David Detrich

Metamorphic Fictive Transformations of the Soft Voice into Syllogistic Interaction by David Detrich

2014-05-05T07:24:00.001-05:00

Critifiction: Film Essay by David Detrich

Preview: Will appear in 20 seconds.

This is a preview of the introductory essay to the screenplay version of The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending by David Detrich, an ultramodern Surrealist novel written in minimal squares. To read the essay click on the black rectangle which opens up to a full screen typographic version of the Critifiction: Film Essay.

The Luminary Dream of the Blue Violet Butterfly by David Detrich

2014-05-03T08:03:00.002-05:00

A Surrealist Text by David Detrich

To André Breton

The luminary dream of the blue violet butterfly is written in the mystical poetry of the exquisite corpse . eye harp . envisioned as a celestial body . tree figure . whose roots run deep into the wonders of the unconscious, as the pastel chalkwork of the novelist falls in love with the irrational sentence structures produced by the psychic automatism of the poetic erotica . typographic composition, a technique which reflects the images of the literary characters–that's you, Love–foreseen in this wood ornament embellished novel. A Valentine red heart shaped fluttering with the resemblance to sensual silhouettes . surreal poets . abstractions, a novel of visions inspired by the mountains of Big Sur with allusions to the dream images of the blue violet butterfly . chalk gray dove . topless mermaid personifications, where the surreal gentleman flirts with the elegant dancer who creates a juxtaposition of golden earrings . urban starlight . diamond lights . complimenting the relationship of face . inner flame . breasts peaked with redwood forests ascending into snow peaked mountains, as two bubble enclosed worlds suggest the constellation of the solitary lovers.

from Surrealist Novel Dream Images: Narrative Line Convergence by David Detrich

2014-01-22T06:19:00.000-06:00

Criti/Fiction by David Detrich

Preview: Will appear in 20 seconds.

This is a preview of Surrealist Novel Dream Images: Narrative Line Convergence which is the introductory essay to The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending. The essay is written in three columns, each with a separate narrative line, which converge on the ultramodern Surrealist novel written in minimal squares which follows it.

David Detrich is a novelist living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where he has just completed The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending, an ultramodern Surrealist novel written in minimal squares. He is the author of Big Sur Marvels & Wondrous Delights (2001) which is available from Amazon. He edits Innovative Fiction Magazine and Surrealist Star Clustered Illuminations.

Completion of The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending

2013-02-16T06:22:00.001-06:00

Essay by David Detrich

Valentine's Day 2013 and I have finally completed The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending after numerous revisions spanning a two year time lapse sequence of early morning novel writing while waiting for the sun to rise over the Upper Peninsula horizon line: a theoretical novel that discusses the esthetics of novel writing in a dialogue between the narrator D. and the waterfall with red hair which takes the form of an avant garde semiotic text written in minimal squares. This is an ultramodern Surrealist novel that develops the themes of Maurice Roche in CodeX and Ronald Sukenick in 98.6 and Long Talking Bad Conditions Blues, innovative novelists who have written about the archeology of consciousness and now on the year of the Convergence 2012 The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending is complete and looking for a publisher.

First page from The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending by David Detrich

The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending is written for film, and I have begun work on a screenplay which consists of a long dialogue between the narrator D. (named after the Philippe Sollers novel Event) and the waterfall with read hair: who is a Surrealist metaphor, and the novel can be envisioned as a time lapse sequence of Upper Peninsula sunrise colors and scenes from San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Big Sur.

First section of The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending by David Detrich

I am looking for a filmmaker who can blend time lapse scenes with the erotic lingerie clad women who inspire the theme of the waterfall with red hair: a woman whose hair flows forward like a waterfall. With digital animation scenes of lettering in motion, and time lapse images of the pages of the novel, the soundtrack should be similar to the reading from Big Sur Marvels & Wondrous Delights by David Detrich, in which Carrie L. Butts reads with a melodious crystal clear voice.

The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending: A Surrealist Novel Written in Minimal Squares

2010-10-22T15:56:00.000-05:00

Essay by David Detrich
This year (2011) I am working on The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending, a Surrealist novel that is written in minimal squares of poetic prose that form a symmetrical typographic design. This novel is innovative in visual appearance, with a metafictional awareness of characterization and dialogue, and as the micronarrative which describes a waterfall with red hair who visits to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan begins, the novel becomes a surreal dialogue written with a subtle sense of humor. The literary characters hike the nature trails along the Iron River, and sit in the kitchen during a cool November as the narrator, David, decides to write an innovative novel based on a minimalist typographic design. The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending is an example of a theoretical novel, where the characters discuss literary criticism, avant garde trends in modern art, and literary poetics, with numerous allusions to writers, poets, artists, and essayists.

The convergence of several narrative lines from the narrator's other books-in-progress gives the novel a self-reflexive inter(text)uality, with other narrative lines converging on the surface of the unpunctuated text. The novelist works at his desk while looking out the window, so that this becomes the scene of writing, where the narrator attempts to defend his privacy from invasive perspectives. His roommates add further mini-characterizations to the novel, with the arrival of a black kitten Inky who represents the philosophical ink of the printing press. What begins as a simple portrait has transformed into a dialogue which continues throughout the novel, with scenes from Santa Cruz, Big Sur, and the demonstrations of Paris 2010, which have become a form of world wide deconstruction in defense of human rights.

from The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending
A Surrealist Novel by David Detrich

I have included a Note on Reading to guide the reader through the book, which is composed of minimal squares that are read in a pattern. The top row of minimal squares can be read from left to right, and then the two bottom ones from left to right. The convergence of texts begins here, with a reference to Innovative Fiction, a collection of essays, translations, poetry and fiction from the literary journals which I edited.

One of the themes of this novel is the May Day Celebration 2010 in Santa Cruz, and the demonstrations in Paris. The rights of the people should be honored, and there is a trend throughout the world to demonstrate for democracy and freedom. The two characters in The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending discuss contemporary culture, with an extended analysis of the theory of the novel. The narrator imagines a classroom, and guides the student reader with a simple synopsis of the plot. The abstract characterization of the novelist and the waterfall with red hair also implies a Surrealist esthetic, where the characters often resemble paintings, pastel drawings, film images, or time lapse chronology. This is an innovative novel of 21st Century America, with scenes from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Big Sur, and concludes with a cross country drive.

The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending has many texts converging on the surface of the page, beginning with a tribute to Maurice Roche, where the child/author recalls the influence of the avant garde novels which inspired his youth. Novels such as CodeX introduce the theme of ancient civilizations, and the convergence theme of the Mayan prophecy, a motif that Ronald Sukenick introduces in his novel 98.6, the legend of the ancient Caja.

I have continued the theme of the freedom of the writer in The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending, while considering the narrative strategies of Raymond Federman, whose The Voice in the Closet influenced this novel. While reading The Voice in the Closet I decided to write a novel that became The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending. It is written in the tradition of the American innovative novel, and has a typographic design that conveys the micronarrative of the waterfall with red hair's visit, and mini-portraits of other characters in this Upper Peninsula setting.

The simple plot has metamorphosized into a poetic dialogue, similar to André Breton's Soluble Fish, and this is a trend that I have continued through all of my novels, writing with a high degree of Surrealism and abstraction. The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending is an innovative metafiction which transforms into a series of art images that convey are a poetic vision, and are meant to be filmed. The reader can imagine digital animation, time lapse photography, and abstract textures which compose the characterizations.

Surrealism is the constant theme of this novel, with allusions to many relevant texts. The characters transform throughout the novel into various painterly abstractions, or Surrealist objects, and become visual metaphors for a series of conceptual themes, and using a metafictional technique discuss the theory of the novel in the poetic dialogue. The Convergence of Two Narrative Lines Ascending is written with a painterly esthetic, that might suggest erotic abstract paintings, and reaches a climax at the center of the symmetrical structure. The novel concludes with a cross country drive, with memories that try to create the mood of a universal season.