Because it strikes me as a Steinbeckian narrative, if old John wrote first person. It has a depression era feel to it, and is descriptive and personable enough to taste the dirt and blood.
In short, it has a voice, and that's what good writing is all about, to me. On Wed, Apr 29, 2009 at 1:53 PM, gruff <[email protected]> wrote: > > "... On Apr 22, 7:00 pm, Chris Jenkins <[email protected]> > wrote: ..." > >> I think it's bloody brilliant, Gruff. >> >> >2009/4/22 gruff <[email protected]>: >> > >> > I'd really like for you and some of the others would read this first >> > installment of my autobio and give me your truth about it? > > I'd like to collectively thank all of you who read Boys_Town and > commented on it. I'm sure you've all recognized parts of it from > small bits and pieces I experimented with when appropriate here on > Mind's Eye. I assure you it is all true to the best of my recall > notwithstanding any denial or blindness which may have occurred. > > Chris, thanks for the exuberant acclaim. It gave my soul a shot of > joy. But I'd like to probe further. Can you tell me why you thought > it so? > > Tinker, I don't feel extraordinary for the most part, though I admit > to extraordinary moments which have mostly occurred in my later > years. Yeah, it was a tough way to come up but there are others who > have had it much tougher and done better. I'm hoping this auto will > be my magnum opus and if it does nothing else but to enlighten some > parents and relatives to the sometimes disastrous effect they can have > on their children, then I'll be pleased. > > Francis, I hope you have a lot of patience. It's taken me a year or > more to get that first installment borne. Thanks for your kindness. > I admit to the occasional courage this trip has taken but for the most > part I was simply following a destiny of sorts. In spite of all the > shit that was put into my head and soul as a child, I had a survivor > mentality and that and getting away from that family at a young age -- > has probably been the most contributory to my current condition. > > But as I said, it's a form of self-fulfilling destiny. One of the > mindsets my childhood instilled in me was that everything that went > wrong in my life was my fault and no one elses. Mix that with a > blended heritage of catholic and jewish guilt and the only possible > result is introspection and honesty with myself. But the path to that > end is twisted and begain in pathological lies and self-deception till > I found those methods usually come back and bite me in the ass. > > A lot of being bitten eventually led to some self-awareness and > awareness of the world around me. So while I still find it difficult > to deal with people on a daily basis I have an abiding faith in them > en masse. Besides with no god to believe in, what is left but to > believe in people. We all have to believe in something. It's our > nature. So yes, it has indeed been a long strange trip. I've often > felt a stranger in a strange land. Thank you for those four beautiful > words: honesty, hope, intelligence and humanity. > > I was hoping Molly would respond because I know I could count on her > for a thoroughly honest and elegant perspective, especially after our > last little dust-up. > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
