> Mario wrote:
> Miker, I place West within a specifically Jewish
tradition.
> To the classic "I'm getting screwed", this tradition
adds
> "And I'm a schmuck". In Goodis, you just have the
getting
> screwed thing. There is no irony. It's an
important
> difference. Another difference is that West was a
much more
> sophisticated writer than Goodis, more cerebral.
With
> Goodis, you get the raw picture of the loser
thrashing
> about; with West (as with Willeford, an
important
> parallel), you get a smart and articulate observer
telling
> you about the schmuck.
********** Been thinking about what you wrote. I guess Holden
Caulfield in Salinger's CATCHER IN THE RYE would fall into
the Jewish schmuck category. PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT, maybe? And
Shrike seems to be West's voice, and the book is worth
reading for his amusing monologue's alone.
But I'm interested in the value you place on irony. I assume
the irony you are talking about is that Miss Lonelyhearts
feels so deeply the hurt of those that write him, and yet he
abuses them himself. Is that the irony? Or is it something
deeper that I missed? I understand the irony too of writing
the column to help these people, when really all it's doing
is exploiting them.
Went to a thrift shop a few weeks ago and the paperbacks were
all a waste, and I halfheartedly was going thur the hardbacks
and WAHOO! I found a collection of critical essays on West. I
am constantly amazed when I read this sort of thing. James
Light sees Miss Lonelyhearts as a sort of "saint" and talks
about how he runs to the cripple at the end, expecting and
wishing to perform a miracle, and is instead shot down. Seems
like he is glossing over the fact that he's had sex with the
guy's wife and later beat her up. The book of essays even has
some notes of West's on Miss Lonelyhearts.
miker
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