The quality ranges quite a bit in these programs devoted to writers. Mildred D. Taylor: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is the best of the lot, perhaps because it is the only one of the entries that uses the audiovisual medium to help tell the story, rather than merely record it. Combing dramatic reconstructions from Taylor's Newberry award-winning novel, as well as interviews with and readings by the author, Mildred D. Taylor is a powerful look at one incisive woman's experience of Black life in the American South, and how her experiences and those of her family were later transformed into Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. In the voice of Cassie Logan, the child narrator of the book, we hear the timeworn progression of innocence leading to bitterness. An excellent introduction to Taylor's novel. A Moveable Feast is a series of eight tapes, focusing on eight American writers: T. Coraghessan Boyle, Trey Ellis, Allen Ginsberg, Li-Young Lee, W.S. Merwin, Joyce Carol Oates, T. R. Pearson, and Sonia Sanchez. We watched the programs on Merwin and Oates. Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin reads selections from his collection The Rain in the Trees, which primarily reflect his growing discontent with technological advances, particularly in his most recent homeland of Hawaii, where the majority of the interview takes place. Interviewed by NPR's Tom Vitale on the windswept beaches of Maui (and, of course, the wind blowing across the microphone is a major distraction), Merwin talks about Hawaiian culture, his conception of language, and his environmental concerns. Personally, I was disappointed to find the man that had given us wonderful collections such as The Drunk In the Furnace and the brilliant memoir Unframed Originals mired in of-the-moment commentary and poetry. Although, part of the fault must also be laid at both the less than sterling production values, and Vitale's uninspired interviewing. The program on Joyce Carol Oates at least has the sense to come out of the elements. Filmed in her Princeton, New Jersey home, the prolific Oates talks about writing from experience, parries (unsuccessfully, I think) the charge that she writes too quickly, and reads a soap-opera worthy section from American Appetites. With the exception of the reading, Oates' comments are interesting, particularly her reminisces on writing her non-fiction book On Boxing. As an idea for a series, A Moveable Feast, with its focus on contemporary American authors, does indeed fill a gap. Unfortunately, it could have been better. Voices on the Water offers a wide range of writers--some 20 speak on this tape--who met in Vancouver, Canada for the International Festival of Authors in 1987. John Irving, Annie Dillard, Margaret Drabble, Thomas Keneally, Timothy Mo, Amoz Oz, Mishe Maponya, Josef Svorecky, Amiri Baraka, Per Wattberg, and others; the attendees are a virtual who's who of world literature. Some read brief excerpts from their work, while others discuss a particular aspect of the writer's craft. Svorecky and Baraka talk about the pains (sometimes physical) of writing literature in a politically repressive country. Connoisseurs of contemporary literature will enjoy this collection of sparkling verbal gems. Mildred D. Taylor is highly recommended. A Moveable Feast, the series, is recommended, with reservations. Voices on the Water is recommended. (See LONDON: THE MAKING OF A CITY for availability of Mildred D. Taylor.) (A Moveable Feast is available from: Atlas Video, 4915 St. Elmo Ave., Suite 305, Bethesda, MD 20814; 1-800-999-0212, as well as major distributors.) (See FRONTIER FOOTLIGHTS for availability of Voices on the Water.)
Mildred D. Taylor: Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry; A Moveable Feast; Voices On The Water: Program 2
(1988) 20 m. $149. Films for the Humanities. Public performance rights included. Vol. 6, Issue 8
Mildred D. Taylor: Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry; A Moveable Feast; Voices On The Water: Program 2
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