I've been reading Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt, and was convicted of the sin of acting "highbrow." That last post was a bit over the top. It is so easy to get carried away. The further I distance myself from the inner Abby that regards floridity and passion as impulses to be tempered by sarcasm or not indulged at all, the more likely I am to nauseate people by my enthusiasm. Three years ago I would have died before writing a post so effusive about such abused topics as the autumn sky, the changing seasons. I've reached an age of aesthetic accountability, and I used to take that much more seriously. But I've grown self-indulgent now, and I consider a blog an appropriate arena for such self-indulgence.
And anyway, rather be too "highbrow" than to be the sort of robotic modern figure that George F. Babbitt esteems.
In related news, I am now the sort of person that cries over a movie like "Marley and Me." Yet even as I clutched Janie close and wiped tears from my cheeks, I couldn't quite smother the inner voice that felt obliged to scoff (albeit with a slight catch of the breath), "For heavens' sakes, it's A DOG."
1 comment:
I don't know if there's anyone that truly knows you that would really consider you acting "high-brow." Also I cried watching Marley & Me and I am really NOT a a dog person (unless it's that mop-looking dog I used to see around campus)... so sentimentality, I don't believe needs a reason, an excuse, a defense, or an explanation. And I'm glad you love Janie ;)
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