Monday, November 01, 2004

currently reading richard wright's autobiography, "black boy." his language in 1944 was, in my opinion, completely modern. the feat he pulls off in this book is in adjusting his narrative voice to complement various growth stages. as a young boy his descriptions and observations are sparse. only by age 17, about 2/3 through the book do you begin to sense that the author is speaking. his perceptions of american culture are still very sharp. it would still seem that we are in a killing sort of system, one that is perhaps not so obviously cruel, but that we still must really use our wits to understand, and feel whole in.