Literary Conversations Between Two Roofers

It's funny seeing it from a man's perspective, it really is. Take Ranger Buddy and his English Lit classes, for instance ;-). I listen to his moaning almost daily now. This, from a man who never moan about any kind of work. This, from a man who can work like a maniac eight days a week. This, from a man who can work out and look sculpted from sheer will. This, from a man who is going to run with the bulls in a month. But reading English lit and discussing the themes and meanings for three hours twice a week is sheer torture for this man.

It's funny because he tries and fails miserably. I have these accounts from eyewitnesses:

1) He smacks his head with the book when the teacher brings up "sexual connotations" or "the old south vs the new south" or "what the author really meant underneath the story."

2) He makes tortured noises when he hears assignments like "Is the woman behind the wallpaper?" or "When Kowalski raped Blanche, does it mean the new south 'raping' the old south?"

3) He turned the text upside down once when the teacher said, "Some people see a reference of the woman behind the wall paper as having a lesbian lover and the husband killed her for the betrayal" and shook it hard. When I asked him later why he did that, he explained that he thought he might had some hidden paragraphs that he'd somehow missed since there was no mention of a lesbian lover in his version of the book ;-). He'd hoped that by shaking it, those paragraphs would magically appear. Male sarcasm at its best.

4) He takes out quotes from the plays and makes it his own. Like when he locked himself out of the truck and had to call me for the spare key, but as you know, he doesn't own a cell phone. He had to borrow one from his teacher and after using it, he said, "Thank you. I always depend on the kindness of strangers." I bet his teacher rolled her eyes.

5) He asks me for help with thematic references in the story and spends two hours arguing with me by retelling the plot over and over. I have to keep saying, "RB, no matter how many times you retell it, the story is still the same, you know." I know what he was trying to say, of course, because I've known the man for two decades; what I was telling him about subtext wasn't in the book.

6) "I'm turning into a sissy," he moaned to the woman next to him. "Quick, give me a hammer to hit my head with."

Another very unique point of view from most males: RB doesn't see any reason why he need to reread any book ever. Once read, it's done--why revisit the story? My book shelves are incomprehensible to him. Why do I reread my books? I already know the story. Read something else.

I know there are plenty of men who reread their books, don't get me wrong, but most of the time, in a conversation at a party/normal gathering with casual readers, most of the males would tend to agree that rereading a book/article is of no interest to them whereas most females would say they've reread a book/scenes once or twice. I find that interesting. Guys tend to say there is no "value" to the rereading experience. Women, on the other hand, says they enjoy revisiting the "journey" by the characters, which in turn makes the men gag.

Because he has to take these classes, RB and I have been having some really good conversations about reading and literary themes. For me, I enjoy it--both the opportunity to talk the kind of topics that I used to when I taught in college and also as entertainment because it's fun to watch him struggle a little. Hee. Me mean. For him, he doesn't enjoy it so much because he sees no reason why he should give the same opinion about "sexual connotations" as a million other writers from the past. He much prefers last quarter's English papers that had to do with fuel prices, the economy, and the Federal Reserve. You see, THAT stuff, he can talk off his head about ;-).

Why do you reread? If you don't, is it because you see no value in it?

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