I am in such a bad mood today. I feel like the whole world is just bumming me out.
Maybe it's just the change of seasons. Maybe it's the wasps that keep stinging my dogs who are allergic. (God I hate wasps.) Maybe it's just the way it is, or this book I'm not having fun writing right now . . . But I keep imagining not writing it but instead composing some of those annoying questions that appear at the end of books for "discussion." Here are few I thought of for Dick and Jane ages ago.
1. Is this a book about a particular Dick or a Universal Dick?
2. Is Dick really Dick, or is he merely a symbol of Dick?
3. What might Dick be a symbol of?
from Midlife Crisis with Dick and Jane
The real teachers and coaches may offer a charismatic model—they probably
have to—but then they insist that all the magic they have to offer is a
commitment to repetition and perseverance. The great oracles may enthrall,
but the really great teachers demystify. They make particle physics into a
series of diagrams that anyone can follow, football into a series of steps
that anyone can master, and art into a series of slides that anyone can
see. A guru gives us himself and then his system; a teacher gives us his
subject, and then ourselves.
-
David Remnick, The Only Game in Town: Sportswriting from The New Yorker
52 minutes ago
5 comments:
I'd like to suggest a few more questions:
What is Dick’s relation to the industrial-military complex within twenty-first century America?
Is Dick motivated more by his inner-reality or his outer-reality?
And my personal favourite:
In this section, what is Dick’s inner-child saying?
Oh, and I hate wasps too...
Once, when I was a kid, one of them actually crawled down my sock and stung my foot. You have to admire the dedication they show to causing needless pain.
Oh there are many MANY more questions in the book, but I like yours.
i ran over a hornet's nest once with a lawnmower and got high from the stings. it felt really, really nice, but i wouldn't suggest trying it.
My boyfriend is allergic to wasps.
A wasp got in my apartment last week, and I caught my kitten with a wasp in her mouth shaking her head, doing the "breaking her victim's neck" motion. Luckily she didn't get stung.
I really like Valerie's cat.
Despite my advanced age, I cannot answer your Dick questions, but I hope you feel better.
I like Dick.
I like you too.
Maybe you should have some ice cream today.
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