The Middle-Brow Effect

Reading (or rather, actually being able to read) The Skin of Our Teeth, is a refreshing change to stumbling through Finnegans. Not only am I enjoying the reading, but I’m patting myself on the back for finally understanding the text’s references, however obvious and blatant they may be (you can’t blame a person). I feel like I’m definitely experiencing the “Middle-brow” effect. Which is to say that I find myself engaged in a reading that is comprehensible, leisurely, and entertaining, and yet simultaneously stimulating and nuanced. It’s fantastic.

During the play, I frequently found myself getting lost, due to either the scene set-up or confusion as to why there were prehistoric animals as house pets, but as I kept reading I quickly caught on and could connect the dots. And as soon as I finished the play, I immediately had the impulse to flip back to the beginning and start it all over again. This, of course, is in no small part due to the ending, or lack of ending, of the play. I actually started laughing when I read the ending, for the connection between it and Finnegans is so blatant it is nothing but humorous. And then I kept laughing to think of how if I’d read this same play two weeks ago, all that would’ve been completely lost on me, and there would probably be a look of confusion upon my face, rather than laughter. Ah, how high-brow I already feel☺

On the same token, I feel that as much as I gleaned in the first reading, there remains a lot to be revealed, and a lot that will continue to reveal itself with every successive reading. It is challenging, but to the perfect degree. It feels conquerable, as opposed to hopeless. And you don’t feel absolutely out of your mind for attempting it. Thus, the satisfaction that comes from a middle-brow work: one can explore it and be satisfied with their initial understanding and interpretation, while also knowing that there is potentially much more to extract—all without the impulse to throw the book across the room.