It is hard not to think of Nebraska without thinking of its greatest writer. Here is a marvelous piece by Capote, Remembering Willa Cather . I remember seeing a stage production of O Pioneers! and being deeply moved by its raw emotions. I had read My Antonia before, and soon found myself hooked, like Capote was by the simple elegance of her prose and the way she was able to evoke so many feelings through her characters. Much of it came from the fact that she had lived those experiences herself. Her father dragged the family from Virginia to Nebraska in 1883, when it was still a young state, settling in the town of Red Cloud. named after one of the great Oglala chiefs. Red Cloud was still alive at the time, living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, in the aftermath of the "Great Sioux Wars" of 1876-77. I don't know whether Cather took any interest in the famous chief, although it is hard to imagine not. Upon his death in 1909, he was eulogi
next possible read?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.goodreads.com/book/show/509359.What_Would_Jefferson_Do_
Jefferson seems to be much fought over these days. The Conservatives love to claim him as well. the Jefferson-Hamilton book looks interesting as it highlights the stark differences between them in terms of the direction a young America. Seems like Hamilton won out in the end, but at the time Jefferson and Jeffersonsian Democrats like Jackson got the upper hand.
ReplyDeleteI am re-reading Richard Hofstadter's Anti-Intellectualism in American Life and just finished the chapter "The Decline of the Gentleman" which begins with the smear campaign waged against Jefferson in 1800. It all sounds so familiar.
ReplyDeleteEqually familiar was a section in the previous chapter about Eisenhower and how some members of the extreme Right accused him of being an agent of international Communism. Maybe Obama should be glad he's only been labeled a Socialist.
I tried to post this yesterday but for some reason it did not post:
ReplyDeleteMy current reading is UNDISPUTED TRUTH by Iron Mike Tyson.
He and I are from the same neighborhood in Brooklyn. I met his legendary coach Cus D'Amato many years ago and the man was absolutely scary. Tough as heck but a darn good coach. Makes for very good reading.
I don't think I'm ready to to Tyson. It's interesting how this ultimate fighting has come to dominate the ring. You hardly hear anymore about boxing these days, although I saw that Klitschko is playing a big role in the Ukranian opposition movement.
ReplyDeleteI post on a pro boxing website and it seems we get more interested and more knowledgeable boxing fans from Europe than from the USA. Interestingly, many of our American posters are older guys like me. It seems the younger generation is more interested in mixed martial arts.
DeleteSome European fans have made a very interesting observation: that when a White boxer from the USA is boxing a European the crowd invariably shouts "USA! USA!". But when a Black or Hispanic American fights a European you do not hear such shouting. In fact, very often the crowd roots for the European. It comes as quite a shock to Europeans for them to openly see such a racial divide in the USA but it's no secret to those of us who have known this since time immemorial.