History, reading, and civilization

[sartorias]

If you have fifteen minutes, do not miss this terrific essay by Alice Munro.

Really. Read it all the way to the end.

Comments

[martianmooncrab]

the last line... wow..

[sartorias]

Wasn't that effective?

[martianmooncrab]

its like the story my Dad used to tell about his very first car he bought, it was a Model T, and he paid 150 dollars for it on a friday, and by monday Dec 8th 1941 the tires alone were worth more.

[sartorias]

Wow.

[la_marquise_de_]

That's a fine essay, not least in that in recognises the lies we make of history and the lies we repeat about the present.

[sartorias]

Oh, yes.

[hand2hand]

Wonderful. And that last line is killer.

Thank you for linking.

[sartorias]

My pleasure!

[sartorias]

I would hesitate to say "what she's saying" since she says it so eloquently herself, but at least for me, those last couple of lines snapped everything into perspective.

[saare_snowqueen]

But what if reading a history by an great fiction writer even if inaccurate seeds a life-long interest in history, reading and writing it.

We had that book and in 1940's America, that history was closer to the truth than any crap they were teaching us in the schools.

I would strongly dispute that history by fiction writers is a disaster. From Dickens to Hilary Mantell, there is much to be gained by exciting, engrossing writing.

[sartorias]

I think so, too.

[uneasy_spirit]

Well, aren't those last two sentences a kick in the gut. She's got an excellent sense of timing.

[sartorias]

And how.