Brain Pain discussion

This discussion covers Part III: The Critic, Karl Streibert – pp. 180-334


Young Mennonite scholar Karl Streibert passionlessly makes his way through his studies until he meets visiting Professor Devlan at Columbia University. While he and Devlan travel through Italy and Greece, they become not only student and teacher, but lovers in (and of) the Greek tradition. Later, as a young professor, Streibert makes a name for himself as a young critical voice on the rise. Yvonne Marmelle gets his ideas in print; but he soon runs afoul of his neighbor Lukas Yoder – who is also Marmelle’s most famous author.

Streibert's relationship with Lukas Yoder was interesting. Yoder is portrayed as a fairly simple, straight forward person who is mainly interested in his writing, his art work, and local cooking. He knows that many of his ideas are old fashioned, but he knows himself and does't see any reason to change at the same time, he seems to feel that others are entitled to their own opinions.

Streibert places much more importance on the disagreement with Yoder than Yoder does himself. This highlights Streibert's insecurity more than anything else.

I thought that the lists of authors in this chapter were interesting. Would you select the same greats?

Jenny wrote: "Streibert's relationship with Lukas Yoder was interesting. Yoder is portrayed as a fairly simple, straight forward person who is mainly interested in his writing, his art work, and local cooking. ..."

Streibert is presented as a priest of the holy church of literature. He wields the great books of the past as weapons against the common everyday best-sellers that Yoder and his ilk flood the marketplace of pop-lit with each publishing season. And so, as you note, Streibert the zealot has more to defend than Yoder the tradesman.

I adore Streibert! He is the one character so far who experiences change and maturation. He has the courage to switch colleges after a tearful examination of his life. Despite fears of losing everything, he determines to visit his dying friend. He is the best thing in the book so far, a well-rounded, self-questioning, flawed, but ultimately admirable man.

Jenny wrote: "I thought that the lists of authors in this chapter were interesting. Would you select the same greats?"

No.