User:Chelsey.brantley/sandbox: Difference between revisions

Line 172:

of Mailer’s to make change, his “extra-literary hunger for things to change

and change now, in palpable ways rather than in the imaginary, alternative{{pg|490|491}}

ways in which most artist-novelists deal."{{sfn|Gilman|1968|p=27}} This book is not only

a testimony of civil disobedience but also a story which aims to engender civil disobedience in the reader.

Wherever readers stood on the political continuum, ''Armies'' invites readers

to justify events in the book with their real lives; it allows for “[r]eading

history over the edge of text,” which is a combination of “close reading and

analysis that allow us to get ‘inside’ the narrative, while at the same time we

understand that the narrators and subjects of nonfiction . . . live ‘outside’ the

narrative as well."{{sfn|Lehman|1997|p=3}} This makes for an intense reading experience,

especially if the novelist like Mailer uses his skills to capture an already fascinating

or contentious event. One other factor that might have turned contemporary

readers into implicated readers was the timeliness of the book’s

release: the march was more than mere history it was a recent event when the book was published just seven months after the event—and the controversy

over Vietnam still raged on.

In a nonfiction novel such as ''Armies''the story can take on very real manifestations,

which could lead to political action on the part of readers. A

reader could take measure of his or her own (in)action regarding the war

and choose to act out against the war. Such action is difficult to trace, but in

the case of ''Armies'', Rubin claims the novel “became the Bible of the movement”{{sfn|Manso|1985|p=461}}; Dearborn suggests that “young leftists found it an astute

analysis and were impressed by the passion Mailer brought to the work."{{sfn|Dearborn|1999|p=246}} However, Michael Albert and Noam Chomsky, both major figures in

the anti-war movement, didn’t feel that it made much of an impact within

the movement. Albert recalls “honestly, I doubt if anyone I knew or virtually

anyone in the movement read it, even I didn’t. My guess would be it had [a]

very very modest impact . . . and virtually none inside the movement per

se.” While it is unclear whether it affected those within the movement, it is also difficult to tell how it affected readers just becoming acquainted with the

peace movement. Dearborn indicates that those outside the movement were

touched by the novel: “across the political spectrum, readers who watched

the student movement with varying degrees of approval or censure were

made to understand that what was going on in the streets . . . was a real phenomenon

that had to be taken extremely seriously."{{sfn|Dearborn|1999|p=246}} Furthermore, the

Pulitzer and National Book Award, which were because of the novel, are a

sort of establishment seals of approval—proof that it had reached middle

America. Contemporary reviewers were generous with their praise. The

===Citations===

@@ Line 172: / Line 172: @@
 of Mailer’s to make change, his “extra-literary hunger for things to change
 and change now, in palpable ways rather than in the imaginary, alternative{{pg|490|491}}
+ways in which most artist-novelists deal."{{sfn|Gilman|1968|p=27}} This book is not only
+a testimony of civil disobedience but also a story which aims to engender civil disobedience in the reader.
+Wherever readers stood on the political continuum, ''Armies'' invites readers
+to justify events in the book with their real lives; it allows for “[r]eading
+history over the edge of text,” which is a combination of “close reading and
+analysis that allow us to get ‘inside’ the narrative, while at the same time we
+understand that the narrators and subjects of nonfiction . . . live ‘outside’ the
+narrative as well."{{sfn|Lehman|1997|p=3}} This makes for an intense reading experience,
+especially if the novelist like Mailer uses his skills to capture an already fascinating
+or contentious event. One other factor that might have turned contemporary
+readers into implicated readers was the timeliness of the book’s
+release: the march was more than mere history it was a recent event when the book was published just seven months after the event—and the controversy
+over Vietnam still raged on.
+In a nonfiction novel such as ''Armies''the story can take on very real manifestations,
+which could lead to political action on the part of readers. A
+reader could take measure of his or her own (in)action regarding the war
+and choose to act out against the war. Such action is difficult to trace, but in
+the case of ''Armies'', Rubin claims the novel “became the Bible of the movement”{{sfn|Manso|1985|p=461}}; Dearborn suggests that “young leftists found it an astute
+analysis and were impressed by the passion Mailer brought to the work."{{sfn|Dearborn|1999|p=246}} However, Michael Albert and Noam Chomsky, both major figures in
+the anti-war movement, didn’t feel that it made much of an impact within
+the movement. Albert recalls “honestly, I doubt if anyone I knew or virtually
+anyone in the movement read it, even I didn’t. My guess would be it had [a]
+very very modest impact . . . and virtually none inside the movement per
+se.” While it is unclear whether it affected those within the movement, it is also difficult to tell how it affected readers just becoming acquainted with the
+peace movement. Dearborn indicates that those outside the movement were
+touched by the novel: “across the political spectrum, readers who watched
+the student movement with varying degrees of approval or censure were
+made to understand that what was going on in the streets . . . was a real phenomenon
+that had to be taken extremely seriously."{{sfn|Dearborn|1999|p=246}} Furthermore, the
+Pulitzer and National Book Award, which were because of the novel, are a
+sort of establishment seals of approval—proof that it had reached middle
+America. Contemporary reviewers were generous with their praise. The
+{{pg|491|492}}
 ===Citations===