[lit-ideas] Re: Don DeLillo's _Falling Man_ brief excerpt
- From: Andy <mimi.erva@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:11:53 -0700 (PDT)
What's the difference between mythologizing and brainwashing?
--- On Tue, 10/14/08, Julie Krueger <juliereneb@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: Julie Krueger <juliereneb@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Don DeLillo's _Falling Man_ brief excerpt
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tuesday, October 14, 2008, 9:12 AM
I have not been a big fan of DeLillo, but this passage urges me to pick up the
book -- it's great dialogue. And yes -- the point is well taken. How, I
wonder, do you parent effectively such that the world the child moves in
(including home) does not lead to such mythologizing -- in a way that's
completely what a child does as he/she grows up. It's Hwhat adults do to try
to come to terms with life. How dare we (parents) decided which mythology will
work best for our children? How can we not care if their mythology in progress
seems to be out of line with what we think we know about reality?
On Tue, Oct 14, 2008 at 1:12 AM, Eric Yost <mr.eric.yost@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From _Falling Man_, page 74. Husband and wife are
discussing their daughter and her young friends, who
have reacted to 9/11 by mythologizing. DeLillo's very
deft here. -EY
"So, together," he said, "they developed the myth
of Bill Lawton."
"Katie's got to know the real name. She's way too
smart. She probably keeps the other name going
precisely because it's the wrong name."
"I guess that's the idea. That's the myth."
"Bill Lawton."
"Searching the skies for Bill Lawton. He told me
some things before he clammed up."
"One thing I like. I like knowing the answer to
the riddle before Isabel knows."
"Who's that?
"The Siblings' mother."
"What about her blood and pain?"
She laughed at that. But the thought of them at
the window, with the door closed, searching the skies,
continued to disturb her.
"Bill Lawton has a long beard. He wears a long
robe," he said. "He flies jet planes and speaks
thirteen languages but not English except to his wives.
What else? He has the power to poison what we eat but
only certain foods. They're working on the list."
"This is what we get for putting a protective
distance between children and news events."
"Except we didn't put a distance, not really," he
said.
"Between children and mass murderers."
"The other thing he does, Bill Lawton, is go
everywhere in his bare feet."
"They killed your best friend. They're fucking
outright murderers. Two friends, two friends."
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Julie Krueger
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