Re: LS Slow Reading

From: diana@hongkong.com
Date: Sun May 14 2000 - 04:46:44 BST


LS,

The rules for the list should be the ones that are most conducive to
achieving the desired results. We want to focus on the chapters, we want to
get real intellectual discussion going, not just quoting and summarizing,
we want to get as many people involved and we want it to be a productive
and fun experience for all.

Wrt the requirement that members have read ZMM and LILA, having read
Andreas comments I not sure that it is necessary to have read both books in
their entirety after all. In the other two forums having read the whole
books is necessary because they are for the discussion of the MOQ as a
whole. A chapter by chapter discussion is different though. Of course
participants must at least have read the relevant chapter(s), but I'm not
convinced they have to have read the whole book seeing as they are not
required to discuss the whole book. Sure, it would probably be in their own
interest, but if it's discouraging some newbies from participating then
maybe we don't need to insist on it. If anything, I would imagine those
who haven't read the whole book will focus on the relevant text more
closely than those who have, because they won't be tempted to bring in
their own favorite themes from later on. And, in fact, I actually think it
might benefit the rest of us if we have a few people reading it for the
first time because it gives the rest of us a chance to see it with a fresh
perspective. Ever shown a visitor round your home town?

As for forward referencing and quoting from the chapters, I think we first
need to clarify what the objective of the reading group is. If all we're
going to do is go through the text, quote it and summarize it then it seems
rather a bore to me. I would like to see the ideas raised in each chapter
discussed on their own merits. As I see it, there are two things we have to
do for each chapter:

Objective 1. discuss what themes/arguments are raised
Objective 2. evaluate those themes/arguments on their own merits

An example would be the "over-ripe" breasts passage in chapter one. We have
had a few people complain that that is sexist. So does the question of
Pirsig's sexism arise in chap 1? I'd say, yes, the question does arise, so
it meets Objective 1. But to answer it you have to go beyond chapter one.
Does Lila have any redeeming characteristics? Are there other unattractive
female characters? What about the male characters? Are there any feminist
arguments in Lila?

So, I guess I'm asking the question, would that be a permissable
discussion? If it isn't then it seems that all we can do is say, well some
people thought that was a wee bit sexist, hmm .....

Diana

MOQ.org - http://www.moq.org



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