TRIANGULAR ROAD A MEMOIR by PAULE MARSHALL

I have favorite parts of Paule Marshall's memoir TRIANGULAR ROAD. Her memoir begins with an invitation from Langston Hughes to travel overseas to Paris and Germany. In the few pages I had a chance to learn so much about Langston Hughes' likes and dislikes. One of the fun facts is that he loved to eat and drink. More than once on the train ride his meal had been interrupted. So this particular time he decided to gather the unfinished part of his meal and take it with him. He carried the bottle of wine amongst his books while Ms. Marshall carried their two steaks in two doggie bags. This is one of the fun facts about the great poet. There are also serious facts in the memoir about Langston Hughes.

It is also interesting to read about Paule Marshall's writing habits. She writes about the importance of grants to an author who needs to travel far away to do research. She doesn't make writing seem as easy as skipping down the Yellow Brick Road. I feel she should have written more kindly about the task of writing. After all, new writers are quickly frightened away from the white page. However, her words give me an even greater appreciation for authors who put pen to paper and publish their words for unknown readers.

"Days--long, solitary days, weeks and then months spent learning the painful but necessary lesson of every novice: that writing is rewritng, is honing, pruning, refining, is becoming, essentially, one's own unsparing editor...At times when the work became too punishing or I simply needed a break from the loneliness and the routine, I would flee...to a swim."

I also enjoyed reading about Paule Marshall's family. She writes about Barbados, Africa and the island of Grenada with history as recent as Ronald Reagan's invasion of the island. The photos added a special touch to the memoir. I adored the little girl, Paule, on the cover of the book. Truly, her life is fascinating. There are some dry places in the book. Overall, the memoir is really wonderful. The book is full of beautiful descriptions.

"Almost fifty years have passed, yet I still vividly remember driving along a valley road in upcountry Grenada where the tall stands of bamboo on either side of our car met overhead to form an endless green-and-gold triumphal arch."english.emory.edu/Bahri/Marshall