Subject: Re: john lennon and catcher--just say know
From: Jaime Stallard (stallard@SLU.EDU)
Date: Thu Apr 25 2002 - 12:16:16 EDT
If works of art are able to insprire you in positive ways then aren't they
also able to inspire you in negative ways? You can't have one without the
other.
Jaime
----- Original Message -----
From: "Will Hochman" <hochman@southernct.edu>
To: <bananafish@roughdraft.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2002 7:09 AM
Subject: john lennon and catcher--just say know
> Dear Bananafish, When this strand came up, I had decided not to
> participate. It's just wrong to connect a murderous, insane person
> with a great artist or great artwork. Sure, there was a lot of press
> about how one person interpreted a novel and let it drive him to
> murder or whatever, but the thing that bothers me is that too many of
> us want to think about how one particular novel may be a catalyst for
> a murder when the truth is that I wouldn't trust Chapman to read an
> aspirin label well, much less a book. This drive to connect Catcher
> to murder is just a sad, small, literary footnote. It is not, as,
> Holden would say, 'a very big deal.'
>
> Last night I was the keynote speaker at an awards ceremony for prize
> winning middle school and high school writers and their parents. When
> I asked the audience of approximately 200 people how many had read
> Catcher, I watched at least 75% of the people raise their hands and I
> can still see many of the young folks shoot their hands up high and
> fast with a sense of pride and fondness that should make us really
> think about what Catcher can mean to most people. I may be making
> more out of this quick image than is right, but my interpretation of
> that moment is strong and deep. I can still see a few young writers
> arch their backs and reach their arms and hands in the air with a
> grasping confidence that said, yes, I know and love this book...yes,
> I am proud that I read this book...yes, I know Holden as a gentle
> soul who can show us how to love people and he's even able to help us
> understand our awkward, adolescent selves a little better than we
> could without him.
>
> The hands in the air that I saw didn't have guns in them. There
> wasn't murder in their hearts, and the only insanity or confusion
> they may have suffered was in applauding me at the end of my remarks.
> I just dislike it very much when Catcher is connected with murdering,
> and I hope this email changes the strand to thinking about how
> Catcher affects real readers, will
> --
> Will Hochman
>
> Associate Professor of English
> Southern Connecticut State University
> 501 Crescent St, New Haven, CT 06515
> 203 392 5024
>
> http://www.southernct.edu/~hochman/willz.html
>
>
>
> -
> * Unsubscribing? Mail majordomo@roughdraft.org with the message
> * UNSUBSCRIBE BANANAFISH
>
-
* Unsubscribing? Mail majordomo@roughdraft.org with the message
* UNSUBSCRIBE BANANAFISH
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b25 : Mon Jun 24 2002 - 10:28:30 EDT