Sunday, February 24, 2013

The Horror-Romance of Flint

I'm reading Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall by Anna Funder. This line reminded me of Flint. Not all of Flint, but a part of it, the part where my memories of the place meet the reality of present day.
I think about the feeling I've developed for the former German Democratic Republic. It is a country which no longer exists, but here I am on a train hurtling through it — its tumbledown houses and bewildered people. This feeling needs a sticklebrick word: I can only describe it as horror-romance. It's a dumb feeling, but I don't want to shake it.


3 comments:

  1. St. Matthew Sacred HeartFebruary 24, 2013 at 3:15 PM

    I dunno what I just read, but Flint definitely needs a sticklebrick.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Providence God's TabernacleMarch 3, 2013 at 5:15 PM

    Au contraire, a sticklebrick for Flint would be incredibly destructive. Say "No" to Flint sticklebricks. The only bricks we need are on Saginaw St.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Having grown up in Flint and been stationed in Berlin right after the wall fell I resemble this statement.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.