Re: I've been trying to learn
William Hochman (wh14@is9.nyu.edu)
Sat, 09 Oct 1999 11:27:26 -0400 (EDT)
Dear Carl,
I'm wondering if your teacher is really judging you on the
authors you like? I was impressed with the way you composed your email (I
used to teach...) and it made me think about why folks who love lit aren't
always easy going about what lit to love...however, I think being pushed
into reading authors you don't like is a good thing. I think lit mixes
loving and criticizing...ingesting a good variety of books helps make
your reading skills develop more variety. Some of the best thinkers we
have expressed their ideas in startling variety of ways...from speaking to
poetry to fiction to non-fiction to hypertext--lit constantly finds ways
to both preserve and change the way human experience finds itself in
language...so chill!
Loving Salinger is not like having a favorite team
to root for and being against those who root for other authors. In fact,
it's just the opposite. I can enjoy Allen Ginsburg at the same time I
enjoy Wallace Stevens, I can enjoy Salinger and Irvine Welsch, even
though their styles and sensibilities are very different...I can even
enjoy the New Yorker and the New York Post for their differing
points of view about new york...it's simply fun to like a range of
contexts and writers because that's how lit gives us new experience and
helps us develop notions and emotions more deeply. This list has a lot of
readers who love Salinger and I do, perhaps more than any other author
I've read so far, but my love would mean less if it wasn't based on a
reading life that dips into many worlds by many authors.
I've taken time on this because I hope you will be part of this list and
because at the same time I hope you read many, many different authors.
Why not listen to Holden and try _Out of Africa_ or one of Salinger's
favorites, _The Great Gatsby_?
will