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THE OUTCASTS OF 19 SCHUYLER PLACE
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From: BudNotBuddy at aol.com <BudNotBuddy>
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2004 00:07:37 EDT
Time is money, Mr. Rose.'
" 'Time is not money, Mrs. Kaplan. Time wasted is often time well spent. Money wasted is merely redistributed.' "
***
"My mother's attitude was: 'Extravagant? Yes, the towers are extravagant, but that hardly makes them a waste of money. Every now and then, a person must do something simply because he wants to, because it seems to him worth doing. And that does not make it worthless or a waste of time. It's true, the towers have no function. They do not give shelter. Neither does the statue of David. They don't hold up telephone wires. Neither does the Eiffel Tower. And the rose windows of Notre Dame don't let in enough light to read fine print. But by my definition, that doesn't make them useless or superfluous either. The towers are there simply because they are worth doing. Without them, my world would be less beautiful and a lot less fun.' "
With the perspective of a year's time well spent since first reading and rereading it, I still consider THE OUTCASTS OF 19 SCHUYLER PLACE the best book Elaine Konigsburg has ever written.
There will be those who will question the realism of what Jake compels his mother and the campers to do, what with liability laws, and the campers' formerly atrocious behavior, blah, blah, blah, but in the same way that Konigsburg has her characters insisting that there is an alternate perspective for looking at time spent and time saved, history is surely marked by heroic actions, large and small, that don't fit into anyone's neatly packaged ideas of the normal, the "right," or the safest thing to do. I'll call it "The Possible," and that is what I see in that scene.
The history of the house at 19 Schuyler Place is such a wonderful look at the longterm life of a neighborhood. I am a big fan of James Howard Kunstler, and OUTCASTS made me recall his work.
I enjoyed SILENT TO THE BONE so much more when I reread it after reading OUTCASTS. I am so happy to have gotten to know Margaret Rose Kane (who I was so taken with I named my best goat kid of 2004 in her honor).
Richie Partington http://richiespicks.com BudNotBuddy at aol.com
Received on Sun 17 Oct 2004 11:07:37 PM CDT
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2004 00:07:37 EDT
Time is money, Mr. Rose.'
" 'Time is not money, Mrs. Kaplan. Time wasted is often time well spent. Money wasted is merely redistributed.' "
***
"My mother's attitude was: 'Extravagant? Yes, the towers are extravagant, but that hardly makes them a waste of money. Every now and then, a person must do something simply because he wants to, because it seems to him worth doing. And that does not make it worthless or a waste of time. It's true, the towers have no function. They do not give shelter. Neither does the statue of David. They don't hold up telephone wires. Neither does the Eiffel Tower. And the rose windows of Notre Dame don't let in enough light to read fine print. But by my definition, that doesn't make them useless or superfluous either. The towers are there simply because they are worth doing. Without them, my world would be less beautiful and a lot less fun.' "
With the perspective of a year's time well spent since first reading and rereading it, I still consider THE OUTCASTS OF 19 SCHUYLER PLACE the best book Elaine Konigsburg has ever written.
There will be those who will question the realism of what Jake compels his mother and the campers to do, what with liability laws, and the campers' formerly atrocious behavior, blah, blah, blah, but in the same way that Konigsburg has her characters insisting that there is an alternate perspective for looking at time spent and time saved, history is surely marked by heroic actions, large and small, that don't fit into anyone's neatly packaged ideas of the normal, the "right," or the safest thing to do. I'll call it "The Possible," and that is what I see in that scene.
The history of the house at 19 Schuyler Place is such a wonderful look at the longterm life of a neighborhood. I am a big fan of James Howard Kunstler, and OUTCASTS made me recall his work.
I enjoyed SILENT TO THE BONE so much more when I reread it after reading OUTCASTS. I am so happy to have gotten to know Margaret Rose Kane (who I was so taken with I named my best goat kid of 2004 in her honor).
Richie Partington http://richiespicks.com BudNotBuddy at aol.com
Received on Sun 17 Oct 2004 11:07:37 PM CDT
