tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post3693848396799055784..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: Then he turned his attention to embroideries - the collage of The Picture of Dorian GrayAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-45266840261930446472016-07-02T16:34:02.014-05:002016-07-02T16:34:02.014-05:00Without the impetus of reading Wilde's critici...Without the impetus of reading Wilde's criticism, I doubt I would have read it a third time myself. But the essays - and letters - opened the book up in a new way.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-83903832616286996292016-07-01T14:14:48.912-05:002016-07-01T14:14:48.912-05:00That's my experience too. I won't be read...That's my experience too. I won't be reading it a third time...JaneGShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11094501834387622997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-35630786154287805912016-06-25T22:45:40.668-05:002016-06-25T22:45:40.668-05:00I can only say that I did know such people, and th...I can only say that I <i>did</i> know such people, and that I have never really fallen in love with this novel.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-87460597678260633302016-06-25T00:53:19.037-05:002016-06-25T00:53:19.037-05:00My theory on reading the novel is people read it f...My theory on reading the novel is people read it first in their late teens or early twenties and wish they knew people who talked like those in the novel, then a few decades go by and they reread it and say "is this the book I fell in love with long ago?". Mel uhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08714473754458914681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-35753927453986525072016-06-24T16:35:00.971-05:002016-06-24T16:35:00.971-05:00State Fair Earnest would make a good travesty.
JM...<i>State Fair Earnest</i> would make a good travesty.<br /><br />JM, thanks. The letters written "around" <i>Dorian Gray</i> are valuable. But even aside from them, the text revealed some new secrets.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-67887233159375709242016-06-24T14:25:10.480-05:002016-06-24T14:25:10.480-05:00As Cecily Cardew almost says: "I always take ...As Cecily Cardew almost says: "I always take a corndog when I travel. I believe everyone ought to have something sensational to eat on the train."Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00014242874264804584noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-22255365468643039742016-06-24T13:59:30.788-05:002016-06-24T13:59:30.788-05:00What a terrific post! A reread of Dorian Gray with...What a terrific post! A reread of Dorian Gray with a much broader context is a wonderful idea - the years and gender realignment I have been through may shed an interesting new light on the text to say the least.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07832272591627222078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-9459735603558238072016-06-24T09:47:19.631-05:002016-06-24T09:47:19.631-05:00Evil chicken fluffing. Evil fried butter on a sti...Evil chicken fluffing. Evil fried butter on a stick. Largest pumpkin (class: evil).Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-73531149181561632222016-06-24T09:12:51.652-05:002016-06-24T09:12:51.652-05:00State Fair Dorian Gray is my favorite. Hipster Do...State Fair Dorian Gray is my favorite. Hipster Dorian would have been too obvious, and we quilters need the love. :)Jeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14247515387599954817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-48346021999862520372016-06-24T08:23:27.163-05:002016-06-24T08:23:27.163-05:00"Serious arts," exactly - seriously EVIL..."Serious arts," exactly - seriously EVIL arts! Evil, evil embroidery. Dorian likes the 17th century, too - Louis XIV stuff. He's like me, he likes everything.<br /><br />Maybe I should have gone for <i>Brooklyn Hipster Dorian Gray</i>, who granted eternal youth spends it making artisanal soap, listening to Grizzly Bear, and growing organic kale and a long beard, while his portrait remains beardless. But I went with <i>State Fair Dorian Gray</i> which seemed funnier. "And then he really got into baking."<br /><br />I think I'm going to address Bill's comment with my post today, but I'll say here that the first time I read this novel I fell for the Preface like a sucker, the second time I was deeply confused by the discord Bill mentions - his description is exactly right - and this time I felt I finally had a sense of the game Wilde is playing.<br /><br />The auction room stuff is pure Huysmans, close to plagiarism.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-14625901167211922492016-06-23T18:50:01.948-05:002016-06-23T18:50:01.948-05:00Hm, is it a good idea to eat Dorian's evil bre...Hm, is it a good idea to eat Dorian's evil bread-and-butter pickles? :)Jeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14247515387599954817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-77238375300026255402016-06-23T18:49:08.699-05:002016-06-23T18:49:08.699-05:00Ahahaha, embroideries and quilting. Hey, those ar...Ahahaha, embroideries and quilting. Hey, those are serious arts, I'll have you know! I spent part of my UK trip swooning over 17th century embroideries, but Victorians thought 17th century embroidery was hideous (it's an acquired taste, certainly), so Dorian wouldn't have been into it--he would have liked pseudo-medieval stuff maybe.... Jeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14247515387599954817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-88120430767105967902016-06-23T17:06:28.137-05:002016-06-23T17:06:28.137-05:00I re-read this recently, only for the second time,...I re-read this recently, only for the second time, though I remembered very little of my first reading 40 years ago. I was struck by the discord between the Preface and the novel itself, which seems as moralistic as any piece of Victorian fiction I can recall. I thought many of Wilde’s descriptions of objects had an air of the auction room about them, emphasizing materials and provenance. I too liked the penny dreadful horror story aspect, which mainly showed up in the last quarter or so; the visit to the opium den was particularly good.Bill from PAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14195033244316383976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-2657526651140522892016-06-23T16:28:07.826-05:002016-06-23T16:28:07.826-05:00Quite a few late Victorians and Edwardians turned ...Quite a few late Victorians and Edwardians turned their attention to embroideries for some reason: Saki and Lord Kitchener were two of them.Roger Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11012987757094423896noreply@blogger.com