Thursday, February 17, 2005

Lessons in Exorcism*

"The writer probably knows what he meant when he wrote a book, but he should immediately forget what he meant when he's written it."
-- William Golding

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From Elvira's Tabacaria: "Lu dans l'International Herald Tribune: officiellement, et d'après le bureau de presse de la Maison Blanche, G.W. aurait sur sa table de chevet une biographie de George Washington et la Bible. En réalité, il est en train de lire I am Charlotte Simmons, un roman de Tom Wolfe qui raconte les aventures, notamment sexuelles, d'une jeune fille issue d'une famille très croyante rentrant à l'Université. Si Bill Clinton pratiquait, G.W. Bush préfère d'abord se renseigner sur la question..."


Having read Daniel Mendelsohn's review of Tom Wolfe's I am Charlotte Simmons in NYRB Dec. 16, 2004 issue, it never struck me such a novel could end up in the White House's current reading list, much less in the Oval Office. Unless, of course, one reads the novel as a list of to do's. Wolfe has in the recent past (2000) denounced American culture's "feverish emphasis" on sex; his novel attempts to portray the sex-ridden realities of everyday life in a (criticized as largely non-persuasive) setting of an elitist American university and how crushing this can be on the dreams and hopes of an intellectually privileged young female student. In a nutshell, what could a NeoCon President extract from any such read?
a. Boys in College care about Sports, Drugs and Sex (Wolfe's "beta males"). If they can keep their heads clear of filthy evolutionist books, they are bound to succeed. Surely, drugs (along with anything Evil) are all imported, so it's a good idea to start building a 'Wall' and San Diego looks a proper place to test this. Our Israeli friends should know better. If it works, another 32 States with international borders could follow suit. Sex is not intrinsically bad, as long as it occurs within the Church's guidelines. Careful, not within the Church, or we'd end up like the Greeks (but they wear robes all the time, anyway). A new, uncharted strain of the AIDS virus should help things.
b. Some unfortunate boys - the intellectuals - are definitely wimps, no girls could care for them and they will end up as homosexuals anyway. A new, uncharted strain of the AIDS virus should help things.
c. Girls with dreams to become scientists and skip the Sex, Drugs and Super Bowl triangle should better stick to learning to play the piano. They might end up in real high places. Who cares about girls anyway? Could it be these funny Muslims know something we don't?

And, what could a NeoCon President extract from looking at his offspring?

*BBC News reports that "The Vatican University is launching a new course for exorcists - Roman Catholic priests who cast out evil spirits from the possessed. Lessons at the prestigious Athenaeum Pontificium Regina Apostolorum will include the history of Satanism and its context in the Bible. Practical lessons in psychology and the law will also feature. Concern is high in Italy about the influence of Satanic cults - especially among the young and impressionable."

4 Comments:

Blogger mariajulia said...

Thanks for your coments. Glad you like it! Efharisto and take care!!!

3:36 pm EET  
Blogger DanaiShips said...

Apparently,a new uncharted strain of the AIDS virus can help in many things...Well, now, so much for the safe sex measures!
P.S. I'm surprised that the President of the United States can actually read!

4:13 pm EET  
Blogger dystropoppygus said...

Το πρωί ήταν είδηση στα "μαγκαζίνα" - η νέα παραλλαγή του ιού του AIDS είναι γεγονός και μάλιστα, όπως διάβαζε την είδηση η ανθυποβοηθός των παρουσιαστών είχε μια χαιρεκακία (μου φάνηκε) γιατί επέμενε στο ότι "πολύ χαλαρώσανε οι ομοφυλόφιλοι" και τώρα με τον νέο ιό θα σφίξουν οι κώλοι. Με τις υγειές μας.

1:14 am EET  
Blogger soap said...

I'm also surprised that the pres has a reading list, but maybe it's all PR -- let's see if Bush co-opts "the Right stuff" as a catchy new political slogan, for example. There has to be sth in it for him, other than a prurient desire to out what university life is really like for young co-eds, since he spent his formative years without the angst of wondering whether it would be his beauty or his brains that would land him in a position of power.

On a related note, I must point out that with this post, my co-contributor has proved himself an intertextual genius (!) and commend him accordingly for his efforts. Only in the hands of a master could such diverse subjects as Oval Office sex antics, intellectual elitism, lit crit, slit crit, Israeli containment politics, papal dispossession, and "illness as metaphor" come together, and amazingly, seem not only cohesive but, well, right. It's no coincidence that our blog has recently risen in value to a staggering $3,406.49. Keep up the good work.

As a personal aside, however, I think you're gonna have to get over the Bush girls. That and dinner in Beijing as well. These obsessions of yours are distracting from the essential business of colonizing young minds and rehearsing those chords and scales.

8:12 am EET  

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