About the Author- Where's summer gone?

I'm really really enjoying The Importance of Living, it's quite heavy in its content as it's very philosophy based, but I like that.

I'm just struggling with time really, as I've got a lot of personal demands on me this summer, (including having 5 jobs in order to pay rent!!) so I'm not able to give this project my full attention, which is really frustrating me.

It's irritating because I'm really enjoying the project and wish I could put in more of my time. I think I'll get the '25 deliverables' done, and some sketchbook work, but I just know it won't be as much as I would have liked.

Also the stress of the drawing a day project is weighing on me quite heavily, and I've fallen a bit behind with that. I think I'll just hand in what I have for that project and hope it's enough.

EUGH!! It's not even that I've been procrastinating, which is sometimes an issue for me (I've not watched a single series this summer!) it's just that I'm often working 7 days a week, and I feel like there's a lot of pressure on me, and I just can't keep on top of everything.

Hopefully once I get back to Leeds I'll be able to focus more on my project and get some good work done!

About the Author- Choice of three

Ordered The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang, and whilst I'm waiting for that to arrive I've whittled it down to my final three:

Patricia Highsmith

Key info:
- 1921-1995
- Mother tried to abort her
- Led a troubled life, haunted by psychological issues
- Was gay and struggled with volatile relationships
- Atheist, racist and anti-semitic
- Died of lung cancer

Themes:
- Murder
- Crime thriller
- Insanity, obsession
- Romance

Notable works:
- Strangers on a Train
- The Talented Mr Ripley
- The Price of Salt

What do I think?
I vaguely researched her right at the start, but I obviously didn't do it in depth enough. I really don't like her character. AT ALL. Although I liked her works, I just can't identify with any of her personal ideologies and find it difficult to get excited about working with her writings.

Outcome:
No thankyou.

Italo Calvino

Key info:
- Lived 1923-1985
- Most of his life lived in Italy
- Strong pacifist, refused military service and went into hiding
- Died of a cerebral hemorrhage
- Anti-fascist family who worked in botany

Themes:
- Morality
- Supernatural
- Literature

Notable works:
- Our Ancestors
- Invisible Cities
- If on a winter's night a traveller

What do I think?
I really loved his work, and find his personal life very interesting and his morals are something I can really identify with. My only reservation is that his stories are already so visual that I may fall into the trap of just drawing what he describes.

Outcome:
Since I haven't read Yutang's work, I will wait until I do, and if I'm not too keen on Yutang then I will definitely do Calvino.


Lin Yutang

Key info:
- 1895-1976
- Chinese name: 林語堂
- Translator, linguist and inventor
- Born in the mountains, considered himself a 'child of the mountains'
- Went through different religions: Christianity-Taoism-Buddhism-Christianity
- Invented the first Chinese typewriter
- Happily married with three daughters, who were all authors

Themes:
- Mindfulness
- Cultures
- Faith
- Universality

Notable works:
- The Importance of Living
- Moment in Peking
- The Gay Genius
- A Leaf in the Storm
- (and many critical essays)

What do I think?
I found his life so so interesting, and I'm already thinking of all the imagery available to me without even opening his book! I'm really excited to look at him more, and hope I enjoy his book!

Outcome:
As long as I like his writing style I really want to explore Yutang more over the course of this module.

About the Author- Reading!!

I've been super busy recently, so it's been difficult to fit in lots of reading. I'm really struggling to find 'the' author, and I think I've gone about it the wrong way by trying to read everything! To really get a feel of who the authors are, I read some short stories from a few of them.

I read:

Italo Calvino- The Queens Necklace
-Really like his unusual but relatable tales, especially with their dark twists

Patricia Highsmith- Little Tales of Misogyny 
-Like her humour and how outrageous yet down to earth her stories are!
I've also watched The Talented Mr Ripley, which I really enjoyed and found an interesting thriller filled with twists and turns and an oddly relatable murdering main character.
Neil Gaiman- How the Marquis Got His Coat Back
-Want something more 'meaty'
(and parts of):
Leonora Carrington- The Hearing Trumpet
-Like her writing style and found it really funny in a very dry sense, but I think I want something a bit less fantasy based
Susan Sontag- The Volcano Lover
-Couldn't really get into this book, bit too jumpy

STILL LOOKING FOR YUTANG- ORDERING OFF AMAZON
-The inability to find his works easily has only made me more interested in him!!