Re: nabokov, america, salinger
blah b b blah (jrovira@juno.com)
Tue, 30 Mar 1999 18:05:30 -0500 (EST)
Lessee...Camille and Scottie on this thread...
So far as depictions of America are concerned, it's really hard to say if
a "foreigner's" depiction is more "accurate" than an "American's." I
would think that to other "foreigners" it would be. But to American's?
heh :)
The point is that we are talking about two different points of view, both
with their own strengths and weaknesses. It's not surprising that
Nabokov might present America in a way you can identify with, Camille,
the view from outside the bowl.
But Saligner presents America (one teeny little slice, actually) from
inside the bowl. It's different from Nabokov's but just as valid. And
you can't really have both points of view at once. If you want to get an
across the boards view of America from inside, read Thomas Pynchon.
And yeah, Scottie, living in a stable doesn't make you a horse :) Living
in Orlando, FL, I meet people from everywhere -- I think being middle
to upper-middle class Eurpoean is kinda like being Catholic. You may
leave the church, but you're Always Catholic :)
Jim
"The written word is a power of such magnitude that only pedants would
try to reduce it to rules. Or the French."
--F.K.
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