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And I thought I was in the center of the universe. (Thought I felt some nudging.)
Posted by Quinty

3 comments:

  1. Utah Savage7/19/09, 2:25 PM

    Ask and ye shall receive? I have been craving watermelon. I too once did a painting of cut watermelon. Aren't we all the center of the universe?

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  2. Quinty7/19/09, 3:55 PM

    Some moreso than others.

    At least, that's what some of us think..... don' wanna be a wiseguy. That would put me in the center. (Of my own universe, perhaps?_

    With the Joads, I have been progressing along with them toward the west. What glorious writing. What a glorious love Steinbeck had for these people. Without one there couldn't have been the other.

    I think this is the first book I have ever read which actually brought tears to my eyes. Or maybe with age I'm just growing soft? The beauty of the writing and the sympathy the author had for his characters are extraordinary. How alone those "Oakies" were. (At least at this point in the novel.) And how, like today, there were numerous sharks lying in wait to exploit them, to get as much as they can. Human nature doesn't appear to have changed. In fact, it may have become uglier. The thirties were, in some respects, a great time. Though fascism was on the rise. But at least labor, "the common man," was on the rise, and possessed dignity. Something we forgot before Reagan, which may have grown during the "complacent" Eisenhower years. When cars developed grotesque fins and we thought we were the best in the world.

    Are we in the hangover from all that today? A lot of adjusting has to be accomplished now that the giddy Bush years are gone. All that still lingers with us. Let's all read Steinbeck! (Though, my god, he supported the Vietnam War. Oh well.)

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  3. jazzolog7/22/09, 1:51 AM

    Hemingway's birthday yesterday...and much ado about the new version of his memoirs. Keillor reminded us of this in his Writer's Almanac~~~

    "There's a legend that Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to create a six-word story, and he said, 'For sale: baby shoes, never worn.' Inspired by this, an online magazine invited readers to submit their own six-word memoirs, a collection of which was published by Harper Collins in 2008 as Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. Six-word memoirs include: 'All I ever wanted was more' and 'Moments of transcendence, intervals of yearning' and 'They called. I answered. Wrong number.'"

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