July 30, 2014 Check-In

I fiction read about two hours yesterday. I read both Elizabeth Stuart's Olive Kitteridge (for my theology book group) and Lois Lowry's The Giver. This morning, I took my book to the harbor and sat on a park bench, drank my morning coffee, and read The Giver for about forty minutes. Then, I read some more over an egg and cheese sandwich at a breakfast place. The Giver is creepy! It's a warning against totalitarianism. I am a little confused about the difference between totalitarianism and communism. I was using them interchangeably, and they are actually opposite ends of the political spectrum. Totalitarianism means a central power makes decisions for the people and owns property, while communism means the community makes decisions and property is owned communally. I'd like to learn more about examples of actual governments that operated under both regimes. Was Mussolini's Italy a totalitarian government? Was the form USSR communist? What about Stalin or Lenin though? Weren't they authoritative? I'm confused still about what these political systems mean....The Giver is very much a commentary on a political structure. Was Lowry writing in response to the systems that had been in play in the 20th century and the consequences of operating under those systems?

I'd like to find some commentary on The Giver....If you know any, please let me know!

I wrote for a very little bit yesterday. I will concertedly try to fiction write today. Thinking of not working on the novel today...just writing still life scenes of what I see before me. Good writing toggles between the character's inner world and descriptions of places, objects, settings. Both the inanimate and animate need to be written down by the writer.