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9stop thinking of stammer as an enemy. Unfortunately the Taylors' marriage came apart at the seams and only strange people, such as Madame Cromylenk, Mrs. de Roo and Mrs. Gretton managed to persuade Jason, that stammering is a part of him which he should understand, accommodate with, even respect and never fear it. Confidence in interlocutor's willingness not just to listen to you for aeons, but more important to hear you brought relief to Jason's speech. The boy even forgot about Hangman when a person was interested only in what Jason says and not how he does it. The quotation cited from the book 'You think you are in charge of the secret, but isn't it the secret that's using you?' highlights the concealed hint on recognizing the stammer's right to exist. Goal is the constant learning how to live with it. Imagine that stammering is just a peculiar way you talk, keeping in mind that you choose a concerned listener and not vice - versa.
The author makes his principle character his mouthpiece. Novels written from the child's point of view are never written by children, they are written by adults for whom this particular problem occurred once. David Mitchell' style is characterized by the expert knowledge of the matter portrayed. The message of the story seems to be following: to surmount an obstacle means to be morally prepared for it and not to let this hindrance frustrate your objectives and bring your prosperous life way to a stop.
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SECTION 9
LETTERS TO THE EDITORS
Walking and Literature
Natalia Deryabina,
Ural Federal University named after B.N. Yeltsin 620002, Russia, Ekaterinburg, Mir str., 19
Dear Editors,
In the Footpath-5 I came across a terrific article by Rod Mengham devoted to the concept of walking and its embodiment in the spheres of art, culture and our mundane everyday lives. I must
admit that I haven't been able to stop pondering it over again and again ever since. The point is that our subconscious intention to reach something ‘out there' is basically the purpose of our existence; thus walking could be interpreted as the most symbolic act of a human being.
In terms of literary analysis 'walking' might be indeed a merely more poetical way to refer to hermeneutics, as we, readers, move along the narration trying to grasp the hidden meanings and implications, wander - together with the author - in the tangible yet not always transparent textual reality. Restlessly we cross the plot in long strides, gaining confidence on the way and breathing in sync with the characters... In this respect walking eventually melts into understanding, like when you finally reach the top of the hill and have a chance to observe the path you have taken.
In some of my favourite books the concept of walking is exposed in a very straightforward fashion: for instance, have you read Kazuo Ishiguro's The Unconsoled? Ryder, the main character, can't cease walking because if he does stop, he will fail to return his memory and his own self. It's the same with Franz. Kafka, of course: the idea of wandering is brilliantly unravelled in The Castle. In other books walking becomes a symbolic quest for knowledge and truth, as the characters move along the timeline reaching maturity, obtaining dignity or losing the right track in the end.
For sure walking represents "a ritual significance”. Even in the most obvious physical way it has something magical in it. Why do we follow the icon-bearing procession? Why do we pace in the hall nervously waiting for the exam results? What makes our hearts beat faster during the political march? Perhaps, the core idea hidden in all abovementioned acts is that walking is something we are supposed to do together. No, do not misunderstand me, we all have different paths, and a lot of us would probably choose to walk on our own, but deep inside we just accept this simple fact that we all walk. Walking is universal. Walking binds us together.
However, those philosophical musings are not the only reason why I have written this letter, my dear Readers and Editors. I just wanted you to think about the ultimate appropriateness of the title of this wonderful journal: indeed, a footpath - is all we need. Together we will keep on moving along this road sharing our
opinions, presenting our groundbreaking views and simply further exploring contemporary British literature on the way. Good luck to us all then!
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Music and Literature
Victoria Minina
Manager Training Institute, Minsk 22102, Belarus, Minsk, Lazo str., 12.
Dear Editors,
Now and then Footpath carries articles on the interaction between various kinds of art - film, painting, photography, music -and literature, thus reflecting the obvious tendency for synthesis of arts characteristic of contemporary culture, the tendency which can be observed in the collection of books offered by the Oxford-Russia Fund, too. Suffice it to mention What a Carve Up!, Headlong, History of the World in 10 ¥2 Chapters, Ulverton, Master Georgie to see how various works of visual arts are manipulated with in literary texts.
Will May's article Music in Contemporary British Fiction pours light on the range of ways music is incorporated into a number of novels by present-day writers who either turn to it 'by way of analogy or to offer a suggestive soundtrack to the protagonists' fictive worlds' [May W. Music in Contemporary British Fiction // Footpath No5, p.9). The article, on the one hand draws parallels, on the other brings out differences between the authors' handling of musical themes, between the roles 'the most abstract art form of all' plays in the novels by Rose Tremain, Antony Burgess, Jonathan Coe, Ian McEwan, Zadie Smith and Bernard MacLaverty. Will May's profound study gives a basis for and invites further research into the problem, the more so since the list of writers who, in one way or another, resort to musical themes is not exhausted by those who figure in the article.
Among others who deserve mention in this respect is Kazuo Ishiguro who used to be a musician himself, in his youth played in a band and wrote lyrics. Thus, the theme of music has become very close and significant for him and he touches upon it in many of his works. A good example is the novel The Unconsoled [1995) with a
