If you were an English major like me, you might be familiar with the mysterious Jane chord. Years ago, a literature professor shared with me the joy of piecing together the Jane chord of a novel: take the first few words and the last few words of a novel and string them together to create a new sentence or phrase. A Jane chord is, I imagine, rarely premeditated, and it isn’t meant to hold up under intense literary analysis or critique, but it’s always a pleasure to discover what secrets one may reveal about the narrative it encloses.
Is a Jane chord revelatory? Sometimes. Is it serendipitous? Always.
For example, here’s the Jane chord from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: “It was nearing midnight and there was still one last golden day of peace to enjoy with Ron and Hermione.” Does this Jane chord foreshadow the events to come in The Deathly Hallows? It kinda does.
Secret Belgian bound book of illustrations, 5 3/4 x 7 3/4 x 3/4, edition of 20 + 2 exhibition copies, 2018, $135 + shipping
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Jamie, it is beautiful. Did you do the illustrations as well? How many Jane chords are there>
Hope all is well with you. Excited to see this out there.
(In case you forgot, its been a while, I met you and your husband in Romania for a few days. I was there on a short Fulbright at Constanta University). Best, Lonce Bailey
Thank you Lonce. Of course I remember you – it’s so good to hear from you! Yes, I did the illustrations; there are 20 illustrations in total and I hand bound an edition of 20 books. Take care!