Owner: Novel of Life URL:http://lethebashar.blogspot.com Join Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:06:29 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Lethe Bashar is on study abroad. He moves into an apartment with a sixty-five year old Senora. Within two weeks, he undergoes an extreme form of culture shock. He has difficulty attending classes at the International Institute, and his greatest fears revo Site statistics:Click here
Lethe returns to the Senora's apartment after the party 2008-11-24 21:41:20
When Lethe arrived back at the Senora's apartment
it was 2:30 in the morning. The old building was sleeping. Without the irritable doorman in his blue overalls to watch over it, the building seemed a bit lonely. Lethe scurried up the staircase, grasping for the wrought iron handrail. He looked down into the vacant well and saw never-ending stairs.
At the Senora's door, he turned the knob qu
The Spanish Party 2008-11-21 11:38:42
On Friday night Lethe met his Spanish
friends at the end of the cul de sac. All the group was there, Carlos, Ricky, Javier, Damien and the others; but they seemed to be waiting for Lethe to arrive so they could take him off somewhere.
Javier, the fat-cheeked, jovial Spaniard, approached Lethe with open arms and ushered him toward the group . . . "My parents are gone for the weekend," he said. Read more:Party
Credits 2008-11-20 16:06:55 Thank you repeat commentators who have given me worthwhile feedback. Your comments and suggestions allow me to improve this ongoing narrative.
Thank you Chris Poirier. Your comments and criticism, along with your support was instrumental in shaping this narrative.
I would like to thank all of the photo/art contributors. This novella would not be possible without all of the beautiful artwork Read more:Credits
An Energetic Morning 2008-11-12 14:45:47
Lethe Bashar woke up the next morning feeling . . . marvelous!
He got out of bed and looked at the wall, the same wall he looked at every morning when he woke up. Except today the poster of the clown with the funny-shoes on and blousy shirt made complete sense to him:
To wish for too great a happiness makes it difficult for that same happiness.
Well, of course, it does, Lethe thought. If yo Read more:Energetic
, Morning
Another Senora? 2008-11-11 17:00:52
They sat at the table waiting for Lethe to arrive. The meal was Spanish rice and beans; a quick meal; the Senora was tired of cooking for absent people. Donte told a story about his classmates while the Senora drank from her glass of wine. Once she enjoyed listening to Donte speak his pretty fluent sentences but now they grated on her aged ears and the more embellishment he gave to the Spanis
Lethe meets the psychiatrist in the Park 2008-11-08 13:15:56
Lethe appeared much happier than Senorita Lorenzo recalled. The last time she saw him in her office, he was insecure and tense. There was also some awkwardness between them that caused her to consider finding him a new therapist.
Today Lethe was wearing brand new clothes and a confident grin. What caught the psychiatrist off guard was when he sat down next to her and immediately reached for h
The Director 2008-11-05 16:40:24
The Director
of the study abroad program had a shiny bald pate with a fluff of thin, gray hair around the back of his head. He smiled generously and spread his arms to welcome you into his office. Some of the younger women (his female students) stood back in terror, but the Director reassured them it was only his "personalidad espanol" coming out. When in his native land, he felt a change in h
The Spaniards: Part One 2008-10-29 14:46:37
The Senora’s apartment building sat on a cobbled street with a couple boutique shops and an open plaza across the way. During the weeknights, it held a serene, moonlit absence of sound. On the weekends, one heard the youthful crowds stirring; friendly pairs flirting with each other on stone benches.
There was no need to buy any more hashish. Lethe's regular visits to the other side of Mad
The Spaniards: Part Two 2008-10-29 12:56:30
Their festive exuberance struck him as odd. He'd never seen university students so open, loving, and free. They embraced like brothers and kissed on the cheeks; they cavorted around the cul de sac, chasing one another. They had fiery, engaging conversations.
Lethe approached them without freezing up or running off. The hashish he smoked earlier removed his inhibitions and he walked right Read more:Part Two
Lethe sees a psychiatrist 2008-10-28 17:04:16
It was decided that Lethe would see a psychiatrist. The Senora recommended the British-American clinic in the historic district of Madrid.
As the cab sped around a circular street, Lethe looked out at the mist hanging over the fountains. Few people were in the streets. It felt strange not to be going to school this morning; he felt torn from his routine, alienated by this emergency. He stare
Welcome to the Novel of Life 2008-10-28 11:49:53
Lethe Bashar is on study abroad. He moves into an apartment with a sixty-five year old Senora. Within two weeks, he undergoes an extreme form of culture shock. He has difficulty attending classes at the International Institute, and his greatest fears revolve around his appearance in the mirror. The Senora, a maternal figure, suggests that Lethe withdraw from school and see a psychiatrist.
Y Read more:Welcome
Senorita Lorenzo's red chamber 2008-10-28 10:29:51 SenoritaLorenzo
, Lethe's psychiatrist, was encamped in her office all day long. She rarely left for lunch, preferring instead the red-chambered privacy of the British-American clinic. She savored the time that she had alone and usually allowed herself to relax and forget about her patients.
It was a narrow window of pleasure, and she had to be careful not to impinge on the delicacy of these m
Lethe ventures out into the night . . . again and again 2008-10-27 10:56:28
It became a nightly ritual, slipping out of the Senora’s apartment after she had gone to bed . . .
The damp metro station. Dirty air; sooty, humid. A creaky turnstile with a single homeless person sleeping on the granite. The solitary tram car. Loud, metallic vibrations through cavernous tunnels.
Two police officers usually stood at the top of the stairs when he came out of the Metro.
Returning to the Clinic 2008-10-24 09:54:41
Instead of taking a cab, Lethe decided to take the metro. The metro was an underground subway system with echoing platforms and moist tunnels. Crowds plodded through the cavernous walkways as street performers shouted and played their rickety instruments. Mostly, the flowing masses ignored the animated faces of vendors and winos. Gypsies vied for the attention of the commuters as well, crouc Read more:Clinic
Un Chien Andalou 2008-10-24 09:40:18
One minute after six o’clock, he stepped into his classroom on the eighth floor. “Sit down,” the professor ordered him, “We’re about to begin.”
An old film projector was perched on a wooden stand in front of the room. Students were whispering to each other and sharing cell phone numbers. Someone had pulled down the window shades and a dusky twilight settled over the plastic chair
The Senora 2008-10-20 20:39:38
Although the Senora tried to conceal her emotions, she was a nervous woman who thought a great deal about her responsibilities. Her biggest responsibility was to the study abroad program that paid her a monthly income. For the most part, the students who stayed in her apartment could take care of themselves. In the first couple weeks of having a new boarder the Senora was always a little nerv
A Pastry Shop and a Bookstore 2008-10-20 14:31:53
Lethe meandered into a pastry shop and was awestruck by the glistening tiles and reflective surfaces. The clicking heels of gaunt, middle-aged Spanish women and their chattering maids bewitched him and soon he was following an ultra-chic mommy down the black marble aisle. She paused to look into a shiny casement and he hung over her, also peering into the glass.
"Perdon," she said, feeling hi Read more:Bookstore
, Pastry
Lethe talks to his mother 2008-10-18 15:47:34
That night Lethe called his parents to tell them what was going on. He went into the Senora’s bedroom because it was the only place where he could have any privacy on the phone.
“Mom?”
He heard his mother
’s wail on the other end. She always had to breathe deeply before mustering the energy to speak. Her sighs were pained and lugubrious. She sounded like a muffled, bleating lamb.
Hashish 2008-10-18 10:11:36
A long, long time ago in an artificial suburban hamlet called Barclay Park,
beside a high stucco wall covered with ivy,
behind a flowering bush (Calochortus nudus),
Lethe smoked his first cigarette.
Tasting the harsh fumes of death, Lethe grew hardened and ambitious to continue smoking each week. He slipped out of the house when his parents weren't looking and he ran to the end of his street
Lethe's Happiness 2008-10-10 13:37:09
During the week the Senora was busy cleaning the apartment and preparing meals. She had a maid come in the mornings to help out. Usually, at about nine o’clock, when Lethe was having his coffee, he saw Catalin and engaged her in a conversation she didn't quite feel comfortable having. For example, Lethe wanted to know whether she had a boyfriend or not.
"No, I'm single."
"Good, then you'll c
The bedroom shrinks 2008-10-10 13:10:37
“You’re home early.” The Senora said.
Lethe hung his head, looking sickly and pale.
“Nino, go lay down. I’ll make you some leche con mile.”
She brought the warm milk to his bedroom. He climbed into his bed with only a thin pair of underwear to cover him.
He sat up, drinking the milk. His head was still reeling from the scene in the classroom. The surrealist images proliferated in
Lethe meets Veronica before class 2008-10-10 13:03:18
Once a week, in the evenings, Lethe saw a friend at the Institute. Her name was Veronica
and they’d met during the first week of the foreign exchange program when their college sponsored a ten-day excursion through the Pyrenees Mountains. The idea of the trip was to do a little sight-seeing before the students came to Madrid. A group of over fifty students stayed in small hotels and inns along Read more:class
Summary 2008-09-23 16:07:11 Lethe Bashar is on study abroad in Madrid, Spain. He moves into an apartment with a sixty-five year old Senora. Within two weeks, Lethe undergoes an extreme form of culture shock. He has difficulty attending his classes at the International Institute, and his greatest fears revolve around his appearance in the mirror. The Senora, a maternal figure, suggests that Lethe withdraw from school and see Read more:Summary
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2009-01-01 09:10:02
Gerar Gonzalez, a comic book artist and illustrator from Argentina, has been working with me for almost a year now to create a graphic novel based on Lethe in Vegas. From the moment Gerardo sent me the "first page", I couldn't believe how intuitive he was about the character of Lethe. It was like he captured the essence of the story in his pictures. We've recently submitted our work to Zuda co Read more:Christmas
, Happy
, Happy New Year
, Merry
, Merry Christmas
The Difficulties facing the Online Novelist 2008-12-18 20:19:19 Online novelists are a fairly new breed. There are those who use html pages and those who make their blog into a kind of novel. When I first realized that I could present my novel to the world, I was thrilled. For the next eight months I did everything I could to get people to read my novel, but what I didn't understand was (A) my novel wasn't finished yet and (B) just because you put up your nove Read more:Novelist
Welcome to the Novel of Life 2008-12-16 21:36:21
Lethe Bashar is on study abroad. He moves into an apartment with a sixty-five year old Senora. Within two weeks, he undergoes an extreme form of culture shock. Between quitting classes, falling in love with his Senora's maid, smoking hashish, and meeting a group of native Spaniards, an innocent study abroad program turns to living dangerously.
To begin reading the novel click here.
Read more:Welcome
Author Post 2008-12-11 23:51:15 Hello Readers,
After some deliberation, I've decided to take a break from online posting. With the hectic month of December, along with a possible surgery in the next month, I think it would be best if I paused here temporarily.
This story will go on, it must go on. But every blogger knows the reality of burnout and it seems I've been working on my six blogs now for eight-months solid. I lo Read more:Author
The Director calls 2008-12-01 22:32:14
The Director
called the next morning when Lethe was still in bed. The Senora was slicing vegetables in the kitchen, full of anxious vigor. "Si . . . si . . . un momento."
Lethe crawled out of bed and came into the kitchen. He looked like a ball of melted wax; expression hadn't seeped into his face yet. He took the phone from the Senora's hand and pressed his ear against the garlic-smelling Read more:calls
Recommend Site To A Friend
