I used to work with a guy who believed that the answers to all questions, indeed the required responses to all of life's experiences, could be gleaned from the lines of Rock 'N Roll songs. I didn't agree ... and I still don't; but I think he was close to the truth. I do believe you can find those answers in the pages of books. The more I read, the more I am convinced that there really isn't any need for new books to be written. Everything that needs to be written is already out there; and the more books that get written, the harder it is to find the truth. We just need a better list of which books to actually read. Someone should separate the wheat from the chaff for us. Perhaps a new government agency is required to tell us which books to read - and then we could just burn the rest.
I finished reading that book by Andy Rooney, and it's given me a bad case of writer's block. I can't believe how many of my future blog entries were already in his book - which he wrote almost thirty years ago. In particular, his essay on copper pennies has me questioning why I bother to write at all. In speaking with an old friend today, I've come to the realization that I've become a bit of a Curmudgeon ... and I have to admit that it feels good. The world actually is going to Hell in a hand basket ... why try to deny it. I've become the Ralph Metz of my generation. Ralph, if you read this, I mean that in the nicest possible way. I hoped to channel some of Andy Rooney's spirit into my writing; but when I did some web searching on his life ... well ... I found out that he's still alive. He was even involved in the movie I, Curmudgeon - which sounds really great. Has anyone seen this? Here's an
I, Curmudgeon
review in case you are interested.
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I don't really even know where to start with this one. No more books written? Burn all those that don't make the cut? Yikes! I think it's much EASIER than it's ever been to find the right books, thanks to the internet and all the book review at our fingertips. Imagine how it was 30 or 50 or 100 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Andy Rooney has saved you some time by writing down your thoughts for you :-)
That movie/documentary looks interesting but neither Netflix or MCPL has it. Hmmmmmm...
I don't have to imagine what it was like 30 years ago - for a Curmudgeon, 30 years is but the blink of an eye. I think what I'm really driving at here is a lack of shared experience. Shouldn't there be a few books we've all read? Ten works of fiction that help us understand what the American experience is all about? We wouldn't have to like them all, but at least we could say, "Yeah, I read that one too."
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