tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post3656322217396638678..comments2024-03-29T03:04:00.853-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: The Austrian Literature Non-Challenge - Mellow fruit unendinglyAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-27325893527457764612013-01-04T21:01:27.851-06:002013-01-04T21:01:27.851-06:00Job is a good idea. Let's schedule it in for ...<i>Job</i> is a good idea. Let's schedule it in for (vague mumbling) sometime. Details to follow.<br /><br />The novel violates my idea of a cutoff by a decade, but is 1) <i>about</i> the earlier period, 2) short, which I appreciate, and 3) allows me to revisit some of the ideas and scenery from my old Yiddish reading project; I am thinking especially of S. Ansky's stunning 1925 <a href="http://wutheringexpectations.blogspot.com/2009/04/war-is-different-matter-s-anskys.html" rel="nofollow"><i>THe Destruction of Galicia</i></a>. Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-28984565859284088182013-01-04T19:18:13.557-06:002013-01-04T19:18:13.557-06:00Since I read Joseph Roth's Job for the German ...Since I read Joseph Roth's <i>Job</i> for the German Literature Challenge and then didn't get around to writing about it, perhaps I can use it for this round?seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-84172909499351525702013-01-03T22:37:37.830-06:002013-01-03T22:37:37.830-06:00I have to pick! That's tricky. I will have t...I have to pick! That's tricky. I will have to ponder. The Stifter novel I am reading has a lot of curious lore about gardening and flowers and seeds, but I do not believe that will be my choice for you.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-36980195205776087082013-01-03T20:31:12.977-06:002013-01-03T20:31:12.977-06:00My comment was written before yours--I'm volun...My comment was written before yours--I'm volunteering in general, not claiming I want to read the Kubin.Sparkling Squirrelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10899640164757220074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-29933884118006190952013-01-03T20:27:45.723-06:002013-01-03T20:27:45.723-06:00I'm game, but by my same rules-- you pick (and...I'm game, but by my same rules-- you pick (and provide?) and I'll read.Sparkling Squirrelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10899640164757220074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-73058182847385724262013-01-03T20:25:54.023-06:002013-01-03T20:25:54.023-06:00I am already having regrets along the lines you su...I am already having regrets along the lines you suggest. The specific name of the current regret is "Stefan George" but others will likely arise.<br /><br />You have included one of my internal arguments for <i>not</i> going to far past the end of the war. In 1900 the empire is intact, the bourgeois are confident, and the hot ticket is a seat to hear whatever crazy violation of musical common sense Richard Strauss has come up with, perhaps after sitting for a Klimt portrait. <i>Some</i> Viennese were in a restless mood.<br /><br />Maybe Vienna Plus is a better name for what I am doing. <br /><br />I think Kubin counts as Austrian, though. If anyone wants to take a run at his strange novel <i>The Other Side</i> (1909), let me know.<br /><br />Also, if I want to get serious about the other German literature of this time that means Thomas Mann and more Thomas Mann; just the idea exhausts me.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-24257986623137894552013-01-03T17:20:54.483-06:002013-01-03T17:20:54.483-06:00I can't help feeling you'll be missing som...I can't help feeling you'll be missing something in your intention by confining yourself to this place called "Austria" which existed pre-1918.<br /><br />Another idea (which may be true or not) is that the German-speaking "Austrians" were conservative and backward-looking, bewailing their loss of empire / privilege, while it was the Other-speaking "non-Austrians" who were eager for a new dawn of, er, nationalism, radicalism and existential alienation. - And what about those other "non-Austrian" German-speakers a bit to the north, whom we tend to refer to these days as "Germans". Munich's not so far from Vienna, after all - and people wrote some quite strange stuff (I'm thinking of Alfred Kubin).<br /><br />Which is all to say, if I find any German-language "Austrian" books in my non-German or Russian-language Eastern European project, I'll be sure to join in.obookihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03885121629202810216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-24952854493505143712013-01-03T16:58:17.973-06:002013-01-03T16:58:17.973-06:00Lemme go check your list.
Hmmm. Kafka's Diar...Lemme go check <a href="http://storberose.blogspot.com/2013/01/2013-reading-list-resolutions-and-call.html" rel="nofollow">your list</a>.<br /><br />Hmmm. Kafka's <i>Diaries</i> are in the realm of possibility, but I fear that would be a uniquely bad readalong kind of book. <br /><br />Now, there are still the Borges lists - maybe some more Gustav Meyrink is in order? Maybe?<br /><br />Never mind. Forget Austria and read <i>Tristram Shandy</i>!Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-86047925483012350342013-01-03T16:39:37.850-06:002013-01-03T16:39:37.850-06:00I'll see if I can join you with some readings....I'll see if I can join you with some readings. But I can't promise you anything; my hands are quite full this year. But obviously I'll enjoy following your thoughts on this.LMRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08538873868140070018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-26778709686831600112013-01-03T14:38:35.660-06:002013-01-03T14:38:35.660-06:00Yes, unless I start to wander in an interesting di...Yes, unless I start to wander in an interesting direction. Broch will make an appearance or two, though, in the specialized role of an expert on Hofmannsthal.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-56533478492731217282013-01-03T11:47:38.278-06:002013-01-03T11:47:38.278-06:00Ach, a cutoff! I guess I can return Broch and Cane...Ach, a cutoff! I guess I can return Broch and Canetti to their place on the shelf.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-70411979216242318702013-01-03T11:17:44.723-06:002013-01-03T11:17:44.723-06:00In the past I had a strict chronological cutoff - ...In the past I had a strict chronological cutoff - 1914 for Scottish, 1919 for Portuguese. Although I am reluctant to go too far past 1919 - if there is a cusp, 1920 is definitely on the other side of it - the hard cutoff does not make as much sense here. I don't know.<br /><br />I'll do something with Kraus tomorrow - he is essential reading here, someone I am anticipating with pleasure - and blow some smoke about Musil. <br /><br />I have not read <i>The Man without Qualities</i>. The big appeal of that book in this context (aside from it being really good!) is that it is an <i>interpretation</i> of the period I'm interested in here. So it would likely be even more useful than Schnitzler or Trakl or whoever. <i>The Radetzky March</i> has the same problem and potential - too late, but obviously directly relevant.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-3280440031316341622013-01-03T09:32:45.951-06:002013-01-03T09:32:45.951-06:00This is a (non) challenge I could love. Not too br...This is a (non) challenge I could love. Not too broad to be unfocused or too narrow to be uninteresting. And timely, I recently finished Karl Kraus' The Last Days of Mankind and thought it was hilarious.<br />http://severalfourmany.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/1989/<br /><br />I hope you haven't read Musil's The Man Without Qualities so many times that it won't be included. I think I am about due for a reread.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-84875205784260570652013-01-03T08:18:20.881-06:002013-01-03T08:18:20.881-06:00Oh, yes, that is a good idea - join up by proxy du...Oh, yes, that is a good idea - join up by proxy during the Caroline \ Lizzy November German event. A good time for a roundup.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-39850813494264880342013-01-03T03:53:59.151-06:002013-01-03T03:53:59.151-06:00I'll be happy to join your non-challenge at so...I'll be happy to join your non-challenge at some point during the year (in November, if all else fails...). There are too many great Austrian writers I haven't even tried yet.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07546287562521628467noreply@blogger.com