Re: ... oh give me a home ...

I think what prompted my McDonald's comment about you, originally, was your
suggestion in one of your responses to Diego that your ear is getting a bit
tinny. What I meant to suggest was exactly the opposite -- if anything, your
ear is hypersensitive or hypertuned.

This isn't a criticism; it's the reason your writing is so good and your
close readings of Hemingway and Conrad are worth close attention. I think
both you and Diego made very good points very well and I think, ultimately,
the difference between the two of you is largely cultural and nothing else.
Two conflicting cultural perceptions of the same authors well elucidated.

Once again, so very worth the time.

Jim

PS The great American satirist? Hard to say. You're right about Dr.
Strangelove -- that was nearly flawless for what it tried to accomplish. I
don't know what could follow this, though. There's a strong element of
satire in Pynchon's novels, and I think he needs to be read more as a
satirist than a Great Literary Innovator. His last novel, _Mason and Dixon_,
is very much directed at America. Woody Allen could be it, but he's too
limited to NYC. No matter where he shoots or where his stories are placed,
HE'S always in the city.

Scottie Bowman wrote:

> It's quite pitiful how chuffed I am when people
> say nice things about my writing. Believe me, chaps,
> the gratitude is very deeply felt indeed.
>
> I'm wondering, though, what sort of poker-arsed figure
> I must present when Jim assumes I'm too.... I don't what....
> too something, anyway, to enjoy junk food or the Simpsons.
> For what it's worth, although I might have reservations about
> all that dough & processed cheese in a Macdonald's, I do love
> Marks & Spencers' Premium bangers (94% guilt-inducing
> pure pork) - & am in wholehearted agreement with Tina
> that the Simpsons belong on the top shelf of current satire.
> (I'd fall for Lisa before Phoebe any day.)
>
> Which brings me to the question I was going to ask before
> I opened today's maibox. How long are we going to have
> to wait before we see an American Waugh (whose centenary
> falls this year) or, indeed, another Heller? Or have I missed
> someone (not at all unlikely)? With all the batting & jeering
> back & forth about Ashcroft & Co, I wonder no one has
> - so far as I know - sat down to write the Great Satiric
> American Novel about the present scene. I don't remember
> who conceived the Peter Sellars characters in 'Dr Strangelove'
> but there's surely a lot of fertile land out there where the oviphile
> roams & the Pentagon generals play. Mockery has always
> been more deadly than sputtering indignation.
>
> I might have a go myself except that I don't know (or perhaps care)
> enough about the eligible villains. Any volunteers?
>
> Scottie B.

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Received on Fri Aug 8 08:36:58 2003