

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn booksLeave a comment

In some ways, this post is a shameless promotion. My apologies.

The four books in my Florida Folk Magic Series have female primary characters. I had already written one book, Sarabande (contemporary fantasy) from a woman’s viewpoint. It’s the opposite of The Sun Singer (the sequel) about a young man following a plotline based on the hero’s journey popularized by Joseph Campbell in The Hero With a Thousand Faces.

When I began thinking of a sequel to The Sun Singer, I discovered a lot of controversy among writers and mythologists about how a woman would go on such a journey. Many people said the woman would simply follow the standard tropes of the man’s hero’s journey; others thought that was absurd because men and women generally have different mythic focuses. I agreed: I needed a heroine’s journey, not a tweaked hero’s journey.

So after researching mythologists who wrote about strong mythic females, I opted to write Sarabande from a woman’s point of view by using a mythic journey, that of Inanna, an ancient Sumerian goddess, as a basis in a very general way. Research took a long time mainly because I needed to get to the point where the narrative sounded true to a woman’s thoughts and actions rather than to a man pretending to know how a woman would think and feel about the experiences encountered in the story.

I decided maybe I had accomplished this when a female reviewer, speaking of an assault scene in the novel, said the scene worked and that she had to keep reminding herself it had been written by a male author.  The mythic elements and the fantasy genre probably played a lot in my accomplishing this; had the woman been a modern-day character in typical real-life situations, I don’t think my characterization could have come out sounding true–that is, as a woman would think and feel.

However, when it came to the “older-than-dirt” African American conjure woman in the 1950s-era Florida Panhandle, this white boy knew better than to write from her point of view. The gulf in our ages, cultures,  and experiences was just too great even though the conjure woman is loosely based on a person I knew while in junior high and high school; then, too, I lived within the period when the book was focused and had observed the things I was writing about.

That’s why the narrator is a cat, something I thought I could get away with since the novels are written in the magical realism genre. That allowed me to do things that wouldn’t have worked in a non-genre book. I was helped in this ruse by having lived with one to three cats in the house since the 1980s when my wife turned me into a cat person. My “take” on how a cat might act and think was probably more believable than trying to write directly from my character Eulalie’s viewpoint. Readers worried more about something bad happening to the cat (Lena) than the people. I didn’t count on that, but I got used to it.

The writer’s “trick” is to write around the things s/he can’t possibly write “property.” Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t work.

–Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of the contemporary fantasy novel “The Sun Singer.”