Jun. 28th, 2008
(no subject)
Jun. 28th, 2008 09:49 pmI'm currently reading Lake Wobegon Days, and I realized something: I have been reading this book, or trying to, for about seven years now. First, there was Northern Exposure (which jump-started this whole obsession with quirky, small town stories), then there was Winesburg, Ohio and Our Town; there was, hell, Kenyon*, Ballykissangel, my brief but thorough affair with Richard Russo, numerous other single novels, the odd movie...
I'm thinking about changing my thesis topic from Interpretation of History and Nationalism in 19th Century British Literature to The Ideal of the Small Town in Contemporary American Literature (with all the capitals, yes). I seem to have enough source material under my belt, anyway.
* I just finished the part about Albion College, and it's a little creepy how similar the consequences of the bear incident are to those of the Fraternity Initiate Maybe Gets Tied to Tracks and Definitely Gets Run Over By Train incident in 1905.
I'm thinking about changing my thesis topic from Interpretation of History and Nationalism in 19th Century British Literature to The Ideal of the Small Town in Contemporary American Literature (with all the capitals, yes). I seem to have enough source material under my belt, anyway.
* I just finished the part about Albion College, and it's a little creepy how similar the consequences of the bear incident are to those of the Fraternity Initiate Maybe Gets Tied to Tracks and Definitely Gets Run Over By Train incident in 1905.