I started to write a comment here and it quickly became a whole post. Obviously I need to just write the post. For now I'll just say that this seems dead-on accurate.
Every canonical writer goes through a period of occlusion, or multiple occlusions. This is Updike's, but I do think he'll get through it. A little bit of his work will. The Rabbit books for sure. And I say this as someone who finds him *deeply* irritating and objectionable.
Been a long time since I've read these books, but what I often think of is the stuff in Rabbit Redux with the Black-Panther-style revolutionary and the hippie waif, and I think, good lord, even without remembering most of the details, that HAS to have been hideously offensive, doesn't it? Can this possibly have been okay?
I started to write a comment here and it quickly became a whole post. Obviously I need to just write the post. For now I'll just say that this seems dead-on accurate.
Every canonical writer goes through a period of occlusion, or multiple occlusions. This is Updike's, but I do think he'll get through it. A little bit of his work will. The Rabbit books for sure. And I say this as someone who finds him *deeply* irritating and objectionable.
I look forward to reading your post!
Been a long time since I've read these books, but what I often think of is the stuff in Rabbit Redux with the Black-Panther-style revolutionary and the hippie waif, and I think, good lord, even without remembering most of the details, that HAS to have been hideously offensive, doesn't it? Can this possibly have been okay?