Poling, Nancy Werking, Illustrated by Jerald Pope, While Earth Still Speaks (Black Mountain, NC. Screech Owl Press In Conjunction With Old Mountain Press, 2019)
Nancy Werking Poling is a writer who lives in Western North Carolina but has spent most of her life in other areas of the country. This is not and is not billed as an Appalachian novel. It is more accurately described as an environmental novel and is the author's second novel and fifth book overall. It comes from two presses in Western North Carolina, one of which is a small vanity press, possibly an imprint of the author, and the other a small press which actually did the printing. The work on the book printing and binding is an aspect which I watch closely when I read such essentially self published books. Many, if not most, of these presses are simply in it for the money and unless the author is very diligent and oversees every aspect of the process from start to finish they often produce shoddy work which simply does not appear professional to the trained eye. This book has a few errors in the review copy which I received but they are minimal and the work is acceptable overall .
Now, let's talk about the book itself. The protagonist is a woman of middle to late middle age who has spent her life in a very conservative and restrictive religious sect which devalues and restricts women to something not quite a beast of burden but far less than an equal to their male counterparts. She is the mother of two essentially grown children, a son and a daughter. The book is broken into segments which include the family life on the farm, the protagonist's eventful month or so with her daughter in a revolutionary environmental group which kidnaps the head of the North Carolina environmental agency, and interspersed visions which come to the woman from Mary Surrat and the Virgin Mary and can be loosely connected to the main story line. For those of you who have never heard of Mary Surrat, she was a boarding house operator who was arrested, convicted, and hanged for taking part in the Booth plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. She was the first woman executed in the United States. Mary Surrat is seen, by the author, as an example of the fact that dying for a cause is not always virtuous. The author states in her acknowledgements section that several people who had read the manuscript had suggested that she remove Mary Surrat from the book. I agree with those people. But there are hundreds of stories of highly successful authors who resisted strong opposition to their first drafts from editors, family, friends, and the unsuspecting strangers upon whom they foisted their unpublished work in public places. However, in my life, I have known quite a few well known and successful writers who often doubled as mentors, professors, and friends. I like to believe that I learned at least one or two things from every one of them. One of the most important things I ever learned was voiced by many of them. That truth is the overly simplistic admonition to write about what you know best. I also found that truth to be wonderfully expounded upon in the classic motivational book "Acres Of Diamonds" by Russell H. Conwell although his discussion of the subject applied to life and personal achievement instead of writing. It could be that I have already or will in the future learn something from Nancy Werking Poling. She has already reinforced a concept for me that many others have expressed in the past: Writers should write every day and avoid the naysayers. Ms. Poling has published five books and this is her second self-published book while I have only accumulated a couple of dozen publications in three different genres and a book chapter or two while approaching the grave without a published major work while diligently eschewing the vanity presses. But I am not certain that Ms. Polling was writing about what she truly knows in this book. I do sincerely believe that she is fully and deeply committed to the environmental and the women's rights movements just as is her protagonist. But I doubt that Ms. Polling has ever joined or even had personal knowledge about a deeply secretive environmental activist group. I doubt that she ever engaged in a kidnapping to prove a political point as her characters do. And, in spite of the validity of Stockholm Syndrome and the shining example of Patty Hearst, I doubt that she ever fell in love with a hostage or hostage taker. I believe her book would have been stronger if she had stuck to the things she knows best in her heart of hearts and written an activist environmentalist book without kidnappers, their victims, or their implausible love affairs. I believe she could do a much better job of writing non-fiction on this subject. She has actually written one non-fiction book, "Before It Was Legal: A Black-White Marriage (1945-1987)", which I have not read but would like to do so before I make any all encompassing blanket judgments about her skills as a writer.
Speaking of Ms. Poling's skills as a writer, this book is well written but not exceptionally so. The linguistic skill is above average but the plotting and character development of most of the characters other than the protagonist is thin. Many of these characters other than the protagonist and her daughter are one dimensional. They do not live and breath in the highly credible manner which the best writers have developed. To go beyond what I said earlier about having learned at least one thing from many, if not most, of the writers I have known, I have, for many years, held firmly to two of my own beliefs and theories about good writing. The first of these ideas espouses a comparison of good to excellent writing as being similar to human DNA.
I have always thought that in the best books I have read in my life plot is a lot like the double helix spiral structure of human DNA as discovered by Drs. Crick and Watson. The double helix spiral of DNA is a twisting spiral of two long strands which wrap around each other and twist from one end to the other much like a pair of snakes or two strands of ribbon. Along each of these strands, there are chromosomes and genes for the entire length of the spiral which serve to make up the multi-faceted contents of the DNA structure. An above average plot also works in much the same way. In the plot we have parallel plots and subplots which progress for the length of the novel. Along each of these “strands” of plot and subplot we also have characters, characterizations, key pieces of information, human interactions between characters, individual and group actions, and other elements and portrayals which advance the major plot or subplots throughout the length of a novel. "While Earth Still Speaks" is not such a well plotted book. It does not contain that double helix style of writing. But I will not say that I believe it is the best writing Ms. Poling is capable of producing. It could well be within her grasp to develop that level of writing. She has not fully developed what I believe to be her best potential in this book.
My second idea about good writing is a comparison to good boxing. Superficially, it seems to be illogical to compare a purely mental vocation such as writing to what many people consider to be a fully physical vocation like boxing. But good boxing is not purely physical. It requires a great deal of thought both before entering the ring and definitely inside the ropes against a worthy opponent. A good to exceptional boxer must think on their feet, constantly assess their opponent and his actions, swiftly adjust to changes in the opponents style, and always counter with both the best defense and offense for fifteen rounds. A good boxer has an arsenal of several different punches and styles which they use as the circumstances require. They have jabs, uppercuts, roundhouse blows, body pounding short punches, and every now and then a few kidney punches. Good writing combines long, complex, well structured sentences. But it becomes boring if every sentence is ten, twenty, or fifty words long. Good writing must also have some jabs, short sentences composed of, at most, a subject, object, and verb. When these combinations are used in writing it is a lot like watching Larry Holmes box during his streak of 48 consecutive wins. In such novels, there are jabs, roundhouse punches, uppercuts, and a few kidney punches, and the total load of such writing literally knocks the reader out. "While Earth Still Speaks" does not have that kind of arsenal. It moves along successfully from the scene in which we meet the protagonist to the scene in which she and her co-conspirators are arrested for their crimes. But it is not holding you on the edge of your seat. You are not striving to literally lean on the outside of the ropes to see that knockout blow delivered. It is functional but not dazzling. It is readable if you are committed to the environmental or women's rights movements. But it doesn't leave you asking "OK, what happens to these characters after they were arrested?"
This is a book which you might want to read. You might enjoy it. But you are not likely to return to it every few years to remind yourself of what role Mary Surrat played in the story or to remember just why the protagonist divorced her husband to become an environmental activist. But it did leave me wishing I could read Ms. Poling's non-fiction book, "Before It Was Legal: A Black White Marriage (1945-1987). Keep writing and watch a lot of good boxing, Ms. Poling.
Now, let's talk about the book itself. The protagonist is a woman of middle to late middle age who has spent her life in a very conservative and restrictive religious sect which devalues and restricts women to something not quite a beast of burden but far less than an equal to their male counterparts. She is the mother of two essentially grown children, a son and a daughter. The book is broken into segments which include the family life on the farm, the protagonist's eventful month or so with her daughter in a revolutionary environmental group which kidnaps the head of the North Carolina environmental agency, and interspersed visions which come to the woman from Mary Surrat and the Virgin Mary and can be loosely connected to the main story line. For those of you who have never heard of Mary Surrat, she was a boarding house operator who was arrested, convicted, and hanged for taking part in the Booth plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. She was the first woman executed in the United States. Mary Surrat is seen, by the author, as an example of the fact that dying for a cause is not always virtuous. The author states in her acknowledgements section that several people who had read the manuscript had suggested that she remove Mary Surrat from the book. I agree with those people. But there are hundreds of stories of highly successful authors who resisted strong opposition to their first drafts from editors, family, friends, and the unsuspecting strangers upon whom they foisted their unpublished work in public places. However, in my life, I have known quite a few well known and successful writers who often doubled as mentors, professors, and friends. I like to believe that I learned at least one or two things from every one of them. One of the most important things I ever learned was voiced by many of them. That truth is the overly simplistic admonition to write about what you know best. I also found that truth to be wonderfully expounded upon in the classic motivational book "Acres Of Diamonds" by Russell H. Conwell although his discussion of the subject applied to life and personal achievement instead of writing. It could be that I have already or will in the future learn something from Nancy Werking Poling. She has already reinforced a concept for me that many others have expressed in the past: Writers should write every day and avoid the naysayers. Ms. Poling has published five books and this is her second self-published book while I have only accumulated a couple of dozen publications in three different genres and a book chapter or two while approaching the grave without a published major work while diligently eschewing the vanity presses. But I am not certain that Ms. Polling was writing about what she truly knows in this book. I do sincerely believe that she is fully and deeply committed to the environmental and the women's rights movements just as is her protagonist. But I doubt that Ms. Polling has ever joined or even had personal knowledge about a deeply secretive environmental activist group. I doubt that she ever engaged in a kidnapping to prove a political point as her characters do. And, in spite of the validity of Stockholm Syndrome and the shining example of Patty Hearst, I doubt that she ever fell in love with a hostage or hostage taker. I believe her book would have been stronger if she had stuck to the things she knows best in her heart of hearts and written an activist environmentalist book without kidnappers, their victims, or their implausible love affairs. I believe she could do a much better job of writing non-fiction on this subject. She has actually written one non-fiction book, "Before It Was Legal: A Black-White Marriage (1945-1987)", which I have not read but would like to do so before I make any all encompassing blanket judgments about her skills as a writer.
Speaking of Ms. Poling's skills as a writer, this book is well written but not exceptionally so. The linguistic skill is above average but the plotting and character development of most of the characters other than the protagonist is thin. Many of these characters other than the protagonist and her daughter are one dimensional. They do not live and breath in the highly credible manner which the best writers have developed. To go beyond what I said earlier about having learned at least one thing from many, if not most, of the writers I have known, I have, for many years, held firmly to two of my own beliefs and theories about good writing. The first of these ideas espouses a comparison of good to excellent writing as being similar to human DNA.
I have always thought that in the best books I have read in my life plot is a lot like the double helix spiral structure of human DNA as discovered by Drs. Crick and Watson. The double helix spiral of DNA is a twisting spiral of two long strands which wrap around each other and twist from one end to the other much like a pair of snakes or two strands of ribbon. Along each of these strands, there are chromosomes and genes for the entire length of the spiral which serve to make up the multi-faceted contents of the DNA structure. An above average plot also works in much the same way. In the plot we have parallel plots and subplots which progress for the length of the novel. Along each of these “strands” of plot and subplot we also have characters, characterizations, key pieces of information, human interactions between characters, individual and group actions, and other elements and portrayals which advance the major plot or subplots throughout the length of a novel. "While Earth Still Speaks" is not such a well plotted book. It does not contain that double helix style of writing. But I will not say that I believe it is the best writing Ms. Poling is capable of producing. It could well be within her grasp to develop that level of writing. She has not fully developed what I believe to be her best potential in this book.
My second idea about good writing is a comparison to good boxing. Superficially, it seems to be illogical to compare a purely mental vocation such as writing to what many people consider to be a fully physical vocation like boxing. But good boxing is not purely physical. It requires a great deal of thought both before entering the ring and definitely inside the ropes against a worthy opponent. A good to exceptional boxer must think on their feet, constantly assess their opponent and his actions, swiftly adjust to changes in the opponents style, and always counter with both the best defense and offense for fifteen rounds. A good boxer has an arsenal of several different punches and styles which they use as the circumstances require. They have jabs, uppercuts, roundhouse blows, body pounding short punches, and every now and then a few kidney punches. Good writing combines long, complex, well structured sentences. But it becomes boring if every sentence is ten, twenty, or fifty words long. Good writing must also have some jabs, short sentences composed of, at most, a subject, object, and verb. When these combinations are used in writing it is a lot like watching Larry Holmes box during his streak of 48 consecutive wins. In such novels, there are jabs, roundhouse punches, uppercuts, and a few kidney punches, and the total load of such writing literally knocks the reader out. "While Earth Still Speaks" does not have that kind of arsenal. It moves along successfully from the scene in which we meet the protagonist to the scene in which she and her co-conspirators are arrested for their crimes. But it is not holding you on the edge of your seat. You are not striving to literally lean on the outside of the ropes to see that knockout blow delivered. It is functional but not dazzling. It is readable if you are committed to the environmental or women's rights movements. But it doesn't leave you asking "OK, what happens to these characters after they were arrested?"
This is a book which you might want to read. You might enjoy it. But you are not likely to return to it every few years to remind yourself of what role Mary Surrat played in the story or to remember just why the protagonist divorced her husband to become an environmental activist. But it did leave me wishing I could read Ms. Poling's non-fiction book, "Before It Was Legal: A Black White Marriage (1945-1987). Keep writing and watch a lot of good boxing, Ms. Poling.
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