I’m struck by the idea of a relation among strangers. I’ve never thought about having a relationship with all the people I don’t know who are reading the same text as me. So the possibility of finding out Who They Are is exciting but worrying. A bit like finding you have close DNA matches on one of those family tree websites.
For a chunk of my life I used to convene reading groups for The Reader Organisation in the UK. The sessions were very structured, because were trying to corral people into using the stories or poems - ‘using’ in something very like the sense in The Uses of Art. Stories or poems read aloud, to keep it experiential, literary analysis not particularly valued. I guess it was a way of creating a temporary public.
Your idea of a network sounds so much freer, there’s a sort of light, glancing, feeling about it. The slow tempo seems good too!
Dear Sal
I’m struck by the idea of a relation among strangers. I’ve never thought about having a relationship with all the people I don’t know who are reading the same text as me. So the possibility of finding out Who They Are is exciting but worrying. A bit like finding you have close DNA matches on one of those family tree websites.
For a chunk of my life I used to convene reading groups for The Reader Organisation in the UK. The sessions were very structured, because were trying to corral people into using the stories or poems - ‘using’ in something very like the sense in The Uses of Art. Stories or poems read aloud, to keep it experiential, literary analysis not particularly valued. I guess it was a way of creating a temporary public.
Your idea of a network sounds so much freer, there’s a sort of light, glancing, feeling about it. The slow tempo seems good too!
Mary
Dear Sal,
I love this.
Open ended hellos to all.
Like aloha means both hello and goodbye.
I look forward to stepping up and submitting a public letter, to all, being redundant.
Warmly,
Molly Hardison