David, a couple reflections on this interesting post of yours.
I discovered James Agee a decade or so ago, because I’d heard "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" was worth checking out. I found it odd, hard to connect with at first, and then by halfway through I realized I was more connected to the family he was reporting on than to any characters in fiction I could recall. A really stunning way of affecting the (at least this) reader. Certainly, Walker Evans’s photographs assisted. That took me of course into Evans’s work, but also into trying to learn what happened to the family after Agee and Walker’s book. As I recall, it continued to be a hard life in new ways as the century moved on.)
Like you, I followed "…Famous Men" with "Grapes of Wrath." As a fan of Samuel Barber’s work, as well as Agee’s, I’ll make a discontinuous chain/cluster (years later) and check out A Death in the Family as well as Knoxville: Summer of 1915 in both written and musical form. Thanks for the tip!
Elizabeth Hardwick: Lauren Groff reads Hardwick’s story “The Faithful” (which I think is taken from "Sleepless Nights") and discusses Hardwick and the story, on “The New Yorker: Fiction” podcast, August 1 episode. I found it a fascinating story from a craft perspective and a very interesting discussion about the author and her life.
Thanks for sharing your insights, and your encouragements to read!
I had another, possibly two, other books having to do with documentary photography and the FSA group . . . I know I took notes on it, but that folder from long ago has gone missing . . . I liked reading about FDR's experiments in trying to lift people up . . . I didn't mention it in the post but the Interior Department was run by Harold Ickes, who was I believe the father of the guy with the same name who was in Clinton's inner circle. I can almost remember a line about Ickes, something like "he had a talent for remedy" . . . but then in doing the post I saw that there were criticisms of Stryker's approach---and I think someone has written a book (or maybe just an article) about following up on the later history of the Gudger and Rickett families (from the photos) . . . and how they felt about their lives being shared around like that. I was very into that stuff in the 80s. Thanks for the tip about Groff/Hardwick. I just read her most recent (I think) novel, THE VASTER WILDS, thought it was a great piece of work. And, as always, thanks for responding!
Why an interesting way to build a reading list! Start with Things Fall Apart and Half of a Yellow Sun is one way to go (other African authors), but I could chose non-western nationals talking back to European imperialism, or books revealing non-European culture (I'll pitch for Nectar in a Sieve, which I read first as an adolescent and reread recently with pleasure), or books about that period of time or written during the time it was written, or written by authors exploring their own family history.
For that last, nonfiction The Cost of Free Land by Rebecca Clarren explores the history of her Jewish ancestors fleeing Russian pogroms who settle in South Dakota on land stolen from the Lakota people, "examining themes of inheritance, oppression, and the need for reconciliation. The book highlights the personal and national consequences of this legacy and encourages readers to reflect on their own roles in historical injustices." I appreciated it far more than Isabel Wilkerson's book, which made a good movie.
I finally read THINGS FALL APART--one of my nagging unread books I need to read. Brutal. The evils of both viewpoints on view--if you take the anti-colonialism position, then you support misogyny and superstition, cruelty. It's a book without winners, but necessary. I may get to the rest of the trilogy. I like your other ideas--just what I hoped for. Think anyone will carry through on this project??
Hmm... I'd argue it's too easy to dismiss the misogyny [or sexism] of the Igbo culture. Consider what England was like at the time. Women had no legal standing, could not inherit or vote, could be beaten or raped by their husbands without recourse. Superstition? You mean the blood and body of Christ? An inherited chosen-by-god aristocracy? Among the Igbo, a man could become a leader through his own skill. This was a functioning culture with some flexibility and pathways for women to be protected and even powerful. A woman was in charge of divination as Oracle.
Did you notice the parallels with the Scottish play? Okonkwo as the ambitious and tragic Macbeth; Ikemefuna's last cry and McDuff's son's cry, each to their "father." In that one, it is typically the Lady who is blamed, though none of the killing was her idea, only setting aside her nature ["unsex me now!"] to serve her husband, and she felt enough remorse to try to stop him, to suicide from guilt.
In any event, the British removed all protections and failed to replace them with anything at all.
Will we carry through with your suggested reading project? Some will, I suspect. I will. It's the way I read, when I'm not doing someone a favor or choosing a book I came across by random chance. Ha!
Never cared much for Robert Lowell, and then because of his treatment of a former student, I've assumed Robert Lowell was a jerk (a##hole). Now I can be assured my original opinion was on target.
David, a couple reflections on this interesting post of yours.
I discovered James Agee a decade or so ago, because I’d heard "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" was worth checking out. I found it odd, hard to connect with at first, and then by halfway through I realized I was more connected to the family he was reporting on than to any characters in fiction I could recall. A really stunning way of affecting the (at least this) reader. Certainly, Walker Evans’s photographs assisted. That took me of course into Evans’s work, but also into trying to learn what happened to the family after Agee and Walker’s book. As I recall, it continued to be a hard life in new ways as the century moved on.)
Like you, I followed "…Famous Men" with "Grapes of Wrath." As a fan of Samuel Barber’s work, as well as Agee’s, I’ll make a discontinuous chain/cluster (years later) and check out A Death in the Family as well as Knoxville: Summer of 1915 in both written and musical form. Thanks for the tip!
Elizabeth Hardwick: Lauren Groff reads Hardwick’s story “The Faithful” (which I think is taken from "Sleepless Nights") and discusses Hardwick and the story, on “The New Yorker: Fiction” podcast, August 1 episode. I found it a fascinating story from a craft perspective and a very interesting discussion about the author and her life.
Thanks for sharing your insights, and your encouragements to read!
I had another, possibly two, other books having to do with documentary photography and the FSA group . . . I know I took notes on it, but that folder from long ago has gone missing . . . I liked reading about FDR's experiments in trying to lift people up . . . I didn't mention it in the post but the Interior Department was run by Harold Ickes, who was I believe the father of the guy with the same name who was in Clinton's inner circle. I can almost remember a line about Ickes, something like "he had a talent for remedy" . . . but then in doing the post I saw that there were criticisms of Stryker's approach---and I think someone has written a book (or maybe just an article) about following up on the later history of the Gudger and Rickett families (from the photos) . . . and how they felt about their lives being shared around like that. I was very into that stuff in the 80s. Thanks for the tip about Groff/Hardwick. I just read her most recent (I think) novel, THE VASTER WILDS, thought it was a great piece of work. And, as always, thanks for responding!
I read "The Vaster Wilds" and "Matrix" in succession; she's such an interesting writer.
Why an interesting way to build a reading list! Start with Things Fall Apart and Half of a Yellow Sun is one way to go (other African authors), but I could chose non-western nationals talking back to European imperialism, or books revealing non-European culture (I'll pitch for Nectar in a Sieve, which I read first as an adolescent and reread recently with pleasure), or books about that period of time or written during the time it was written, or written by authors exploring their own family history.
For that last, nonfiction The Cost of Free Land by Rebecca Clarren explores the history of her Jewish ancestors fleeing Russian pogroms who settle in South Dakota on land stolen from the Lakota people, "examining themes of inheritance, oppression, and the need for reconciliation. The book highlights the personal and national consequences of this legacy and encourages readers to reflect on their own roles in historical injustices." I appreciated it far more than Isabel Wilkerson's book, which made a good movie.
I finally read THINGS FALL APART--one of my nagging unread books I need to read. Brutal. The evils of both viewpoints on view--if you take the anti-colonialism position, then you support misogyny and superstition, cruelty. It's a book without winners, but necessary. I may get to the rest of the trilogy. I like your other ideas--just what I hoped for. Think anyone will carry through on this project??
Hmm... I'd argue it's too easy to dismiss the misogyny [or sexism] of the Igbo culture. Consider what England was like at the time. Women had no legal standing, could not inherit or vote, could be beaten or raped by their husbands without recourse. Superstition? You mean the blood and body of Christ? An inherited chosen-by-god aristocracy? Among the Igbo, a man could become a leader through his own skill. This was a functioning culture with some flexibility and pathways for women to be protected and even powerful. A woman was in charge of divination as Oracle.
Did you notice the parallels with the Scottish play? Okonkwo as the ambitious and tragic Macbeth; Ikemefuna's last cry and McDuff's son's cry, each to their "father." In that one, it is typically the Lady who is blamed, though none of the killing was her idea, only setting aside her nature ["unsex me now!"] to serve her husband, and she felt enough remorse to try to stop him, to suicide from guilt.
In any event, the British removed all protections and failed to replace them with anything at all.
Will we carry through with your suggested reading project? Some will, I suspect. I will. It's the way I read, when I'm not doing someone a favor or choosing a book I came across by random chance. Ha!
Never cared much for Robert Lowell, and then because of his treatment of a former student, I've assumed Robert Lowell was a jerk (a##hole). Now I can be assured my original opinion was on target.