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The Velveteen Ocelot

(115,070 posts)
3. The weird thing is that after the Spanish Flu epidemic was over
Thu May 7, 2020, 09:11 PM
May 2020

hardly anybody except the medical researchers talked or wrote about it. You'd think there would be a whole lot of literature that addressed it, considering that it was much worse than this epidemic (at least so far), but the major authors who were active at the time barely mentioned it, if at all. A letter supposedly written by F. Scott Fitzgerald while quarantined in France turned out to be a parody that was created this year. In fact, authors like Fitzgerald, John Dos Passos, Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway pretty much ignored it in their writings. In 1939 Katherine Anne Porter wrote the novel Pale Horse, Pale Rider, which described her own experience with the illness - but there wasn't much else. The only other authors of note who wrote about the epidemic - years later - were John O’Hara (The Doctor’s Son, 1935) and William Maxwell (They Came Like Swallows, 1937). I wonder why? Was the experience so horrific that people decided they just didn't want to think about it? PTSD had to have been rampant then, too, considering that the carnage of WWI was part of the mix (and a significant cause as well). Will we react the same way?

some smart weed guys should start sending them joints. mopinko May 2020 #1
+1 nt MsLeopard May 2020 #8
Sounds entertaining, but no, thanks lambchopp59 May 2020 #16
then dont accept but mopinko May 2020 #18
I agree. Newest Reality May 2020 #2
The weird thing is that after the Spanish Flu epidemic was over The Velveteen Ocelot May 2020 #3
My speculation is that 2naSalit May 2020 #4
I think that's probably correct. The Velveteen Ocelot May 2020 #5
I don't think we will respond that way. 2naSalit May 2020 #6
I agree with you. Pacifist Patriot May 2020 #10
My mother told me about it. it happened when she was very young. CTyankee May 2020 #13
Most of what 2naSalit May 2020 #14
And when this Horrid Excuse for a President is Finaaly Gone. . . Harry Walpurgisnacht May 2020 #7
It will take generations. dhol82 May 2020 #9
With all due respect... OldBaldy1701E May 2020 #11
Most already have it Warpy May 2020 #12
If this is anything like the Spanish flu... Initech May 2020 #15
As a healhcare worker lambchopp59 May 2020 #17
Not to worry. As we saw in 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq this country is EXCELLENT at ignoring AtheistCrusader May 2020 #19
guaranteed Locrian May 2020 #20
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