tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post2130959178630021173..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: I already have dragons, I have no wish for men - Victor Hugo's The End of SatanAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-77956887070628331452015-11-10T22:35:48.841-06:002015-11-10T22:35:48.841-06:00No, I have not read Ninety-Three. I should! That...No, I have not read <i>Ninety-Three</i>. I should! That's great. Yes, that is a self-portrait. Wow.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-49290240225804882832015-11-10T18:17:20.257-06:002015-11-10T18:17:20.257-06:00Have you read Hugo's Ninety-Three? It's on...Have you read Hugo's Ninety-Three? It's one of my favorite books, and compared to Les Miserables, it's quite short. And it includes this quote, ostensibly about the National Convention, which I believe is Hugo talking about his own work.<br /><br />“There is a sacred horror about everything grand. It is easy to admire mediocrity and hills; but whatever is too lofty, a genius as well as a mountain, an assembly as well as a masterpiece, seen too near, is appalling. Every summit seems an exaggeration. Climbing wearies. The steepnesses take away one's breath; we slip on the slopes, we are hurt by the sharp points which are its beauty; the foaming torrents betray the precipices, clouds hide the mountain tops; mounting is full of terror, as well as a fall. Hence, there is more dismay than admiration. People have a strange feeling of aversion to anything grand. They see abysses, they do not see sublimity; they see the monster, they do not see the prodigy.” Maya Reads Bookshttp://mayareadsbooks.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-71165873243010034192015-11-09T17:02:40.603-06:002015-11-09T17:02:40.603-06:00Hugo's verbal and visual imagination is baffli...Hugo's verbal and visual imagination is bafflingly large.<br /><br />I would love to have a complete translation of <i>Les Contemplations</i>. Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-78794364280692167452015-11-09T15:55:27.618-06:002015-11-09T15:55:27.618-06:00In one of his late short stories Borges wrote abou...In one of his late short stories Borges wrote about how, one time, when he was 19, he met with his older self by a river in Switzerland; and how his older self proved that he was not a figment of the younger Borges' imagination: he quoted the following line by Hugo, a line beyond the reach of any other writer:<br />The Hydra-Universe was writhing its coils encrusted with galaxies.<br />L'hydre-universe tordant son corps écaillé d'astres.Cleanthesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15363416290397892659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-90233173997773733212015-11-09T13:02:25.177-06:002015-11-09T13:02:25.177-06:00Yes, there is a cosmic Marvel vibe in Hugo's p...Yes, there is a cosmic Marvel vibe in Hugo's poem - Eternity fighting the Living Tribunal, that sort of thing.<br /><br />The Blackmore translation is great. Have you read <i>The Toilers by the Sea</i>, by chance? That's a great one, too, completely nuts in Hugo's unique way. Hugo's prose is about half poetry.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-27070771505092214052015-11-09T12:09:55.264-06:002015-11-09T12:09:55.264-06:00milton was kind of science fictiony, this seems mo...milton was kind of science fictiony, this seems more like a marvel comics production... pretty impressive stuff, tho.Mudpuddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17194891656971454279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-43369328785730489932015-11-09T10:38:11.320-06:002015-11-09T10:38:11.320-06:00Great to know about this. The Blackmore's tran...Great to know about this. The Blackmore's translation you reference in your link above is one of the finest books of poetry I have on the shelves at home. Having previously known Hugo only via <i>Les Miserables</i> and <i>Hunchback</i>, I was - and continue to be - completely blown away by his poems. "A flight of butterflies stilled in ecstasy" - to describe carnations hanging from a vase above Hugo's daughters!seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-8912458250292669542015-11-09T08:12:43.139-06:002015-11-09T08:12:43.139-06:00Exactly. You are anticipating one of my jokes.Exactly. You are anticipating one of my jokes.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-21764948691642342532015-11-08T23:58:19.937-06:002015-11-08T23:58:19.937-06:00Dieu - autobiographical, no doubt.
As Samuel Butle...<i>Dieu</i> - autobiographical, no doubt.<br />As Samuel Butler said, "The greatest work of man's an honest God".Roger Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11012987757094423896noreply@blogger.com