Posted by Ritch on June 15, 2002, at 22:39:11
In reply to Owen Meany, Literature and real life, posted by susan C on June 15, 2002, at 19:06:11
> Ok, I got the book and I am holding it, well, not really, but it is on the kitchen table. I checked it out again, cause I couldn't remember enough of the story, what happened where and when, to carry on a conversation. As I was coming home, I was thinking about several things: One, that I do have cognative problems, my memory is really shot, and it takes a lot of work to articulate what I want to say. Two, I realized I read this book as if what happened were true. There was such a blending of time frame, the fifties, the sixties, the seventies....decades I have lived through, and history I vaguely remember, blended with fictional characters, but in such a realistic setting, I felt I was there...I had to stop and say THIS IS FICTION! So my question to all of you is: can literature (fiction) be so accurate it portrays REAL LIFE? Does this story qualify? And if not, at what points or point, did it break down. Or at what point was particularly tangible?
>
> a mouse scratching her head and re reading
I have to mention something an English professor in college told a class I was in at the time.. It was the mid 80's and everyone was pushing for "real world" education. The prof. in question said something like: "So, you think sitting in front of a CRT tube all day analyzing accounting data is more *real world* than discussing recent American poetry and fiction?". After spending a lot of time in college being trained for a "real world" job, I must say that I would have been as well prepared for the world studying "unwordly" subjects.Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:495
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/books/20020206/msgs/497.html