Something non-fannish for a change

[gwyn]

Anyone who's ever been to Portland, Oregon (and that's OR-ee-gun, folks, not or-ee-GONE, and you'll get laughed at if you pronounce it wrong) has likely visited Powell's City of Books, or been told that they simply must visit Powell's if they go. It's hard to describe Powell's, but the most important thing to know is that it takes up an entire city block. I mean, a big block, and that's just the main store. It has stripes of different colored tape that you follow to get from section to section, it's that damn big. And it carries used books on the shelf next to new books, so if you're lucky, you can often save yourself a few bucks when you're looking for something special. They carry everything. And they have a great cafe, too. I used to drive down to Portland every other week, when I had two sets of friends living there and my partner and I alternated weekends with them. So I spent a lot of time at Powell's, and I wear my Powell's sweatshirt that is starting to get thin and worn with pride. Whenever I do, people stop me and have to discuss their love of Powell's.

It's no surprise to people who know them that they feature stuff about writing and books on their web site. They recently had a Decade of Reading Contest, and thanks to black_bird_777 for letting me know that the winners had recently been chosen and posted on Powell's web site. The winning essay is about Elie Wiesel's Night (something that I completely agree should be read by everyone), and it's truly a two-hanky, deserving essay. Get out your Kleenex. For some reason, wisteria_, it reminded me of you. Yay for teachers, I always say. Truly one of the most thankless and important jobs in the world.

Comments

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

thanks for a great link! it was a very powerful essay, though personally, when i taught such a class and had to pick an autobiographical text i decided to use Primo Levi instead (for many, many reasons that it'd take more than a comment to go into and probably for a different audience as well...).

but yes...i cannot fathom teaching in an urban high school...my gifted kids of that age were work enough...

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Oh, good choice, too -- though now you have me curious about your reasons! (What, you thought I was gonna skate past that??)

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

LOL...well, i was hoping :-) my primary concerns with Wiesel are that one of the central issues in the book is about loss of faith, and frankly, i am uncomfortable addressing that in a classroom where (1) i'm more than likely one of the few if not the only non-Christian, where (2) my students have very little knowledge of Judaism, and (3) where many are, in fact, deeply religious, if not fundamentalist. (I also tend to avoid teaching Darwin down here...though I do enjoy teaching Marx :-)

My more personal issues with the book and the reason that I perfer Levi is that the latter is as powerful as Wiesel in his indictment yet writes from a slightly more emotional distance with, I'd argue, more of an analytical lens. As such, he foregrounds the ambiguities of evil. He presents the arbitrary and useless horror of the camps (hier ist kein warum) yet goes to great length to focus on the "grey zone," the moral corruption that infects everything and everyone. I think it is too easy to present everything in black and white (and rarely do we have historical events *that* nicely laid out in terms of blame as we do with the Holocaust). What gets lost, however, is that in othering the Nazi perpetrators, the students fail to learn anything, fail to draw a lesson to use in regard to their *own* behavior.

Never forget for me is both paying tribute to the dead and survivors but it is also about addressing human impulses, connecting modern ideologies with behavior and such... and yes, i'd definitely consider myself strongly influenced by frankfurt school...dialectics of enlightenment was one of the central texts in my diss :-)

told you i could go on for a long time...representations of evil; inability to represent trauma; modernity and the shoah...i spent 8 years doing little else...

frankly, if i were to recommend a book (not necessarily to an inner-city high school student, but to you or anyone around here), i'd go with charlotte delbo's auschwitz and after (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0300070578/qid=1098911418/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/103-7200341-3469432)...i don't think there's another text (including wiesel and levi) that hit me as hard...

[lordshiva.livejournal.com]

Ah Powell's one of the wonders of the Northern Hemisphere!

And just taking this opportunity to do my mission for the day. Thank you so much for all the joy your fic has given me over the past few years (three is it?) since the first time Anna S recced you on her list through now - even though I'm not a Fast and Furious fan. I have another friend on lj who's all about Vin. She has a site dedicated to F&F I believe. I should connect you up. As soon as I can find the url.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

You are so cute. You already know, I hope, that I adore you. I would love to know your friend's name, too -- while there's been a mini-F&F explosion, it's still a way small fandom (especially when I contrast with Buffy), so every body is good.

And don't forget to send me links for the web page -- I still totally want to do this! I'm sure we can figure something out, even long distance (Though hey, maybe it's a good excuse for me to drive to Oregon!)

[dine.livejournal.com]

Powell's is magnificent - many many hours have been spent there, browsing shelves, drinking coffee and skimming books - I love the place! it's one of the best things about living here, imo.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

There are many many things to recommend Portland, but Powell's is what sets the city a cut above. Whenever they talk about the death of the independent bookstore, I get all nervous that Powell's might go away.