Rachael McLennan also “went straight to Roth’s American
Pastoral,” as I did in Tuesday’s post.
Dan Sheppard follows up Wednesday’s post, writing, “Two groups of kids in literature have always
represented the fall season for me, most likely because I have fond memories of
exploring the neighborhood during the beginning months of school, in the fall, as
a child with my friends. Coincidentally, one group of them being the kids you
mentioned from The Body, the other
being a similar group of boys in a much more paranormal situation in It. I think the parallels between them
regarding a loss of innocence are relatively clear. The situations they
encounter are wildly different, but both involve them dealing with as you put,
perilous situations, not only of the physical realm, but of the mental realm.
How are young people expected to cope with what they're seeing in these
stories? It is a total loss of innocence, regardless of the completely unreal
events of one story. So while the loss of innocence is more predominant in a
literature sense, the feeling of a close knit group of friends literally
reminds me of the fall months. I'm enjoying this group of postings solely based
on that, it's a deep look something I always looked at so simply.”
Rebecca Carpenter highlights J.D. Salinger’s Nine
Stories, and particularly “A Perfect Day for Bananafish.”
Josh Eyler highlights The Wonder Years, and in particular how that show “mirrors Kevin’s life with American
events” and in its duality between innocence and experience “might have been a
bit ahead of its time in terms of complexity.”
Joseph Fruscione agrees with Josh, and
also mentions “Huckleberry Finn—both a sense of innocence and greater sense of
experience.”
Next series starts Monday,
Ben
PS. What images of fall would you share?
My favorite image of the fall is (and will always be) the beautiful space my students create in our classroom. This year I'm lucky to teach two groups of juniors and one of seniors. Together we have taken the room given to us and turned it into a nerdist heaven. There are references to the books they read, the books they loved from outside the school, video games, tv shows, magic the gathering, music, art and social oddities. Every year I end up with the most colorful, cluttered and multiple-personality-disordered classroom in the building. And I'm lucky that I don't have to lift a finger to do it, my students do all the work. Awesome lil' devils!
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