I purposefully didn't read this when it was published. Don't know why. Everyone I knew was talking about it. My wife read it, loved it, and said it brought her to tears. Still couldn't read it. I think it was out of frustration, to be honest. I work at a newspaper that was once ambitious and bold enough to allow this kind of writing and thinking, and now as that same newspaper circles the drain, it's almost more discouraging to read stories like this than it is inspiring. And I hate being the person who is discouraged by art instead of inspired by it. The person I connected the most with in the piece was the guy who gave up the violin at age 18 because he knew he'd never play like Joshua Bell.
"If you love something but choose not to do it professionally, it's not a waste. Because, you know, you still have it. You have it forever."
Unfortunately, that's sort of how I feel that way about the Writing Life lately.
I think Fenian's point about the story is a fair one. It does seem gimmicky, and the conclusion a little snotty, though obviously beautifully written. The question of whether we're too busy to recognize beauty is an interesting one, but it's sort of unfair in this context, and I think easily shot down. The one quote I really didn't like was the one from the British author John Lane:
"This is about having the wrong priorities," Lane said.
Really? That, to me, is elitist and unfair, and makes me lean a little more toward Fenian's POV. Is recognizing beauty as important as taking your kids to school? Or arriving at work on time, as a civil servant, to make certain that various forms of government run properly? Is there no romance in responsibility or discipline? As Matt Damon says in Good Will Hunting, There's honor in that. I don't know the answers, but I do think it's unfair to frame it that the world is uncarring and unfeeling simply because only a handful out of 1,000 people stopped. I think we all want to believe we might have stopped, even if we're not dreamers at heart, but I am as much a sponge for art, poetry, literature and music as anyone I know, and I can't say for certain I would have stopped. Sadly, I think I probably wouldn't have stopped if I was on my way to work, but I might have thought briefly about how the violinist seemed to be providing the soundtrack for my melancholy. But if I were visiting D.C. as a tourist, I probably would have viewed it differently.
For what it's worth, the most meaty discussion of this piece occurred here, after it won a Pulitzer:
http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/54914/
