The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (SPOILERS!!)
16 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (48)
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
Related Discussions
Edward Sawtelle - Fab read!
Comments (9)Guys, Did you grow up reading literature? I understand that reading is a matter of taste, but many great works are complicated, to say the least. All of Shakespeare's tragedies, for example; Tale of Two Cities, by Dickens; Henry James's novels. There are more. Not all stories have happy endings, and in life that is sad; in fiction, it is kind of vicarious, as happy endings. This kind of reminds me of the parental uproar about the wildlife documentary The March of the Penguins. Parents and Disney-reared folk recoiled. It was about Emperor penguins in the harshest environment in the world. Duh. Then Happy Feet came out, which satisfied them. I love good reads, and have no patience for nonsense. So if anyone wants to exchange good titles with me, I have a bunch!...See MoreWhat's on your nightstand?
Comments (8)I downloaded "Tess d'Uberville" by Thomas Hardy to my iPod. I could get the text free. DS has to read it for his honors lit class and write a literary analysis, his first. So I'm reading so I can make better suggestions. Also the study guide for the English GACE I have to take in two weeks. Last text for teaching certification! WooHoo! Sorry, nothing fun right now. Although, "Tess" is sort of entertaining. I'm only a few chapter in, but I like it....See MoreJune reads
Comments (117)Sarah and Doriann, I finished Motherless Brooklyn. It falls into the category of "A good book which I did not greatly enjoy." I always think of this style as hard-boiled, sort of a 40's detective genre. The book was well-written and interesting and I would recommend it--and I will. I still think the Tourette's part made it more difficult for me, heartbreakingly so. As far as never knowing someone with Tourette's... well, maybe you have. Lionel's symptoms were extreme and quite rare, fortunately for most Tourette's folks. Too, while the age of onset is usually in the pre-teen years, the syndrome can go into remission or become mild as one gets older. Sorry for if this is sounding like a public service announcement but I sometimes can't resist, especially as whenever this is portrayed on the (stupid) television, it is always in the extreme. Here is a link that might be useful: What is Tourette's?...See MoreA Good Man is Hard to Find
Comments (21)I was excited when I realized that one of my favorite short stories, A Good Man is Hard to Find, was going to be one of the stories under discussion this month. I've read it countless times and read it again last night to see if the story would still have the same impact even after reading it so many times. It did. How can I explain why this story resonates with me? Could it be because in my own life and experience, I could personally cast each and every character simply based on family and acquaintances? Oh, how I recognize all the characters, right down to Red Sammy and his wife. I daresay I could even point out The Misfit if you visited me and had time for a short drive. And sometimes I wonder too if this story appeals to me so strongly because of my own deep fears. Call it an overactive imagination if you will, but growing up in a rural area in Kentucky on the Kentucky/Tennessee border, I can tell you that there is an undercurrent here, a fear that that innocent-looking back road might not be so safe, no matter how idyllic it appears, and that violence can lurk around any corner, just waiting to be unleashed. Maybe this is why the violence in this story doesnÂt shock me. Instead, it is part of what I admire about OÂConnorÂs writing. She is unflinching in what must be done where other writers might try to find a way to make the character escape from certain doom. In real life, doom is more likely than a last-minute reprieve. I do not see The Misfit as the hero in this story and the grandmother as evil, yet I donÂt see The Misfit as pure evil either, as evidenced by an almost palpable regret about the outcome of their chance meeting. His embarrassment at being shirtless in front of the ladies and his willingness and almost compulsive need to converse normally as the violence escalates shows me that his conscience is still functioning. I even feel a sympathy of sorts for him at moments, such as when he states, "I call myself The Misfit because I can't make what all I done wrong fit what all I gone through in punishment" and when, in his anguish when talking about Jesus raising the dead, he says that if he could have been there to see Jesus do this, maybe he wouldnÂt be like he is. Sure, the grandmother was flawed, to say the least, just like we all are. She lied, manipulated, baited, and whined to get her way, yet she still, in the last moments of her life, was reaching out to The Misfit, trying in her own way to lead him to grace and forgiveness the only way she knew how, through her personal faith and belief in Jesus. And maybe by extending this grace, she received this grace in return, since OÂConnor says the grandmother " half sat and half lay in a puddle of blood with her legs crossed under her like a child's and her face smiling up at the cloudless sky." By offering him grace, she received redemption in return. Maybe this is a simplistic interpretation of this story, but itÂs the one that......See More- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
- 15 years ago
- 15 years ago
- 14 years ago
- 14 years ago
- 9 years ago
- 9 years ago
- 9 years ago
- 5 years ago
- 5 years ago
- 3 months ago
Sponsored
Virginia's Top Rated Kitchen & Bath Renovation Firm I Best of Houzz
dturgeon_nycap_rr_com