"Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each." --Henry David Thoreau
I should read Walden, I guess. A friend of mine is fond of telling me, "As Thoreau ought to have said, simplify."
One of my favorite parts in The Moviegoer by Walker Percy is when the main character is talking to his mother, who suffers from hay fever. The mother is a sympathetic character, and the reader knows this because Percy is actually very charitable in his description of how she manages her poor nose.
I'm biting the bullet, though -- I'm going in to the doctor, for the first time in at least two years, to see what he'll give me for sinus problems.
You don't need to read Thoreau. No one needs to read Thoreau. Ever. Emerson is more interesting, but still--no. The best parts are available in collected books of quotations.
I never read any Percy either, until right before I went down to the Walker Percy convention. The Moviegoer is quite good, and where one ought to start. I mostly liked Lancelot too, which contains this immortal line: "Her face was if anything more soft-eyed and voluptuous, as only a thirty-two year old woman can be voluptuous." Though I'm on the wrong side of that now, I wasn't when I read it, and I took great consolation from it.
I'm about to kick Thoreau to the curb. He's been irritating me all afternoon, and I have better things to read. Too much asshattery.
Yeah, I think Walden would have been a very different book if Thoreau had had allergies.
ReplyDeleteI should read Walden, I guess. A friend of mine is fond of telling me, "As Thoreau ought to have said, simplify."
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite parts in The Moviegoer by Walker Percy is when the main character is talking to his mother, who suffers from hay fever. The mother is a sympathetic character, and the reader knows this because Percy is actually very charitable in his description of how she manages her poor nose.
I'm biting the bullet, though -- I'm going in to the doctor, for the first time in at least two years, to see what he'll give me for sinus problems.
"I have lived some thirty years on this planet, and I have yet to hear the first syllable of valuable or even earnest advice from my seniors."
ReplyDeleteI'm leaning toward the impression that Thoreau is a bit of an asshat.
Do I even have to point out anymore that the above is me?
ReplyDeleteYou don't need to read Thoreau. No one needs to read Thoreau. Ever. Emerson is more interesting, but still--no. The best parts are available in collected books of quotations.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Literacy-chic here. There are some nice passages in Thoreau, but I don't think anyone misses much by not reading him.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I have never, ever read any Walker Percy.
The more quotes I read from Thoreau the less I want to read him.
ReplyDeleteOil of oregano may help - if you can stand it.
I never read any Percy either, until right before I went down to the Walker Percy convention. The Moviegoer is quite good, and where one ought to start. I mostly liked Lancelot too, which contains this immortal line: "Her face was if anything more soft-eyed and voluptuous, as only a thirty-two year old woman can be voluptuous." Though I'm on the wrong side of that now, I wasn't when I read it, and I took great consolation from it.
ReplyDeleteI'm about to kick Thoreau to the curb. He's been irritating me all afternoon, and I have better things to read. Too much asshattery.
I'm leaning toward the impression that Thoreau is a bit of an asshat.
ReplyDeleteI notice that a lot of writers held in high esteem by college English teachers fit that profile....