Educating Jonathan Franzen

[Bill Shamleffer]

Before this gets completely sidetracked....

I have not read "The Corrections."

Nor have I finished the piece in question -- though I might.

Did -- during my midday constitutional, just ended.

WAY further into the piece (which mostly wasn't painful -- editorially speaking), I found this revealing passage -- presented here without commentary:

"China in general, in its headlong pursuit of money, with fabulous millionaires and a vast underclass and a dismantled social safety net, and with a central government obsessed with security and skilled at exploiting nationalism to quiet its critics, and with economic and environmental regulations entrusted to incestuous consortia of businesses and local governments, had already been striking me as the most [ADJECTIVE MOMENTARILY WITHHELD] place I'd ever been."

I pause here, now, to allow you to consider: What do you suppose that MOMENTARILY WITHHELD ADJECTIVE might be?

Hmmmmm...

Well, now, here it is:

"China in general, in its headlong pursuit of money, with fabulous millionaires and a vast underclass and a dismantled social safety net, and with a central government obsessed with security and skilled at exploiting nationalism to quiet its critics, and with economic and environmental regulations entrusted to incestuous consortia of businesses and local governments, had already been striking me as the most Republican place I'd ever been."

If you guessed "GOP," treat yourself to a Chinese-made driver-head cover in the shape of a Puffin!

So the conclusion is that Jonathen Franzen has opinions just as ludicrous as those of Rush and Coulter

And thus is just as worthy of being ignored as inconsequential.

As Michael Hendren so eloquently pointed out on another posting:
Invariably the "classics" have more depth and are more intellectually and spiritually challenging [than] the modern writings that rarely transcend self-help.

[Rich Goodale]

Dan

There was a couple of days ago a BBC feature on Puffins, and they do not build nests, but tunnels, and not only that, they build two seemingly identical tunnels per family--one of which leads to the living quarters and another which leads to the loo.  As a result, the scientists who wish to study puffins have the Hobson's choice of sticking their hand down into the living quarters and getting painfully pecked, or going down the other tunnel and having their hand enveloped by excrement.

I think I'll pass on the puffin headcover, thank you very much.....

Rich

[Dan Kelly]

Before this gets completely sidetracked....

I have not read "The Corrections."

Nor have I finished the piece in question -- though I might.

Did -- during my midday constitutional, just ended.

WAY further into the piece (which mostly wasn't painful -- editorially speaking), I found this revealing passage -- presented here without commentary:

"China in general, in its headlong pursuit of money, with fabulous millionaires and a vast underclass and a dismantled social safety net, and with a central government obsessed with security and skilled at exploiting nationalism to quiet its critics, and with economic and environmental regulations entrusted to incestuous consortia of businesses and local governments, had already been striking me as the most [ADJECTIVE MOMENTARILY WITHHELD] place I'd ever been."

I pause here, now, to allow you to consider: What do you suppose that MOMENTARILY WITHHELD ADJECTIVE might be?

Hmmmmm...

Well, now, here it is:

"China in general, in its headlong pursuit of money, with fabulous millionaires and a vast underclass and a dismantled social safety net, and with a central government obsessed with security and skilled at exploiting nationalism to quiet its critics, and with economic and environmental regulations entrusted to incestuous consortia of businesses and local governments, had already been striking me as the most Republican place I'd ever been."

If you guessed "GOP," treat yourself to a Chinese-made driver-head cover in the shape of a Puffin!

I was in such a hurry to get that down (had to get out to my daughter's match) that I neglected to say:

In the next sentence or two, Mr. Franzen encountered a golf club's course -- intensifying, as you might imagine, his entire sense of China's Republicanness.

[Tim Gavrich]

What garbage.  The game of golf doesn't need people with Franzen's hilariously holier-than-thou, stuck-up attitude.  I would hope the absurdity of the passage would tell anyone with some reason (if such people read the New Yorker closely, as opposed to its faux-intellectual, tree-hugging, Mercedes-driving main audience) how off-the-mark his sentiments are.

Specifically speaking of his accusations of golf being so outrageously awful for the environment, someone ought to let him know about the distinctions from the Audobon Society on golf courses...

[Art Roselle]

Dan,
Despite my skilled cynicism, even I would never have guessed "Republican" for that adjective.  That is impressive.  It seems to be a common strategy to make comparisons like this, in order to undermine the credibility or value of an opposing view.  No matter that the comparisons are often ludicrous and position as similar, people or events of staggeringly different magnitudes
Bush is like Hitler
Iraq is just like Vietnam
etc.

Just this morning, Christiane Amanpour was discussing the tragedy in Myanmar.  100,000+ people may wind up dead, in part because the oppressive ruling regime refuses to grant visas and allow aid workers and basic necessities across the border.  At every level, it is a tragic, shocking and infuriating situation.  However, how did Ms. Amanpour choose to describe it?  This is not an exact quote, but I have it pretty close

"The situation is reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina, where an inept governmental response serves to worsen an already dire situation."

Huh?  Is refusing entry to aid workers and willfully allowing the exposure and death of tens of thousands of citizens really comparable to what happened after Katrina?  Is that really a reasonable comparison?

By the way, the Left and Right are both good at this trick, although the Left seems to have a longer list of enemies and offenders to which they can draw comparisons.  Also, it is not really a fair fight.  The people that the Right really hates, are often beloved by the Left.  If you try to belittle someone by comparing them to Jane Fonda or Noam Chomsky, a true leftist will just look at you quizzically.  Meanwhile, nobody is confused if you compare a guy to Hitler.

Anyway, I have probably strayed far enough from GCA.  The China quote and this morning's CNN report just struck the same chord with me.