"The Yellow Wallpaper" is like "To Room Nineteen" -- well-written and so close to the bone I never want to read it again.
Do I wish I was somebody else right now. Somebody not... married, not madly in love with a beautiful woman who can kill me with her pinkie!
Wash ,'Our Mrs. Reynolds'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Betsy HP - Jul 01, 2004 8:30:56 am PDT #3803 of 10002
If I only had a brain...
Aims - Jul 01, 2004 8:32:07 am PDT #3804 of 10002
Shit's all sorts of different now.
t smooches Dana
Polter-Cow - Jul 01, 2004 8:32:59 am PDT #3805 of 10002
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
Dana's a freaky camel?
Lilty Cash - Jul 01, 2004 8:33:32 am PDT #3806 of 10002
"You see? THAT's what they want. Love, and a bit with a dog."
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is like "To Room Nineteen" -- well-written and so close to the bone I never want to read it again
I haven't read "To Room Nineteen", but I understand your "Yellow Wallpaper" feelings- I get vaguely nauseous reading that story- it's like it knows something about me that I haven't figured out yet. Messes with my mind.
Lilty Cash - Jul 01, 2004 8:34:20 am PDT #3807 of 10002
"You see? THAT's what they want. Love, and a bit with a dog."
Pictures Camel Dana letting her freak flag fly.
DavidS - Jul 01, 2004 8:41:54 am PDT #3808 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Personally, I've felt that the value of any work of literature, theater, music, or film is exactly contained in the reader/viewer/listener experiencing it.
Way too relativist for me. But then I don't have an issue with there being a Western Canon either. (Which doesn't preclude people having interesting fights about what belongs there.)
erikaj - Jul 01, 2004 8:45:14 am PDT #3809 of 10002
Always Anti-fascist!
I agree with Hecubus. I mean, I LOL at say, David Sedaris. And I would refill David Simon's printer cartridge as my job. But it's too soon to say what their lasting significance is.
Lilty Cash - Jul 01, 2004 8:53:24 am PDT #3810 of 10002
"You see? THAT's what they want. Love, and a bit with a dog."
I can agree with erika and Hec to a degree- I think that teaching someone how to read critically, so that one might find relevance in a work is most important- so a canon has to develop of examples to use in teaching. The quandary is in who makes those decisions; how does a canon develop and grow?
Daisy Jane - Jul 01, 2004 8:54:49 am PDT #3811 of 10002
"This bar smells like kerosene and stripper tears."
Heather is me. Also with the Portia- and Camino Real-love.
You are involved in theater aren't you juliana? Most people I know who love Camino have either seen it or have staged-or thought about staging- it.
Loved The Yellow Wallpaper.
I mean, I LOL at say, David Sedaris. And I would refill David Simon's printer cartridge as my job. But it's too soon to say what their lasting significance is.
Fair enough, but can we go ahead and call Adams a classic writer? A modern day Swift?
Nutty - Jul 01, 2004 8:56:03 am PDT #3812 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
I think it's more relevant to this discussion to question what use the Western Canon is, rather than whether it exists or not. (I also don't dispute its existence, but will also fight to the death about what is or is not on the list.) Does the WC have relevance to the books you read in your ordinary habits (and how)? Can you enjoy a book that was influential, but has aged badly? Does ignorance of a segment of the WC necessarily impair your ability to enjoy/benefit from another novel?