Last week the festival of San Fermin began and they ran the bulls through the streets of Pamplona, Spain. You probably are familiar with the description of the festival of San Fermin from Hemingway’s book The Sun Also Rises. Hell, I’m sure most of you can recant that episode of the book verbatim.
One could argue that Hemingway was one of the finest American writers (I won’t be disagreeing), but I question whether he would he would enthusiastically encourage the fixation some people seem to have about going to Spain annually with the goal of avoiding being gored by a bull.
You may recall that the main characters in his book were wandering aimlessly through Europe (and life) in an alcoholic haze, looking for something and not finding it—a group of guys chasing some chick named Brett. I would compare it to a pack of dogs chasing a bitch in heat, except dogs don’t drink. If dogs had a taste for alcohol and liked to get liquored-up, then it would be a good comparison.
“You are all a lost generation,” said Gertrude Stein, and The Sun Also Rises is probably the one novel that best describes what she meant.
Anyway, romantic as the concept is of running ahead of a bunch of angry bulls that would like to get their horns in you, it doesn’t sound like Jimbo’s idea of fun. One could save the airfare by just finding the local heavily traveled interstate and running in front of the cars. In my geographic area there is enough danger driving a car on the aforementioned interstate and surviving, which I do every day routinely, despite the danger rather than because of it.
If you really crave danger, you could go to work for the CIA as an undercover operative and then get your name into the hands of Karl Rove. That could really be dangerous.
But, for me, I think I’ll keep my derriere off the radar screens of angry bulls by not running out in front of them. My idea of romance is not having to explain scars inflicted on my body by bullhorns. I won’t go looking for danger; I’ll let it find me.
And here in Jimbo’s world, we hope it won’t.
3 comments:
Ugh, I can't imagine why anyone would want to run in front of a bunch of bulls..well, maybe if they had death wish.. People are pretty crazy :)
Hannah,
Yes. People do a lot of things for excitement. I have heard tales of some people jumping off the upper deck of ships into the water just for the thrill of it. Although that sounds more sensible than having bulls chase after you...
rofl :) touché..
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