Experience literary history - Heller's desk & typewriter on display

I loathe CATCH-22.

Ha, I love CATCH-22. The forward he wrote that's included in a recent edition is awesome. Tells about his first agent and how the book came about.

I'll pass. I typed my first school papers on a very similar model, and it's not fun at all. I'm in the middle on catch-22. Some clever stuff, some self-indulgent stuff. But it's a million times better than Something Happened in which hardly anything did.

How interesting, but that typewriter is fairly modern in my eyes. Grandpa and Grandma had an old manual Underwood that all five of their daughters typed their school papers on. Well, mom graduated in 1959 and her younger sister graduated in 1978. That lovely old typewriter was long ago donated to the local historical society.

However, I understand how those who were born and raised during the computer era might think that typewriter is ancient.

Susan Littlefield said:

How interesting, but that typewriter is fairly modern in my eyes. Grandpa and Grandma had an old manual Underwood that all five of their daughters typed their school papers on. Well, mom graduated in 1959 and her younger sister graduated in 1978. That lovely old typewriter was long ago donated to the local historical society.

However, I understand how those who were born and raised during the computer era might think that typewriter is ancient.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure how old that typewriter is, but Heller started writing Catch-22 in 1953. This is easy for me to remember this because 1953 is also the year I was born.

Anyway, this means the typewriter is at least as old as I am. I have a 1949 Smith-Corona that looks almost identical to that one, but I'm not sure if it's the same model.

I love writing on an old manual. We often have threads about finding a minimalist word processor, and writer after writer mentions not getting anything done because of e-mail, or research, or time on writers forums.

A manual typewriter is the ultimate distraction free word processor. No Internet at all. It doesn't even need electricity. Just roll in a sheet of paper and start typing.

I guess I'll have so save my laptop so the literary junkies of the future can get a chance to savor history. The very HP Pavilion that Miss Plum used to type her best-selling masterpiece! The files are still visible in the ancient Windows 7 operating system! (We'll have to ask you to leave your drinks outside; these old keyboards couldn't withstand spills.)

I remember typing on my grandpa's typewriter. I figure it dates from the 60s? I don't know. No longer have it.

Jamesaritchie said:

I'm not sure how old that typewriter is, but Heller started writing Catch-22 in 1953. This is easy for me to remember this because 1953 is also the year I was born.

Anyway, this means the typewriter is at least as old as I am. I have a 1949 Smith-Corona that looks almost identical to that one, but I'm not sure if it's the same model.

Click to expand...

I'm 50, which probably explains why that typewriter does not look so old. In high school, we learned to type of the manuals which were pretty darned old. In fact, I don't think I used an electric typewriter until using one in the college library in the early 80's. I might have used it to type up my school papers.

Jamesaritchie said:

A manual typewriter is the ultimate distraction free word processor. No Internet at all. It doesn't even need electricity. Just roll in a sheet of paper and start typing.

Click to expand...

I disagree.

JimmyB27 said:

I disagree.

Click to expand...

Disagree with what? I've written novels and many short stories on a manual, and it worked wonderfully. I don't know how it's possible to find anything more distraction free? You can use them in places with no electricity, no cell phone coverage, etc.

Writers created some wonderful work with manuals long before anyone dreamed of a word processor, and brain scans show a manual engages the creative side of the brain much easier than a word processor.