So there's this guy out there named Kyle, I think he's a student, and he keeps a blog in which he apparently posts his college papers. And what do you know, he's written a paper about the two Samsons, mine and Milton's. What a riot. He says things like
"Maine’s creative prolepsis of Samson’s thoughts before destroying the temple begins, like Milton’s, with an important simile"
Well sure! Doesn't everybody's? He also says this:
"Rather than emotionally driven, Maine presents Samson as a logical person attempting to deduce the will of God through reason"
Which is, to say the least, a surprise to me...
But I shouldn't make fun of it--the guy's put some thought into my book, which I appreciate, and what the hell, I've been compared to worse people than Milton. (Although I guess he was sort of a shithead, if I'm remembering my Junior-year Milton class right. Didn't he treat his daughters like dirt?) And anyway this kind of writing puts my own academic career to shame--my college papers sounded like, "I really like Anne Sexton's poems I think they're really really good."
Anyway if you're interested, here's where you can read what the kids are saying about Dave Maine these days:
http://www.kylebrekke.com/wordpress/2008/john-miltons-samson-agonistes-vs-david-maines-the-book-of-samson-relativity-of-legitimacy/
And if you're feeling nice you can even leave a comment. But no nasty ones, okay? I can't afford to alienate my, ahem, academic fan base.
DON'T FORGET TO VOTE IN THE POLL AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE!
3 comments:
Hi David,
I'm glad you enjoyed (as far as I can tell) the essay I wrote on your book. Feedback from anyone about the essay would have been encouraging, but from you... well, you can imagine how surprised I was to receive a response from the author himself! Anyway, I'll let my professor know about the response and about your blog. Who knows, maybe you could correspond briefly with your new "academic audience" - he might teaching this same class next year.
Thanks again!
Kyle Brekke
Hey Kyle,
That sounds great! I'm eager to talk to anyone who's interested, so by all means let your professor know. Where are you, anyway? There's a picture of (I think) the Golden Gate Bridge on your blog, is that significant?
Hey David,
I shared the story with my class, they all thought it was hilarious. You are a bit of a legend now :)
And good guess, the picture is significant. I'm attending UC Berkeley right now (I updated my About after I realized it didn't have any basic info on it), but I'll be graduating this semester with a degree in, you guessed it, English. Also, I forwarded your blog link to the professor so he might get in touch with you soon.
Anyway, I wish you all the best. I'll be following your next book release, and who knows, maybe I'll even write another essay on it... :)
Kyle
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