Re: alien worlds
the.tourist@excite.com
Mon, 22 Feb 1999 21:14:04 -0800 (PST)
Liz wrote:
> Many American teenagers would feel this way, even > though it is very
absurd, becuase they have no > interest in anything that is different or
does
> not pertain to them and their world. In this way
> Matt's post is sadly true.
I, for one, was a teenager once. Not too long ago, either. During those
years, I felt kind of lonely, very cynical, pretty disenchanted with
authority and most of the adult world, and so on. Consequently, I was a lot
more interested in finding books that seemed to be about me. Not because I
was necessarily very narcissistic--at least not more than most lonely,
cynical teenagers--but only because I happened at that time to be searching
for myself, looking for my place in the world, etc. The books I found I
could relate to, particularly Catcher, eventually--when I was
*ready*--opened up to me the whole of the literary world.
I don't think teenagers, twentysomethings, thirtysomethings, go as far as
you like, can really be called ignorant for a temporary blindness to
anything too far off from the part of themselves that they feel they need to
develop at that moment.
What is literature *for*, anyway?
I'll leave that question open-ended, and hope that it starts a great fight.
--Brendan
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