Annie Dillard
1987
Why did you choose this book? What were your expectations? Why did you expect what you did? How is the book living up to your expectations?
Several weeks ago we read an excerpt from an Annie Dillard novel. The chapter title was called "The Chase" in which the young girl recounts a one-sided snowball fight with passing cars that turned into a run for her life. While I do not typically enjoy reading from a literature textbook, I was quite taken by this particular excerpt. Something in the way Dillard told her story reminded me of my childhood. Much to my pleasant surprise, I found Dillard's An American Childhood (which is the book "The Chase" is from) in my uncle's massive book collection and decided to read it.
From what I had read previously, I expected Dillard's childhood to be filled with as much adventure and imagination as mine was. After reading her account of running with the football boys through the town (probably in a time when girls weren't suppose to be doing that), I instantly fell in love with the tomboyish child. And yet, I somehow figured she would still turn out to be a normal adult female.
Surprisingly, An American Childhood is much different from what I had imagined. Dillard does an impressive job of quickly and concisely describing her life in Pittsburgh. The reader gains much incite from a limited amount of knowledge. However, unlike "The Chase," so far Dillard's childhood has lacked the major events I thought she would surely write about. Her young life is fairly boring and uneventful from an adult's perspective. She spends her time examining family members' skin and memorizing the layout of Pittsburgh. Although An American Childhood is an autobiography, I was under the impression that her life was filled with enough excitement that she just HAD to write a story of her childhood. Even though I was slightly disappointed, I did learn one thing. . . . Most childhoods are relatively mundane in retrospect. What makes them so amazing is the mere fact that the life events are seen through a child's eye. Everything is a new and exciting experience. Annie Dillard does an amazing job showing the reader how children perceive the world.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6/6 entries--good job!
ReplyDeleteYour blog is great fun for me to read. I need to check out Daughter of the Forest. Surely you and your sister have the more dedicated relationship that you lament too few siblings have?? The not speaking and twice yearly visits are variations on stories from Greek mythology. I would love to be able to write new stories on old designs!
Your insight to childhood is interesting. Dillard's childhood seems to be no more incident-ridden than anyone else's, but as a writer, she sees into the significance of things and can help us readers see also.