Does college make you a liberal?

george wrote:

Quote:

I think there are a few cat turds in Lola's sandbox. I wouldn't put Stokley Carmichael, J.D. Salanger, Philip Roth, Joseph Heller, John Irving, and a few other of that ilk in a list that included Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Flaubert, William James, Thomas Mann and most of the others you cite. I would replace them with Balzac, Stendhal, Turgenev, Unamuno, Pio Baroja, Alberto Moravia and a few others.

If we're going to show off (I know, I started it) but if we are I'll say that you would probably also add Mario Vargas Llosa and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I notice you seem to have a preference for the moralists. And I like some of them. But I cannot stand the two authors I just mentioned. I think it's because they have such a thing for being victim or martyr of cause. I'm very impatient with that particular theme. I don't like most Robert Redford or Kevin Costner movies either for the same reason.

I forgot to say however, that even though Dostoevsky and many of the other Russian authors and philosophers are moralists, I still learn much from their work. And Dostoevsky has always been one of my favorites. Possibly because he is willing to demonstrate ambivalence in his works.......of course he always has to punish one side or the other, which I don't like. I'm just not into punishment. The Russian's works are not only entertaining, but they share many of my own values and their ideas stimulate me to think about mine.

Well you got me Lola, darling. I was showing off a bit.. I undoubtedly deserved more criticism than you gave. I'll confess I don't know Llosa, and have read only one piece of Marquez (a book about Bolivar, "The General in His Labyrinth" - it was confusing and a bit boring).

I guess I do like what you have termed "the moralists". I also like Stendahl, Maupassant, Balzac, Lermontov, Baroja, and others who, I suppose, are quite the opposite. In this area. I am self-taught and don't know much about the academic taxonomies that are applied.

Yes, freeduck. The first time I heard it was on Saturday Night Live ("Jane, you ignorant slut), referring to Jane Curtin. And george has borrowed the expression before, beating Blatham by at least a year. <laughing> And both said it, I believe, in "loving admiration" although I detect a note of ambivalence in their tone.

I guess I do like what you have termed "the moralists". I also like Stendahl, Maupassant, Balzac, Lermontov, Baroja, and others who, I suppose, are quite the opposite. In this area. I am self-taught and don't know much about the academic taxonomies that are applied.

Lola, analytical/"critical" thought is important...
unless you're just a mindless cheerleader bleating catch-phrases...
like some politicians.