“It’s my own so I’m partial to it.” A professor I had said that about American Lit, and I’ve repeatedly found that true in my life. There’s something about the localism in Faulkner and Wendell Berry, the pure philosophy of Thoreau, the epic of Cormac McCarthy and Melville, the craft of Hemingway, and the poetic spirit of Eliot and Twain …
“It’s my own so I’m partial to it.” A professor I had said that about American Lit, and I’ve repeatedly found that true in my life. There’s something about the localism in Faulkner and Wendell Berry, the pure philosophy of Thoreau, the epic of Cormac McCarthy and Melville, the craft of Hemingway, and the poetic spirit of Eliot and Twain that I obsess over. They have their flaws for sure. I don’t know if they stack up to the Russians, but they’re mine and I love them for that.
Ah I love the way you’ve put that, “they’re mine and I love them for that.” It is remarkable how good American literature has been in such a short time period. McCarthy passing last month was tough to bear
I have never read it. Definitely been on the list since every McCarthy obituary compared the two writers. My girlfriend tried it earlier this year and hated it so I’m excited to enjoy it and tell her she’s wrong!
Have fun! There are a few chapters devoted solely to the history and art of whaling that seem dense and pointless but just keep pushing on. It’s so worth it. Melville had an almost Shakespearean sense of epic and drama.
“It’s my own so I’m partial to it.” A professor I had said that about American Lit, and I’ve repeatedly found that true in my life. There’s something about the localism in Faulkner and Wendell Berry, the pure philosophy of Thoreau, the epic of Cormac McCarthy and Melville, the craft of Hemingway, and the poetic spirit of Eliot and Twain that I obsess over. They have their flaws for sure. I don’t know if they stack up to the Russians, but they’re mine and I love them for that.
Ah I love the way you’ve put that, “they’re mine and I love them for that.” It is remarkable how good American literature has been in such a short time period. McCarthy passing last month was tough to bear
Just a personal opinion: I think “Moby-Dick” can go toe-to-toe with the greatest works of world literature. It’s a hill I’d die on lol.
I have never read it. Definitely been on the list since every McCarthy obituary compared the two writers. My girlfriend tried it earlier this year and hated it so I’m excited to enjoy it and tell her she’s wrong!
Have fun! There are a few chapters devoted solely to the history and art of whaling that seem dense and pointless but just keep pushing on. It’s so worth it. Melville had an almost Shakespearean sense of epic and drama.