Some final reflections

When I was a kid I remember becoming aware of my family slowly, learning the names of distant relations and listening in to the old stories about the war and my parents childhood. As I got older the stories were re-told, some with extra details, and then there were the stories of my parents adolecense that I was hearing for the first time. In this way my father and mother and their families kept gathering depth. I think Peter is experiencing this sort of growth through out the book and he is often frustrated by what he learns about his father. This tension is aptly summarized by the phone conversation on pp.211-214. The experience of learning about our "roots" can be described as learning a personal mythology. I find that the mythological layer of the Centaur is so succesful because it reflects this depth of our everyday life. Many of us believe that we live our lives under the watch of a single diety.
I would argue that in a psychological sense we are also under the influence of many minor gods and goddesses - persons who have become more than just people and whose actions and judgements have supernatural effects on our existence. This is why I prefer to look at the Centaur as one story with multiple levels (were the gods and heroes are extensions of people or the other way around), rather than two stories that parallel one another.
  posted by Feliks @ 11:17:00 PM

 
joe grant! is there really a picture around p. 122? that's so funny! ...i actually don't have this book, but seeing as that some contraversy was needed, i tried to do my best to stir some up. i guess that failed...
  posted by Alex @ 10:19:00 AM

 
Guys, I have a question about page 122. What's the meaning behind the picture? I know they say that a picture is worth X number of words, but still, he can't just end the book halfway like that. Other opinions?
  posted by Alex @ 2:38:00 PM

 
As boring as this place has been, LD, I think some controversy is the order of the day. C'mon, you have to have something up your sleeve. I'm about to nod off here in a minute.
  posted by jnuh @ 12:11:00 PM

 
Howdy Jenna, those are some poignant observations you've been making. Don't worry I've been reading too, but there hasn't been as much myth stuff and I since precedent ruled out cantencareousnesssss (argh!) I kept my personal philosophy to myself.
It'd be nice if Sara could tell us about horses. Besides the Chiron connection, Caldwell is connected to all things horsy (I forget the fancy word for this). Is this because a horse is abeast of burden, or a noble companion to man, or could be that the image of horse combines the two contradictory notions, hmmm... Discuss amongst yourselves.
You know I'm glad those punks aren't posting things... Always trying to be smarter than me, correcting and contradicting my orders, who the heck is the dictator here anyway, I feel my teaching powers are wasted without an audience and any ear or message box becomes a forum for my final profundity, my ultimate banal appraisal of the world.... hmm... this is just like Caldwell - he talks to everyone who will listen (well except his son) but everything he says goes over their heads... oh woes R US
Ok. Well if that didn't tickle your thinking cap, maybe this will get your flip-flops twirlling... Um. Joe Grant smells. Any comments?

  posted by Feliks @ 12:57:00 AM

 
It has officially been one week since someone besides me or "Feliks" posted to this blog.
  posted by jnuh @ 12:52:00 PM

 
A few pages into chapter VII ...

Caldwell distracts himself from heavy thoughts by making a list of what he has to do that day. Later, he says he feels "skinned of chores, purified." I was wondering if anyone else, when plagued by a disordered mind, orders their day instead--maybe by making lists? 'Cause I sure do.

There seems to be a three-generational problem with a fear of failure or of being forgotten. There's that awful story about Caldwell's father's dying words, which Caldwell recalls in chapter VII, expressing a similar fear, and in chapter VI, Peter asks the personified city if it remembers him or his father. The city (I think) blames the farm for taking them away. There's this interesting thing about land ownership or a connection to land weighing a person down, as if, for Peter, his opportunities are limited and, for Caldwell, he is always encountering difficulties (the car) because of it. I think we should keep this idea in mind when we get to Death Comes for the Archbishop.

Oh, and another question. Caldwell's obituary focuses a great deal on his father, and chapter VII does as well (I'm mulling over the references to two distinct parables), but where's his mom? It seems odd that she is not very present, since Peter seems so close to his mother. Then again, does Caldwell seem close to his wife? We have a little confession of sorts in chapter VII ... hm. Any thoughts about Caldwell and women? Peter and women? Women in this book in general?
  posted by jnuh @ 10:53:00 PM

 
Seriously, this is pathetic. I have no clue what's up with Apollo and Zeus/Appleton and Zimmerman. I'm sure someone knows ...! And I'm back from vacation, so it's time for some blog activity. I've finished ... I think it's chapter 6 or 7, but I'm not sure, and I'm planning to read some more tonight. So I will probably post tomorrow with my thoughts. But not from work. No, definitely not. Especially since my boss is my dad. (hehe)

p.s. This is also your one-week warning. You should be about halfway done with the book.
  posted by jnuh @ 8:20:00 PM