Actually, I have to agree with some of the people who commented on Atwood's muddled writing in this piece. It meanders all over the place before she attempts to make her "point," such as it is. And she seems mightily confused between the artists produced by a country and the politicians elected by the masses, most of whom never read a word of literature in any given year. She can suggest all she wants that Americans hark back to "guiding lights" like Thomas Jefferson, but as long as people like Rush Limbaugh are the ones with radio shows that will be an uphill battle.
It's not your standard essay with all its little topic sentences in place, but I actually liked it a lot more than I like most of those. It's personal and metaphorical. It speaks to a different audience. It's not supposed to be a logical argument.
Agreed. And as to the disconnect--that's always existed, the disconnect between American arts and letters and our political life, as it exists in most countries. That Atwood thinks this just came about recently makes me think, "Where have YOU been?"
A good essay is one that makes cogent points and supports them with solid arguments. This does neither. All she does is show herself to be incredibly naive, which I find surprising, given the worst-case-scenario she creates of the Radical Religious Right taking over in The Handmaid's Tale.
As a Canuck, I got a chuckle thinking of MA swathed in "becoming modesty." That is one modifier that will never describe her. I was struck by the piece's sentimentality, the harkening to a "better" age, like a granny sitting in her rocking chair saying, "I remember when ..." Snark aside, she did make a few interesting points.
I sent this to my sister in Winnipeg to get her reaction. Should be interesting.
Recently I asked her what it was that sparked her move to Canada (at the time I was researching what I'd need to do to immigrate). Turns out it was the shootings at Kent State.
(In one of her e-mails to me, she told me that the first thing I had to do to become a Canadian was learn to spell "immigrate" correctly...)
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Date: 2004-09-04 09:24 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-04 09:43 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-04 09:49 am (UTC)Pamela
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Date: 2004-09-04 10:10 am (UTC)B
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-04 11:20 am (UTC)Pamela
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Date: 2004-09-04 02:34 pm (UTC)B
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-05 11:08 am (UTC)A good essay is one that makes cogent points and supports them with solid arguments. This does neither. All she does is show herself to be incredibly naive, which I find surprising, given the worst-case-scenario she creates of the Radical Religious Right taking over in The Handmaid's Tale.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-04 11:18 am (UTC)Thanks for the post
Date: 2004-09-04 12:59 pm (UTC)Recently I asked her what it was that sparked her move to Canada (at the time I was researching what I'd need to do to immigrate). Turns out it was the shootings at Kent State.
(In one of her e-mails to me, she told me that the first thing I had to do to become a Canadian was learn to spell "immigrate" correctly...)
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-04 03:21 pm (UTC)