tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828649308001631031.post1290579864497107607..comments2024-03-08T08:47:44.121-08:00Comments on The New Yorker & Me: Kathryn Schulz's "Pond Scum"Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828649308001631031.post-73625570924118968902018-03-17T07:01:11.066-07:002018-03-17T07:01:11.066-07:00I considered commenting on Schulz's stinkbug p...I considered commenting on Schulz's stinkbug piece, but its unrelieved third-person perspective put me off. I'm not a fan of third-person writing. Like Thoreau, I prefer the "I" of personal experience.John MacDougallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398671796243427153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828649308001631031.post-63987661719075379442018-03-16T07:06:04.589-07:002018-03-16T07:06:04.589-07:00I just read my first Schulz piece, on the execrabl...I just read my first Schulz piece, on the execrable stinkbug infestation (dangling referent noted) spreading across the U.S. She put me in a mind of John McPhee, a piece beautifully researched with plenty of keenly turned wit. I wonder if she has a tin ear or is just having us on in her takedown of HDT. If it's the former, and even if it is the case that she may, Thoreau-like, be a bit of a jerk, she gave me the best 7-in-the-morning-laughs I've had in a while in a well-researched piece of non-fiction. pat o'connorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11402186195544676281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8828649308001631031.post-49414959786890321602015-10-27T06:53:43.538-07:002015-10-27T06:53:43.538-07:00Schulz's article is a non-original piece of ta...Schulz's article is a non-original piece of takedown porn--an anti-intellectual rant written by someone who no doubt lives in desperation for the next trendy cocktail. As you note, Robert Sullivan in his book notes many of the same criticisms. Plus she gets it wrong from the lead saying that he's insensitive to shipwreck victims when (if you read Thoreau's whole paragraph) all he's saying is that it's harder to feel genuine emotion for an anonymous group of victims than for someone you personally know. She has a tin ear for all the joy and humor in Walden regardless of whether Thoreau went home for pie or not. Thank you for putting in a good word for Henry.Featuremanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05418687985747277851noreply@blogger.com