And off we go…
November 1, 2011 at 3:36 pm (Stories) (i'm back!, nanowrimo, never done this before, Protest the Hero, quite a stretch)
It is time for me to try the NaNoWriMo challenge again! Maybe this year I will complete it even, or at least more than 3,000 words in anyways. I have a few people who are excited about it as well, and some time set aside this first week to try and get a good headstart. Downloaded the newest OpenOffice, as my first procrastination attempt, but hopefully I will be so damned impressed with its newness and shininess that I will be compelled to write something new and shiny as well.
In other news, I’ve got a stack of books to read from my last library collection expedition (nevermind when I will find time to read them). I’m quite excited about one called Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima. Aside from looking like an interesting novel, as it purports to tell the tale of a young gay Japanese man just after World War II, and his struggle to express his identity, the title caught my eye because it is a phrase in a Protest the Hero song. Protest the Hero is a Canadian metal band that I enjoy listening to, in no small part due to their occasional forays into literary, historical, or feminist dialogue. I’m curious as to whether the phrase “in the confessions of a mask” is in any way linked to the title of this book. My current hunch is that I am likely deluding myself. The lyrics to the particular song “Divine Suicide of K.” were apparently written by the band in high school. It seems a bit of a stretch that they would have encountered this particular novel and had it resonant so strongly with them in high school, when I never encountered it or the author while pursuing my bachelors in literature (although it was an English degree, technically). The chance is there, however, and I fully intend to read the novel with this thought in the back of my mind. And perhaps with Protest the Hero playing on my computer. I’ll let you know how it goes.
