"As Thornton Wilder's Our Town reminded us, small-town people think a lot about the universe (as opposed to city people, who think only about each other)."
-- John Updike, Odd Jobs: Essays and Criticism
Old John is a bit of a bastard in much of his writing as far as I can tell. He makes both women and men weak, slutty, distant, obsessed, lonely and often cruel. Not the most hopeful author. However, he engages the reader through brutal characterizations which I believe hint at certain truths in each of us. We may not like how it sounds or looks on paper, but there it is.
In this quote he gets it square on. No one so succinctly captures the essence of Our Town as well as shines some insight into current societal roles and focus. Well Done.
No comments:
Post a Comment