http://www.anxietyofobsolescence.com/2006/04/chapter-5/ Just another WordPress weblog Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:53:16 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 http://www.anxietyofobsolescence.com/2006/04/chapter-5/comment-page-1/#comment-22836 Jon Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:15:47 +0000 http://www.anxietyofobsolescence.com/2006/04/chapter-5/#comment-22836 I would like to say that I think that you have more in common,or,importantly, could be perceived as having more in common - by the broad mass of the telly-viewing,or Oprah-viewing public - with the solitary,intellectual,besieged male writer.Even if you aspire otherwise.This doesnt matter to me particularly as I was hungry to read these chapters as I am besotted with you,Jonathan Franzen,Delillo....ie with contemporary literature and criticism ( I like Oprah too).I dont have even a degree in English.It took an enormous amount of work to get through these pages,my views changing vertiginously,uncomfortably,everyday,as I sought to get to grips with complex issues that require a lot of careful thought.When I idealistically,passionately, sought to explain these issues to my cousin, who is a feminist,she lambasted me for elitism,being patronising,being over-intellectual.And male.It almost caused an irreparable rift.It's as if she believes that such learned,inaccessible language and thinking and "concepts" are an inhuman stab through the good/liberal/democratic/collectivist/non-elitist/non-ivory beating heart.I suspect that,to her, such knowledge of such culture wars,that threatens to shake the foundations of deeply-held and well-intentioned beliefs, is almost machiavellian.I despair at the divide.It hurts at a personal and intellectual level.But also,hell was I angry at the price for my well-intentioned efforts : to read,to learn,to empathise,to attempt to get a bird's eye view of issues ( heaven forbid an omniscient one) - and to optimistically communicate ideas,to explain.Oprah-like. In the long-run, I'm an optimist about literature and the attendant invisible,colourless yet forceful cognitive processes involved in trying to understand it - not politics.Even if the obsessive,often solitary,pursuit of it is a minority one. Really fascinating read,thank you. I would like to say that I think that you have more in common,or,importantly, could be perceived as having more in common – by the broad mass of the telly-viewing,or Oprah-viewing public – with the solitary,intellectual,besieged male writer.Even if you aspire otherwise.This doesnt matter to me particularly as I was hungry to read these chapters as I am besotted with you,Jonathan Franzen,Delillo….ie with contemporary literature and criticism ( I like Oprah too).I dont have even a degree in English.It took an enormous amount of work to get through these pages,my views changing vertiginously,uncomfortably,everyday,as I sought to get to grips with complex issues that require a lot of careful thought.When I idealistically,passionately, sought to explain these issues to my cousin, who is a feminist,she lambasted me for elitism,being patronising,being over-intellectual.And male.It almost caused an irreparable rift.It’s as if she believes that such learned,inaccessible language and thinking and “concepts” are an inhuman stab through the good/liberal/democratic/collectivist/non-elitist/non-ivory beating heart.I suspect that,to her, such knowledge of such culture wars,that threatens to shake the foundations of deeply-held and well-intentioned beliefs, is almost machiavellian.I despair at the divide.It hurts at a personal and intellectual level.But also,hell was I angry at the price for my well-intentioned efforts : to read,to learn,to empathise,to attempt to get a bird’s eye view of issues ( heaven forbid an omniscient one) – and to optimistically communicate ideas,to explain.Oprah-like.
In the long-run, I’m an optimist about literature and the attendant invisible,colourless yet forceful cognitive processes involved in trying to understand it – not politics.Even if the obsessive,often solitary,pursuit of it is a minority one.
Really fascinating read,thank you.

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