I think that "Once a Tramp, Always..." by M.F.K. Fisher was an excellent supplement reading to the senses book by Diane Ackerman. I found several instances where Fisher describes using all of his senses to enjoy the food he was experiencing. He mentions potato chips, which may or may not be an odd coincidence (as I recall Dave said in class this week that there are no such things as coincidences, but... moving on), and he describes eating them: They wer uneven in both thickness and color, probably made by a new apprentice in the hotel kitchen, and almost surely they smelled faintly of either chicken or fish, for that was always the case there... They were ineffable. I am still nourished by them" (548).
The piece made me think about situations where I have been gluttonous with my food experiences, and Fisher touches on the notion that it is hard to enjoy something when you are so aware of the richness or extravagance of the situation. However, I took comfort in the fact that he mentioned that simple things can be enjoyed similarly, perhaps with a touch of elegance, as when he dined on mashed potatoes with catsup from special dishes.
I was also impressed by the title, as I was first unsure of what the piece would be about (obviously my initial reaction was a tramp). It was about a tramp, but in a different sense of the word, and I appreciated the mention of Twain's writing, "A Tramp Abroad." I thought that the piece was end-capped nicely with that nod, and overall I really enjoyed the essay.
Nice observations about the "Tramp" framing. Also though, (and I made this same mistake and had to fix my pronouns) Fisher is a lady. Something about the MFK Fisher name is masculine to me, and I just assumed.
ReplyDeleteI also really loved her discussion of potato chips, she really made it seem like she adored them.
As I was reading this, I also noticed how you spoke of Fisher as a man. I then saw that there was "1 comment" on this post and wondered to myself, "I wonder if this comment is Mish and did she mentioned the gender mixup?" I was amused to see that Mish, in fact, did. Honest mix up Angela. I did the same. And Mish I'm only teasing about you grammatical corrections.
ReplyDeleteAnyway...I just finally read the Fisher essay. I agree with Angela in the sense that these two (Fisher and Ackerman) are nice supplements to one another.
So while doing comments on everybody's blogs I have slowly come to the realization that we were all supposed to read this essay and I didn't know that. I think maybe he talked about it the day I missed class.
ReplyDeleteSo... I guess I'm gonna go read this now...
It's easy to remember the gender because the F in MFK stands for female. Wait a minute. . .
ReplyDeleteAbout coincidences. I'm not sure if they exist. G.K. Chesterton said that coincidences are "spiritual puns." To me, noticing coincidences is totally enjoyable, but also maybe a projection. I want the world to make sense in that way, to be strewn with pennies from a generous hand, as Dillard wrote. What I'm saying is that coincidences would be some kind of proof of intelligent design, no?
I was also recently thinking about your idea that people are only given the challenges that they can handle. Didn't you say that? I know I've heard that. It's an interesting truism. Because it stipulates that bad things happen but also that no one is ever overwhelmed by those bad things. Truth is, people often receive/are-faced-with more challenges than they can handle, no? So, that particular cliche is a great one in a sense, because it acknowledges that we live in a painful world, so it feels honest. But then again. . .
Anyway, I'm going to search for a coincidence today. Maybe I'll be eating potato chips while a Julie Andrews appears on TV, or something.
Dave