I agree that there are different degrees and types of sentimentality. Sentimentality that is immersed in myth is the bad sort. Sentimentality rooted in values and human perseverance in reality is the good sort. The shades from myth to values and reality are finely graduated. For instance I am deeply sentimental about the heroism of people like Miller's father who, he said, earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for his WWII flights. I knew a flyer of that era who survived his 24 missions intact over Germany and I remember his moving narratives. I am a sentimental baby when it comes to the basic American values in the Constitution and Bill of Rights, etc., and the perseverance of early settlers and townspeople. I deplore mythologizing of anything for the sake of creating false history or worth, and that, unfortunately, is a special American habit exercised with unembarrassed excess. So it's true that we must be on guard all the time against slipping from truth into myth, whether in art, history, or in daily life. WC
--- On Sun, 1/18/09, Chris Miller <[email protected]> wrote: > ... and what is "sentimentality" -- other than a > strong feeling that you do > not happen to share ?
