Californian Sensibility

[John Carvill]

Never been to anywhere on the West coast of the US, but loved Vineland
passionately.

Just finished reading a long profile/interview of Joan Didion in The
Observer, which touches on this. May be of general interest also but as
I say it's quite long so won't post it all. 

Not read anything of Didion's. Might give 'Slouching..' a try soon
though.

Wish they'd do something of this length and depth on Pynchon. Brief
samples below.


'The years of writing magically'


There is the sense in that piece [The White Album], and several others
of hers from that time, of someone looking on with a kind of appalled
fascination at the excesses of late Sixties counterculture. The title
essay of Slouching Towards Bethlehem was actually written in 1967, and
dissects the ascendant hippy scene in San Francisco's Haight Ashbury
area with a mixture of wry observation and mounting unease. 'I didn't
see a lot of peace and love on the Haight in the so-called summer of
love,' she says now. 'It seemed like every kid I talked to there was
desperately unhappy.'

Was her original point of view essentially generational, though? Might
she have immersed herself in the hippy scene had she been younger? 'I
was from a different generation,' she drawls. 'I grew up in a different
time and my writing was formed by the values of that other time. Had I
been of the generation I was writing about, I don't know if I would have
been swept along.'

.
.


As a Californian now living in New York, I ask her where she feels she
most belongs? 'Oh, California. For sure. I'm not really attuned to here.
At one level, I feel perfectly comfortable in New York, but I really
believe that is because it is one of those cities where people feel
comfortable wherever they are from. The only times I felt a deep
attachment to the city was in my twenties, and again after 9/11. But I
would say for sure that I have a Californian sensibility.'

And how would she define that sensibility? 'Well. it's an outsider's
sensibility. Definitely. On the edge of things. People don't feel at
home in Los Angeles if they come from somewhere else. It takes a long
time to get it. And people who come from there tend to have an outside
point of view. That's certainly true in my case.'


http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/biography/story/0,,1854009,00.ht
ml








Please note: This e-mail and its attachments contain only the opinions of the sender and do not necessarily reflect the policy(s) of Armstrong Laing Plc in general.

Confidentiality: This e-mail and its attachments are intended for the above named only and may be confidential.  If they have come to you in error you must take no action based on them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone; please reply to this e-mail highlighting the error and then delete it.

Security Warning: Please note that this e-mail has been created in the
knowledge that Internet e-mail is not a 100% secure communications medium. We advise that you understand and observe this lack of security when e-mailing us.

Viruses: This e-mail and its attachments have been scanned for viruses but we cannot guarantee that they are virus free.  We advise that in keeping with good computing practice the recipient should ensure that they are actually virus free.
_______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs SkyScan
service. For more information on a proactive anti-virus service working
around the clock, around the globe, visit http://www.messagelabs.com
________________________________________________________________________