I had a similar sense from Gene's article about terrorism in Jerusalem. There he at least said something: "Yes, death is a certainty, and we get by through denial. But would immortality, in a world such as ours, really be better?" But what does that mean? I was disappointed there too in his lack of something truly compelling.

And I know he can write it. He wrote a fabulous article on undecided voters. Days before an election where so many people were practically drooling with eagerness to vote or to make you do likewise, Gene took on the question of why roughly half of the population is immune to this. And why?

"Like all people who don't vote, Ted has distanced himself to some degree from the society in which he lives. It's symptomatic, I think, of a larger choice he has made. He has willed himself into a certain protective ignorance about the way life works. This intellectual callus might make some things easier to bear, but I'll bet it comes at a cost. The world must be a more terrifying place when you don't know all you can about why things happen the way they do, and why people do what they do, and whether there's anything out there that can leap out at you from the dark."

Later that day I went to a Halloween party. Someone dressed up as an undecided voter.

Of course, there's the distinct possibility that Gene's Savoonga and Jerusalem articles do in fact have points, and I'm only picking it up from the non-voter article because I like the answer more.

And really, why do I care so much? The easy answer is that it's the law school which pounds into my head the importance of not only having a point, but emphasizing it in the introduction, conclusion, and every last topic heading. Or maybe it's part and parcel of my rejection of Englishmajordom. Though here I've just spent all this time (and your time!) thinking and writing about nice writing that doesn't try to beat you over the head with its point. So maybe it comes back to get me in the end.

Anyway Gene, if you've googled your name and found this page, consider this: you write quite well, otherwise I wouldn't have so much to say. See right up there under the "quote of the week"? Sign on as "friend" and write us something.
posted by weiss @ 6:02 PM