Small World

Ben and I read Chapters 9 & 10 today. I am finding this a more interesting read then I had first anticipated. Sophisticated is probably the wrong word, but this book certainly does not pander to a young reader audience. He writes of mature themes (i.e. Chapter 9’s conversation between Aunt Carrie & Lucy Peck regarding the neighbor’s love life) that kids could not be expected to fully understand. Some of the humor is subtle, and background knowledge that the book does not provide is required to fully understand some extended passages (i.e. Ethan Allen and Abner Doubleday.) When the difficult language is added in, he is really challenging his readers – or maybe he just wrote the book he wanted to write without much regard for who the audience was. What do you think?

As Robert headed off to the fair in Chapter 10, I thought about how small his world was. If he did not go to school then he would rarely see anyone outside his family. He could conceivably spend have spent entire life without traveling further then Learning. (Do you think the town name was a message from the Author? I do not find it on a Vermont map.) When contrasted with the world that Ben lives in today it is hard to imagine what Robert’s life was like or how he viewed the future.

Do you think he stopped to rest and look for perverts before heading home to show off his Blue Ribbon?