tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post529564862098185993..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: Little House on the Prairie and the Prairie Sublime - a Burkean interpretationAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-65560028450423905602010-11-10T15:49:55.644-06:002010-11-10T15:49:55.644-06:00Gee, how nice. Thanks a lot.
What do you think i...Gee, how nice. Thanks a lot.<br /><br />What do you think it is about the prairie setting that does not interest you (although that Cather novel is set in New Mexico!)?<br /><br />Before I saw an ocean in person, age 10 or so, I remember reading novels - kid's books - about the sea with bewildered fascination. Even with the assistance of television, much of it was so hard to imagine or understand. Sounds and smells and weather, expecially - images of the sea were no help there.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-25151350446685908212010-11-10T14:57:56.971-06:002010-11-10T14:57:56.971-06:00I could never get into Laura Wilder in the same wa...I could never get into Laura Wilder in the same way I could never get into Willa Cather (I thought that would change with Death Comes To The Archbishop...but no). It must be the setting. But isn't it wonderful that there is so much out there for every taste? In any event, I love your blog because you write so well and your reviews are always worth the time.Gradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17526750467742207099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-89164430073665124162010-11-09T19:47:42.003-06:002010-11-09T19:47:42.003-06:00The reason for moving (p. 1): "Pa said there ...The reason for moving (p. 1): "Pa said there were too many people in the Big Woods now." Although Pa said a lot of things. There's also a subtext about degraded hunting. The family income in <i>Big Woods</i> seems to be based on hunting as much as farming.<br /><br />Restlessness, wandering feet, absolutely. This is part of my argument today, if I bothered to write it out, that Pa and Laura's attraction to the sublime is part of their restlessness. Cause or effect? I don't know.<br /><br />Is there more or less pathos if Pa is not tamed but hobbled?<br /><br />Burke's book on the sublime is almost, can you believe it, 35 years before <i>Reflections on the Revolution in France</i>. Burke was a young punk, not even thirty, who was going to conquer the world with an aesthetic treatise. And it worked!Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-7863524724978736102010-11-09T18:00:58.142-06:002010-11-09T18:00:58.142-06:00I have yet to read any of Laura Wilder's work-...I have yet to read any of Laura Wilder's work-I have immense respect for Edmund Burke based in part on his repudiation of the idea that England ought to rule Indian because it was an "immature" civilization-Burke pointed out the roots of Indian culture predate those of English by some 2000 years or so-even if you totally oppose the political views of Burke expressed in his work on the French Revolution it is the very model of rhetoric.Mel uhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08714473754458914681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-84785746638433242222010-11-09T16:02:06.300-06:002010-11-09T16:02:06.300-06:00When I was discussing this the other day, the subj...When I was discussing this the other day, the subject came up of why in fact the family migrates. We didn't remember economic concerns being made explicit, but I did recall in later books that Laura relates closely to Pa in that they both have "wandering feet." Once they've got their house in town, they're stable, but he still wants to keep going—they both do, want to keep wandering to the West. Laura goes elsewhere of course but Pa I think is, if not tamed...what's a nicer word than hobbled?nicolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17532641082944082516noreply@blogger.com