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I don't have anything exciting to say about literature in general. Instead, I'll give you an update on what I'm currently reading while we're waiting for Ayn Rand to filter through the library system.
Impatient with Desire, by Gabrielle Burton, which totally sounds like porn, is, in fact, very far from it. It's a novel about the Donner party told from Tamsin Donner's point of view. It's related in journal entries and letters, which normally isn't a trope I'm particularly fond of, but the epistolary form is narrative enough that it works in this book.
Anyway, I'm surprised to find that I'm really enjoying it. Burton does an excellent job of capturing her protagonist's voice, and an even more masterful job of spinning out the suspense about how the party got itself into its famous cannibalistic dilemma. I have not yet been bored, nor have I been frustrated with the decisions of the main character. Frankly, the only thing I've wondered about is why, after subsisting on boiled oxen hides (which I didn't even know you could eat) for several weeks, they didn't eat any of their dead sooner. I mean, I know, I know, taboos, but starving is starving, guys. Tamsin herself is strong, rational, compelling, and even, at times, inspiring. Her story is impressive in that it puts her far ahead of her time in standing up for her own rights, being an independent earner, and even confronting her husband in a public discussion. And all of this in the context of crossing the Rockies by wagon train. I recommend it.
Also, I thought the members of the Donner party were Mormons, which is completely untrue.
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It occurs to me that the anti cannibalism taboo has weakened in recent times. At the time of the Donner party, a very strong taboo against it would have been a survival meme. After all, you're embarking on a long, perilous journey, anticipating a high likelihood of food shortage. It would be nice to have confidence that your fellow travelers would find eating you to be out of the question.
ReplyDeleteI'd agree with that assessment, and, actually, when I got to the part where they were eating corpses, it was significantly more horrifying than I expected. However, if I were on an excursion that had the chance of encountering danger, I'd want to know that we agreed ahead of time that the dead were fair game for food. Lessens the guilt factor, and frankly, is practical. Of course, there's the question of murder for sustenance, but that's a different story.
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