Love Medicine
Detail of beadwork from an Ojibwe medicine pouch
Monday, March 16, 2009
Edgar's "tally-wacker" problem
Today Ace made a comment in class about how she didn't feel like it was necessary for Udall to go into such great deal about Edgar's puberty problem. I completely respect Ace's opinion and this post is not meant to offend her in any way. I've said plenty of times that this book is extremely crude and can be disturbing, but I feel like it keeps things interesting. It's very realistic and I like how the author doesn't feel the need to censor real life occurrences. Even though Love Medicine isn't one of my favorite books, I like how it was such a drastic change from the more innocent and censored books we're so used to reading for school. Do you guys like how crude The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint is or do you feel Udall is pushing the limit?
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12 comments:
I appreciate the realism, seeing as it's supposed to be from the eyes of a 14-year-old. It's not American Psycho crude, but the slight vulgarity is a bit unnerving
Sam, I really like how you phrased your statement and question. Good work.
i think he's pushing the limit a little bit but it does keep the book interesting. its a little awkward reading about this stuff but at least its not some boring shakespeare book or something like that
Oddly enough, I love how crude and vulgar Love Medicine and Edgar Mint are. I am going to change my previous statement slightly...
Though I find the vivid descriptions of Edgar going at it quite disgusting, I wouldn't want Udall to change his writing to censor aspects of life.
I am usually completely for blatantly honest pieces of literature, and I still am. I have written pieces myself that are completely open and honest regarding aspects of life that people tend to not talk about.
I just found myself initially repulsed by the descriptions of Edgar's little sessions. Reflecting back on that, I am surprised. I am usually never repulsed by crude pieces. After thinking about it I realize why I was so uncomfortable: I think of Edgar as a cute little boy, or someone I would think of as a brother. Sorry for the super long comment...
I think it's only awkward because it's not something that's talked about in school. The first time sex was brought up in class or was mentioned in a book, I remember how uncomfortable I felt reading it. As time went on, sex was mentioned more often in books and the even books were based on affairs, especially Love Medicine. It's not a topic that should be talked about openly, but at the same time, it's a part of life. The more you read about things like that, the less it will really stand out.
I personally don't like to hear about stuff like this, so i think I would rather some of it taken out like the long lists of where he masturbated and how he describes Sunny's body. I can appreciate the realism but a lot of it seems too far for me personally. an example of too far is, “I took the lacy, satiny things out of Sunny’s drawers and piled them on top of me while I lay on her bed, pressing her pastel-colored underthings to my face. Like a dog, I sniffed around that house for days. How good everything smelled!” (257). But, “I couldn’t help but notice how her tight jeans gripped her behind like two hands,” (250). is understandable and interesting to the book.
I agree with Christine on this one. I can respect Udall as an author for keeping truth in his writing, despite its vulgarity. But at the same time, I would rather not read the lengthy, and often crude, descriptions of Edgar masturbating and other aspects of his “rendezvous with puberty” as Ace said yesterday.
Udall's crudeness does keep the book interesting, but i believe that he could sensor out some aspects of the book. I agree with Sam about how people may feel awkward for a time when talking about something new, but Udall could have censored some of the information.
I don't see how it's awkward for guys. Girls, sure, but the adventures Edgar goes through is typical dude stuff. Nothing weird about it at all, at least for me. Go Edgar!
I like Udall's take on things because the way he write is like real life, but I have to say he mentions some form of the male reproductive organ at least once in every chapter and I don't know that it needs to be that prevalent.
I was wondering about this "crudness" everyone was talking about until I finally got caught up with y'all in the book. And to tell you the truth... I did not think it was THAT crude at all really. I was expecting something FAR FAR worse then Udall just saying Edgar turned into a normal horny 14 year old boy. His descriptions weren't as graphic as everyone stated either. But then again, I might think this way because I was thinking of something far far worse by all the commotion about it.
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