Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Raintree County and Understanding the Cesspool Without Jumping Into It

So, one of my sisters asked for a short review of Raintree County by Ross Lockridge. Here is my review:

This isn't a light read, but an important work of literature. At one level, it's a historical novel about a graduating poet/teacher who falls in love with a Southern woman, and then the Civil War and her past create problems. At the far end of the spectrum some suggest it is about the perception that person and place, space and time, are interdependent and one--an ecological novel written before its time. For me it is a book about the sources of American nationalism, its durability and its myths. It touches on slavery, the Civil War, industrialism, labor movements, populism, etc. and asks the question of future generations--if we are up to the task of sustaining what earlier generations have sacrificed for. It's not an easy read--lots of dream sequences and flashbacks--pivoting around a Fourth of July day; a fair bit of love and lust, some good humor, but mostly philosophical metaphors and symbolism delivered by some interesting characters. Some have said it is the Hoosier War and Peace (takes place in Indiana). An important read for the student of the United States.

Here is my frustration: I read this as an assigned book for a masters degree class some years ago. I also remember my grandfather reading it when I was younger. I wonder, however, if the more salacious parts are worth plodding through to get the gist of the book, or even if these crude areas negate the value of the rest of the book. It's like the adolescent argument about watching an inappropriate video... "I will just fast forward though the bad part." That simply doesn't float with me. I understand the importance of the metaphors the author is trying to create, but do we always have to communicate with crudeness to portray a crude situation or environment? We know slavery is a terrible thing, but creating a metaphor with titillating debauchery does not great literature make. I do think Lockridge's work asks great questions and is mostly well written, but the virtual experiences the author employs that pluck the strings of our baser selves and the justification of metaphorical discovery later is not the kind of learning I seek.

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