I notice that he mentions "Uncle Tom's Cabin". I can remember the same reaction from a bunch of English grad students and professors as Mr. Cohen's: Stowe was a "racist", the book was "dumb and stereotypical"...none of them had actually read it or the history behind it...it was a verboten book (kinda like "Huck Finn" by that point...also a "bad book" and a no-no; Mark Twain wasn't really worth reading...this by college grad students of literature and by education majors). In fact, Gone With the Wind elicited less anger and mockery. It merely warranted benign neglect or jokes concerning the utter fabulousness of Rhett and Scarlet...but not the anger and disdain afforded Stowe, and even Twain. That, I think, should tell us something...
PW (and yes, I had read both "Cabin" and "Finn" as a small kid -- both pairs of grandies had bought this series from some Reader's Digest type book club selling illustrated American classics for the home and family whatchamacallit (irony of ironies, same books!) ...they were poor; books were a big fucking thing to have...showed you had arrived somewhat (plus it kept grandkids out of their hair on days they couldn't kick you outside to play) Long story short to how my hillbilly self had a different take than my more advanced and civilized cohorts at college (and why I'm not a huge fan of that setting even though I was in it)
I notice that he mentions "Uncle Tom's Cabin".
ReplyDeleteI can remember the same reaction from a bunch of English grad students and professors as Mr. Cohen's: Stowe was a "racist", the book was "dumb and stereotypical"...none of them had actually read it or the history behind it...it was a verboten book (kinda like "Huck Finn" by that point...also a "bad book" and a no-no; Mark Twain wasn't really worth reading...this by college grad students of literature and by education majors).
In fact, Gone With the Wind elicited less anger and mockery. It merely warranted benign neglect or jokes concerning the utter fabulousness of Rhett and Scarlet...but not the anger and disdain afforded Stowe, and even Twain.
That, I think, should tell us something...
PW
(and yes, I had read both "Cabin" and "Finn" as a small kid -- both pairs of grandies had bought this series from some Reader's Digest type book club selling illustrated American classics for the home and family whatchamacallit (irony of ironies, same books!) ...they were poor; books were a big fucking thing to have...showed you had arrived somewhat (plus it kept grandkids out of their hair on days they couldn't kick you outside to play)
Long story short to how my hillbilly self had a different take than my more advanced and civilized cohorts at college (and why I'm not a huge fan of that setting even though I was in it)