Sugars Symphony essays

Sugars Symphony essays Some have coined music as a universal language. Perhaps, the complexity of the notes, the consistency of the beat, the array of instruments, or the flow of lyricism offers this universal appeal. Nevertheless, the unique composition of each song enables it to sustain its own magnetic aura, much like the musical implication in Lewis Nordan's Music of the Swamp. Though, many argue Nordan's piece suggests merely a collection of short stories rather than a novel, Nordan uses his singsong methodology- a "novel-in-stories"- to incorporate an anthology of his transformative memory- an autobiography of the way it was. By examining the structure of Music of the Swamp, it can be broken into a series of short stories, though it is described by some as a "'novel-in-stories'" (Dupuy 1). Although the novel is divided into three parts and an epilogue, each chapter within each part relates a different episode throughout the childhood of Nordan's main character Sugar Mecklin. The first part begins in third person, while Nordan presents the rest of the sections in first person. Critic Edward Dupuy believes that considering the novel as a short story collective makes the part "...in the third person less engaging, and somewhat disconnected to the others. If seen as a "novel-in-stories, however, the first part serves as a type of overture to the opera that follows..." (Dupuy 3). This musical analogy suggests the ideas of the novel flow, though the novel itself is structured as a compilation of differentiable events. Nordan actually accredits a musical influence as a determining factor in writing his prose. In an interview with Sam Staggs, Nordan mentions that the "'the rhythms of nursery rhymes and songs'" are a significant inspiration in his writing (Staggs 1). In fact, he includes an assortment of songs throughout the novel to articulate the emotions felt during a specific occurrence in his main character's, and perhaps his own, early ...