tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post4685383298643732964..comments2024-03-29T03:04:00.853-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: The octopus attacks - Hugo's uninterrupted mobilization of all the possible resourcesAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-29585542793078385462012-06-26T00:14:52.065-05:002012-06-26T00:14:52.065-05:00Astonishing, yes, and off in his own world. Frenc...Astonishing, yes, and off in his own world. French art was going through a darn strong phase during his lifetime, but no one had a vision like Hugo's.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-88286906372737887262012-06-25T13:04:29.711-05:002012-06-25T13:04:29.711-05:00Hugo's graphic output is astonishing. He left...Hugo's graphic output is astonishing. He left over 3500 drawings or paintings, often wildly experimental. I have a couple of books about them; browsing through them, I'm still surprised. What a huge, amazing, maddening creature he was...Doug Skinnerhttp://www.dougskinner.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-59464217609512160422012-06-22T16:21:17.927-05:002012-06-22T16:21:17.927-05:00Hugo's watercolors are amazing. And to think ...Hugo's watercolors are amazing. And to think that they were a completely private part of his life.<br /><br />The rough difference between Dostoevky and Hugo along these lines is that Hugo is profligate with image and metaphor while D. somehow finds himself giving every possible <i>point of view</i>. There is just one POV in a Hugo novel. He is the most omniscient of the omniscient. Dostoevsky spends a surprising amount of time arguing with himself. Confusing himself, refuting himself.<br /><br />Both can be bewildering. Less fixed ground than you might like. Or maybe that is exciting.<br /><br />Gide is arguing from a cleanly Flaubertian perspective. For example, Flaubert spent a lot of his time <i>removing</i> metaphors from his fiction. It is hard to believe that Hugo did the same.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-79792596996877887902012-06-22T11:57:10.012-05:002012-06-22T11:57:10.012-05:00"Hugo’s profligacy, of ideas, of images, and ..."Hugo’s profligacy, of ideas, of images, and of himself, of his own massive personality, is fascinating but also maddening." <br /><br />I was thinking something similar about Dostoyevski yesterday. He doesn't clarify his vision for his reader, he gives us all of his ideas to sort through, even the contradictory, tangential or bad ideas. "This is what I think about when I think about X."<br /><br />I might disagree with Gide's claim that "uninterrupted mobilization of all the possible resources" is a bad thing, though.<br /><br />And wow, I want Victor Hugo to illustrate my books. Someone needs to invent time travel this summer.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-23431200826621057952012-06-22T11:13:02.061-05:002012-06-22T11:13:02.061-05:00Ah, yes, that's Frank Norris. I've never ...Ah, yes, that's Frank Norris. I've never read him. Someday.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-63054743526453132732012-06-22T10:56:26.281-05:002012-06-22T10:56:26.281-05:00And there is no better image than the octopus to r...And there is no better image than the octopus to represent our major evil today: corporate greed.Shelleyhttp://dustbowlpoetry.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com