Laura Bush: The Existentialist Speaks

Subject: RE: Laura Bush: The Existentialist Speaks
From: JenEllen
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 12:05 PM

Great Expectations: "Everyone dies sometimes, so you should make the most of your time with your loved ones, even if they are poor."

Thoreau's Civil Disobedience: "People should be happy with this great country of ours. When most workers are being replaced by technology, it's not every country that will let men serve as machines."

Great Gatsby: "Just goes to show that no matter how big that tax rebate is, it can never buy you class and style."

Kafka's Metamorphoses: "Like Georgie always tells me, some days you're the windshield, some days you're the bug."

Subject: RE: Laura Bush: The Existentialist Speaks
From: SharonA
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 12:03 PM

Numbers: "I think that numbers are very important in our educational system today, as "fuzzy math" is such a terrible problem. Also, this book talks about fathers and sons, and family values are so essential to our society."

Subject: RE: Laura Bush: The Existentialist Speaks
From: Amos
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 12:01 PM

The Mudcat Cafe: "This is one of those Internet places you read about. To me it is a bit like going to a party where you don't know the people there; it always makes me a bit uncomfortable, of course, but if I make the acquaintance of new friends, with similar idelas to our own, then it is worthwhile. However,t his is not that kind of a party so I am not going to recommend this world-wide web site to Weewee. That's what I call him -- Weewee."

Subject: RE: Laura Bush: The Existentialist Speaks
From: GUEST,Deda
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 11:32 AM

Book of Genesis: "Well, of course the flood was a terrible thing. But Noah and his sons survived so that was very comforting. And rainbows are so pretty, I always think."

Exodus: "I couldn't help thinking how messy it must have been walking across the bottom of the sea like that."

the Odyssey: "Well, Odysseus is not always a very good role model, is he. And then, it was such a shame about all those dreadful suitors. But the family was together at the end, so everything came out fine."

Subject: RE: Laura Bush: The Existentialist Speaks
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 11:30 AM

(Don: LMAO, I'd thought how appropriate for that one, too! You plagarist, you!)

Everything I Needed to Know I Learned In Kindergarten: "I read this one aloud to Georgie. We both felt it was so important as a validation of his educational upbringing. It set such a good example for our girls and really shows the importance of early childhood skooling (sic). It would give everyone such a headstart if they would read this one before they start skool."

Subject: RE: Laura Bush: The Existentialist Speaks
From: Amos
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 11:18 AM

Uncle Tom's Cabin: "I was surprised to find that this book is not actually about interior design. However I found the characters very intersting and the plot is entertaining. It is a very good read."

The Red and the Black (Stendahl): "It is about a young man struggling with his feelings and about how bad war is. It really shows us why we should avoid war if possible."

Ulysses: "This wonderful book is about beautiful Dublin, Ireland. I had a great-great grandfather fromt here so I feel like I have almost already read it."

Subject: RE: Laura Bush: The Existentialist Speaks
From: GUEST,Don Meixner
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 11:12 AM

Annie, The Musical: "Well, Annie was a very intelligent little Girl, But she had some troubles too. I could really understand where was coming from and I liked her philosophy about tomorrow. It gives one such hope to think about things tomorrow.

Subject: RE: Laura Bush: The Existentialist Speaks
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 11:04 AM

Gone With the Wind: "Well, Scarlett was a very intelligent, but troubled woman. I could really understand where she was coming from and I liked her philosophy about tomorrow. It gives one such hope to think about things tomorrow."

Subject: RE: Laura Bush: The Existentialist Speaks
From: catspaw49
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 10:54 AM

Everybody's a comedian...........Well done 'Fox!...The eggs on the other hand were "over easy"........What they went over I have no idea, but it was pretty easy on them so it couldn't have been too high..........

Spaw

Subject: RE: Laura Bush: The Existentialist Speaks
From: Hollowfox
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 10:51 AM

'Spaw, your eggs are broken?

Subject: RE: Laura Bush: The Existentialist Speaks
From: catspaw49
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 10:20 AM

STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!

Aw geez PT, I'm dyin' here!!!!!! Only you could have come up with this one and it is a gem!!!!!!!!!

Can't type anymore.........Gonna' go fix some damn eggs and try to quit laughing............Just great!!!!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: Laura Bush: The Existentialist Speaks
From: Peter T.
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 10:14 AM

Report of the Warren Commission: "I always recommend this book when people ask me for a travel book about what Dallas was like in the old days. The descriptions of the people and the places are so fascinating and lifelike."

"Blowing in the Wind" - "Again, a favourite song of mine, from before my time, of course, but it raises important questions about counting, etc., which are of course important to teachers. How can we find ways of getting children interested in mathematics? Dylan's song is one entry point, I find."

Subject: RE: Laura Bush: The Existentialist Speaks
From: Peter T.
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 10:01 AM

The Long Black Veil: "One of my favourite songs, though I would have thought a shorter veil would be more inconspicuous, and she would be less talked about in the community."

House of the Rising Sun:"I always think this is such a cheery song, right from the title. It is important to have somewhere you came from, and somewhere to go back to, when times are hard."

Subject: RE: Laura Bush: The Existentialist Speaks
From: Amos
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 10:00 AM

LOL!

Moby Dick: "I was entranced by the difficulties of the Captain, and felt sorry for him; but I think it shows that getting obsessed about revenge is probably not good for you, because Ahab died in the end. Most important it is about whales."

Huckleberry Finn: "It really shows how important family values are and this message is as true now as it was then."

Sailing Alone Around the World: "It's about sailing. Around the world. Alone. I didn't care for it as much as I did the Brothers Karamazov."

Julius Caesar: "A very well-written and poetic play about the forces which are undermining the Democratic party today."

God, Peter, the wickedness of your quick and subtle wit sometimes defies all measure!

A.

Subject: Laura Bush: The Existentialist Speaks
From: Peter T.
Date: 22 Aug 01 - 09:51 AM

This week's New Republic notes that Laura Bush's favourite passage in literature is The Grand Inquisitor section of The Brothers Karamazov (!) She says: "It's about life, and it's about death, and it's about Christ. I find it really reassuring."

[Here’s a link to the New Republic article, from 05-Feb-01. --JoeClone, 25-Aug-01.]

This seems to me to be a vein worth digging into. Some other proposed not-quite-the idea responses to great literature from the First Lady:

Hamlet: "Certainly it is about a death in the family, which is hard on everyone. But at least there is continuity in the government at the end, which is a comfort."

Romeo and Juliet: "To begin with they were both underage, and he was out very late drinking, probably, and that is just a recipe for trouble. Counselling would have helped. But the families did come together during the funeral, so some good came of it."

Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling: "It is about angst, and suffering, and the desperate need to fling oneself unknowingly over the yawning abyss in absurd ridiculous hope, rather like my husband's tax cut. But it was a good read. I could hardly wait to see how it came out. That Abraham and Isaac were reconciled and had lamb chops for dinner cheered me up enormously."