Thelma: Day #5 – Idaho – Montana Border
• Number of miles driven: 325
• Amount of money spent: $158.62 ($107.53 motel, $34.44 gas, $10.90 lunch, $4.75 coffee)
• Best pic: Idaho Countryside
• Song of the Day: Sheryl Crows’s Leaving Las Vegas
• Audio Book: Reading Lolita in Tehran
• Number of times I almost drove off the road: 2
• Number of times someone asked if I was lost (after commenting on my Cali license plate): 2
• Nighttime abode: Missoula, Montana
I have to say, I’m not really digging my audio book. I mean all of Part 1 was about her group of students talking about Nabokov’s Lolita. What I really don’t like about it (and granted I haven’t read the book, only heard this group interpretation of the book) is Humbert Humbert’s insistence in making us participants in his pedophilia.
I understand its “art” and there’s something to shock value, but it’s still distasteful.
In fact, it reminds me of another road trip I took to Iowa – to attend the Iowa Writer’s Workshop one summer. Our class was “work shopping” our short stories and one of our classmates had us read a similar story, written through the eyes of a child molester.
It created quite a stir since some of the class refused to finish reading the story. I, myself, didn’t even really get that I was looking through the eyes of a pedophile – but I think that had more to do with the quality of writing. Although I admit, what I couldn’t get my mind around is why he would want to write about this subject.
I should talk. My own story was about 6 people surrounding a hibachi table – sort of a Benihana gone wrong. It had a smoking volcano scene, but apparently no climax.
I fixed it up a bit, then submitted it to the New Yorker. Twice (just in case they missed the first copy of this gem.) Denied. Both times. Obviously I could use a little shock value.
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Red the next post in this series: Thelma: Day #6 West Glacier, MT
Read the first post in this series: Thelma without Louise: An American Adventure
Tags: MT, West Glacier
This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 and is filed under North America.