jump to navigation

I am Charlotte Simmons November 20, 2006

Posted by Niels in : Personal , trackback

I am Charlotte Simmons. Or rather, I was. I was the naïve freshman who arrived at college with idealistic delusions, finding an alcohol-soaked bacchanal where I expected the ivory towers of academia. I have also been Adam, the consummate beta male, desexualized and insecure.

“Or was calling it a mercy kiss just another way of kidding herself? The truth was… she wanted to fall in love with Adam! If only she could! How much tidier life would be!”

I’ve even been Hoyt, the confident, charismatic asshole who attracts women with a glance – though that never happened in college.

I don’t read much fiction, but I am Charlotte Simmons really touched me. It’s not the plot of the book that appealed to me so much. It’s the same tale of self-discovery I’ve read a thousand times. But Wolfe captures the details of college life as only a first-hand observer can. A 73-year old making the phrase “cum dumpster” sound natural? That’s no mean feat.

The drunken frat parties he describes are the ones I attended in Australia. He describes the students who never did find their niche and looks into their thoughts. Lost and adrift in a social sea, they cling to each other for survival. And I’d completely forgotten the confusion and depression of that first Christmas vacation. I think I knew a Charlotte Simmons, too. But that bittersweet memory is one I’m keeping to myself.

Comments»

1. QuirkyQ - November 27, 2006

Have you read “Carrie Pilby”? A similar but slightly different take on that topic…and funnier.

2. Niels - November 28, 2006

Haven’t read it, but I will be looking it up. Carrie Pilby