That's all folks

Well, we're wrapping up our Post-WWI American Lit class this week. All in all it was a great class. I had only read one of the books before - Ellison's Invisible Man. One of the most interesting things to be able to do was to see how one book led to another, the topics and the experiences of the characters, as they were placed along the continuum of the twentieth century. We touched on the African American experience (Ellison and Morrison's Paradise), the Beats (On the Road), the women's movement (Erica Jong's Fear of Flying), gays and Latinos (Michael Nava's Rag and Bone) . . . and I just realized I've written about each and every one of the books in this blog in past weeks, so I'm being redundant. Anyway . . . I learned a great deal about the American experience from the reading and perhaps even a greater amount from the discussions that took place with the other students on the forums.

So now I'm moving on, continuing to read - as I always do - for fun, for my own edification. I just finished a great book called His Illegal Self by Peter Carey. This was something apart from anything I've read before. It's about revolutionaries of the sixties and seventies. It's about a little boy who experiences life on Park Avenue and on a commune in the Australian outback. I recommend you check it out.

Keep reading!

Dr. H lets us kick back and relax a little

Ahhh. Yes, that is a sigh of relief. Don't get me wrong; I enjoy my literature classes. I mean, I get to read and get a grade for it. Is that great or what? And fortunately for me, I'm just twisted and analytical enough to come up with all kinds of explanations and hidden meanings for the stuff I read. Yippee! Anyhoo . . . This week was quite relaxing compared to the rest of the course. I've been a fan of Grisham and Connelly for a while - you know, lawyers, cops, and detectives running around solving mysteries? Well, that's just the type of thing we got to read this week: Rag and Bone by Michael Nava. Really just an enjoyable read: not too taxing, dome nice plot twists. But in this class, American Fiction Since WWII, this work was entirely appropriate, not because of style or genre, but because of the characters and the issues they addressed. The protagonist here is Henry Rios a lawyer whose partner, Josh has recently died. The novel goes on to address issues like drug use, alcoholism, bisexuality, adoption, gangs, religion - I could go on, but I won't. Any number of these would have been taboo, or at least not dealt with in a positive, compassionate way, a few decades ago. I wanted to dance a jig as I was reading this. Again, one of my classmates doesn't agree - something about treating homosexuality like a limp - but I don't see it. No, this isn't the greatest piece of literature ever written. But it is a wonderful example of the gradually opening minds of the American people. Perhaps this book - and others like it - will help us along.

Digging in their heels

So, this week's novel in class was Toni Morrison's Paradise. It was sometimes hard to follow, but certainly had some hard truths to tell. The story takes place in the mythical Ruby, Oklahoma, a black community established in the wake of the further disenfranchisement of freedmen in the south. The founders of the community were push from Mississippi and Louisiana to their first "Haven." When things stagnate there, a splinter group eventually moves on to Ruby. But, in any closed community, stagnation and dissatisfaction are inevitable. A society that doesn't change is destined to fail. Humanity is meant to continue to grow, to learn, to adjust. Differences beget advancement. The danger in Ruby is not only physical inbreeding, which is beginning to produce deformed children, but the mental inbreeding which produces a deformed mind and conscience.