Probably moving to Europe, how do I change my system?

[LarryK]

He'd feed the scroll thru his typewriter, and write that way. Truman Capote quipped, "that's not writing, that's typewriting."

I tend to agree.

I’ve grown to appreciate writers who hone their prose through revision.

 

[Holmz]

Another one from my current read,

“‘Mercifully one forgets one’s love affairs as one forgets one’s dreams.’”

— The Sea, the Sea: Booker Prize Winner (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics) by Iris Murdoch

My ex had half a dozen file cabinets. She obsessively tracked everything. It was too much.

Tim Winton is a local WA (Western Australian) author.
“Cloudstreet” is his (Winston’s) seminal work, but the latest “JUICE”, is post apocalyptic.

We also do some Bryce Courtney audiobooks in the car as well.

 

[Holmz]

He'd feed the scroll thru his typewriter, and write that way. Truman Capote quipped, "that's not writing, that's typewriting."

My sister as on a track team, and the team was “??? TC”, to which Truman Copote remarked that the TC was named after him.
Somehow he knew one of the coaches.

 

[Ron Resnick]

The most peaceful and secluded place in the world is a flat in Kensington.’”

Hmmmm. I cannot make sense of this.

I lived for two years in a flat in South Kensington on Old Brompton Road. It was not secluded or peaceful. City life never is secluded or peaceful.

 

[Holmz]

Hmmmm. I cannot make sense of this.

I lived for two years in a flat in South Kensington on Old Brompton Road. It was not secluded or peaceful. City life never is secluded or peaceful.

I was hearing this without speakers nor headphones. Just via the auditory memory.

When I read ^that^

 

[LarryK]

Hmmmm. I cannot make sense of this.

I lived for two years in a flat in South Kensington on Old Brompton Road. It was not secluded or peaceful.

It’s a bit more complicated. It’s not simply a matter of the ambient noise level.

If you want peace and seclusion, move to a large city. Nobody will care who you are or what you do. Nobody will talk about you, or gossip about you behind your back. Nobody will force their company on you.

In the novel, a relatively well known stage director and playwright retires to a seaside village. One of his old friends comes to visit and says, all of the people in the village hate you.

He is surprised, as he has gone out of his way to speak to no one. No matter, they have watched him and judged him. He thinks they don’t know who he is, they do.

Of course, cities are not quiet. They burst with life. A quiet city is a contradiction in terms.

Now, if you tell me that all of the Londoners on Old Brompton Rd were up in your business all the time, watching you, and judging you, I will be quite surprised. Were they?

I’ve never lived in London but I lived in Manhattan for 20 years. Few people cared who I was, what I did, or whether or not I dropped dead on any particular day. Bliss.

With a population of 1.6M, it was rare for me to ever see anyone I knew when I crisscrossed Manhattan for so many years. In the crowd, I was invisible. I still have a few blocks that I have to avoid so as to not chance meeting people I do not want to meet, but that is easily done.

In a small town or village, I would have nowhere to hide. In New York, I could protect myself behind doormen. Nobody would be allowed to show up at my door without my permission.

Here is a passage that accurately describes New York,

“On any person who desires such queer prizes, New York will bestow the gift of loneliness and the gift of privacy. It is this largess that accounts for the presence within the city’s walls of a considerable section of the population; for the residents of Manhattan are to a large extent strangers who have pulled up stakes somewhere and come to town, seeking sanctuary or fulfillment or some greater or lesser grail. The capacity to make such dubious gifts is a mysterious quality of New York. It can destroy an individual, or it can fulfill him, depending a good deal on luck. No one should come to New York to live unless he is willing to be lucky.”

— Here is New York by E.B. White

 

[Ron Resnick]

Thank you for explaining. I think "anonymity" is a very different thing than "secluded" or "peaceful."

 

[LarryK]

Thank you for explaining. I think "anonymity" is a very different thing than "secluded" or "peaceful."

The anonymity offered by a large city gives people a way of achieving peace and seclusion.

it all depends on your definitions of “secluded” and “peaceful.” What are yours?

You can go off into the wilderness and live utterly alone, but that is hard to do, as you need food and services.

So, you might wind up in a small town and have the same kind of problems experienced by this character in his seaside village.

New York is full of people who have fled small towns and small minds. They find the peace to live without judgement. Their seclusion is mental, if not strictly physical.

I am curious, though. Did the British push their way into your life or did they leave you alone? Parts of Old Brompton Road seem like a fairly urban area with a lot of turnover so I would expect people to keep to themselves and not be nosy like in small towns and suburbs.

There are a lot of Americans there. Perhaps they mess things up and seek out other Americans.

 

[Ron Resnick]

it all depends on your definitions of “secluded” and “peaceful.”

definitely