IV Blithedale Romance (Chase & Tanner)

[alice wellintown]

 It really does help to situate a text in a context, so
> long as you remain open to the fact that there's always any number of
> possible contexts (American romance, Menippean satire, encyclopedic
> fiction, postmodern novel, Vietnam era fiction, u.s.w., et
> soforthiam).

I don't remain open to any number, that is, I am not open to the
endless and infinite; this only undermines the help you get from
situating the text. Pragmatism & Pluralism. Not relativism. The
Anatomy or Menippean or Romantic reading is useful because we can do
some work if we don't insist on carrying Home Depot in our Toolbox.
The BOTH/AND and shades of Gray reading is an ironic marsh pit. Fun
and Intense, but no discipline. It seems to me, an undisciplined
approach only gets to Larry, hurt by his inherent vice, his
obselescence, his uselessness, his replacements . . . .the Player
Piano. The youth hungry to consume and replace their older co-workers.
What's needed is discipline. Communication. Value the worker's
tradtion or toss him aside and let the new kidz on the block have a go
at it with the latest Smart Machines.

See Leo Marx on fire and furnace and sun

see Richard McKeon (everything he's written).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_McKeon