Intertextuality

I think that the intertextuality in Blue Highways is very interesting. Though I realize this is not a very original example, I would like to talk about how I came to understand its significance. The Whitman quotes do a couple of things for the story, and I did not notice them until we talked about intertextuality in class.

Quoting Whitman does add an element of poetry to the book. To be honest, Whitman's words are more beautiful than those of Least Heat-Moon. But also, quoting a poet like Whitman conjures up feelings of freedom and experiencing the unseen parts of the country. This is done by the choice of quotes that are descriptions of Whitman's own experiances. I think that the best example of this is when Least Heat-Moon describes the worn walking paths next to the roads (page 52). By citing Whitman's experience of the same thing, the setting is more believable, better described, and just more authentic.

The quotes also add another characteristic to Least Heat-Moon. In the first paragraph of the book, we learn the he is a recently fired English teacher at a college. By quoting Whitman throughout the book, his character is solidified as a lover of literature. When he point out that "Whitman said it this way," or "said it best," the reader can see the english professor in him.

Blue Highways - Initial response

After just a few senteces into this book i thought that I would like it. It seemed like a good plot. Some man has decided to drive off because his life was kind of falling apart. But I must say that I do not like this book at all. I found it very difficult to read over spring break, because I could not see the plot going somewhere. So far it does not seem to be building up to some sort of climax, I cannot find a major conflict. There is only one main character too... unless you count the van.

The only thing that happens in this book is he meets new people, and describes them for a few pages then moves on. The people themselves are interesting enough, such as the couple building the boat, and the fishermen with the crabs. The scene in the woods near the grave site was interesting. However the story is not going anywhere. There need to be a plot of some kind to make a good book.

I can not find any sort of literary elements in this book. There is no character development, no antagonists or protagonists, no symbolism, just no story line at all. However, I would not say that this book is absolutly aweful to read (if my post so far has come off that way). Like I said, the poeple are interesting. I would just like a book with more sense and meaning to it. I would not reccomend this but to anyone, however I think that if I were to describe some of the characters in this book most people would find them to be interesting.