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Sat 10 May, 2003 09:56 pm
A Funeral in Cortona, 1998
I'm not much of an analyst (sp) so If this poem is a/b anything but a funeral in Cortona and your reaction to it, I won't really know. I think you'r trying to say that the trip that you took helped you feel closer to the past??
Funny thing is, I read a book by Robert A. Heinlen called Stranger in a Strange land. He usually makes biblical allusions. (this isn't a spelling error
).
Stranger in a strange land
I thought the same thing. Wonderful book. But that clearly is not the subject. I was surprised by the feeling of being abhorred by people in the funeral. Why? Just being an outsider could do it but shouldn't.
I think the people didnt like him because he was a foreigner invading their small town and they probably think he doesn't respect their way of life or their simple living. Maybe they thought it was rude to stare at a procession in which you are unconnected to.
Oh, I forgot: nobody i've talked to has read that book. I'm so glad you have.
if they call you a neanderthal
Heinlein was an excellent writer. Read quit a bit by him.
Really??? Will you marry me?
Have you read JOB: a comedy of Justice?
Puppet Masters?
Stranger in a strange land
LOL! No, I won't marry you. I'm sure you're too young for me. I read the Heinlein books in my youth and would read them again. I recently (2 years ago) got divorced from my now ex-wife of 35 years and haven't even been on a date since. Not that there haven't been offers but I'm not ready. That doesn't mean I'm vainly hoping it's not really over. It is. But when the last date you had was 1964 I'm just not the hunter I once was.
Darn. I'll just have to settle for the next best thing... marrying Heinlein's books.
Mr trips,
Your poem is quite good.
I can understand your feeling the staring was glaring...
since you probably felt like an intruder on a funeral where great respect was expected.
I think it was more your self conciousness than their disdain.
Good writing, nonetheless.
(I am not a very qualified critic, I know, but I also know what I like when I read)
Thanx for all your onions. It's a true story. the poem duzzn't reeeellly mean anything except exactly what it says. I don't approve of tourism as a rule of thumb and I found meself caught up in my own hypocrisy. So I tried to purge it with a kind of poetic enema.
And I don't use camcorders any more.
BTW: Verbal lee: I like the term 'quite good'. I feel like I've just been genteelly assassinated.
lol.
gvapid: Mr trips writes: Being a large fan of lots of things, but especially Sci Fi, I think there's a book that you might know. And if you don't then in my arrogant onion, it's the best collexion I've ever found. It's called 'The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF', David G. Chartwell and Kathryn Kramer eds., US: Tor Books, 1994; UK: Orbit Books 1994.
Of course it's an American book. Many of the best ones are.
Take care.
JL
I haven't heard of it but i'll take your word that its a good book. Maybe i'll go out and get It sometime this year.