tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post5391676782354765927..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: All that comfort and all that strength had left her now. - the uncomfortable Can You Forgive Her?Amateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-31905627852439123702014-01-15T23:46:32.452-06:002014-01-15T23:46:32.452-06:00This is an idea worth exploring.This is an idea worth exploring.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-63263178758455627552014-01-15T19:27:58.914-06:002014-01-15T19:27:58.914-06:00I'd say that a big part is a gift of the autho...I'd say that a big part is a gift of the author. There's a meaner world out thereGuy Savagehttp://www.swiftlytiltingplanet.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-51291752248926478752014-01-15T17:05:27.066-06:002014-01-15T17:05:27.066-06:00Whaqt it means - no, nor do I. That is just why I...Whaqt it means - no, nor do I. That is just why I am interested in how people use it. <a href="http://ellenandjim.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow">Ellen Moody</a> has written <a href="http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/trollope/moody2/comfort.html" rel="nofollow">a paper</a> titled "Trollope's Comfort Romances for Men." She actually only uses the word once, as if everyone knows what it means.<br /><br />Some people seem to read Trollope without noticing the Yahoos. I am with you on Swift - I have kept reading Trollope <i>because of</i> the Yahoos.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-53455191450559928742014-01-15T16:34:32.806-06:002014-01-15T16:34:32.806-06:00One of the greatest of satirical devils is in Flan...One of the greatest of satirical devils is in Flann O'Brien's play "Faustus Kelly." There, Satan flees in horror from Irish politics.<br /><br />Me, I'm buoyed by Swift's misanthropy; I cheer him on.<br /><br />I'm not sure what "comfort" means in literature. Alphonse Allais wrote a story called "Comfort"; it's about the lack of public toilets in London. Doug Skinnerhttp://www.dougskinner.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-43275325717064351842014-01-15T16:14:58.308-06:002014-01-15T16:14:58.308-06:00Now you are the generous one! Generous to a lot o...Now you are the generous one! Generous to a lot of Austen readers, I fear. <br /><br />Perhaps we are really just distinguishing among worldviews. Since I do not have a heart of stone, I laugh at Hardy's vision of things, but am brought up short by Swift's, or, less sharply, Trollope's. <br /><br />I believe Cazotte's devil is more human than most humans. Haven't read Andreyev.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-44496314122388473252014-01-15T15:52:33.195-06:002014-01-15T15:52:33.195-06:00On a side note, some satirists like Cazotte (Le di...On a side note, some satirists like Cazotte (Le diable amoureux) and Andreyev (Satan's Diary ) go as far as to present the Demon as a bigger fool than most humans.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-58900510108805985692014-01-15T15:43:17.575-06:002014-01-15T15:43:17.575-06:00Satirists see their fellow men as fools, not demon...Satirists see their fellow men as fools, not demons; they also see our lives as taking place in a moral cosmos, not inside an evil or absurd chaos.<br /><br />Because of those reasons, satire can be comforting, it can tell us that others are there to make us laugh and we're here to make those others laugh in turn. And that is a very comfortable vantage point.<br /><br />Writers like Hardy, if his poem Hap is to be trusted, have very different and discomforting opinions about our lives and sufferings in this world from those held by satirists like Austen, Trollope or even Swift.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-28457493197284662422014-01-15T14:57:35.594-06:002014-01-15T14:57:35.594-06:00Guy, you have gone right to a serious weakness in ...Guy, you have gone right to a serious weakness in my argument. What exactly do I think a "satirist" is? I do not think this is a problem I will take care of this week - too difficult.<br /><br />So, thanks!<br /><br />The question is something like: which part of he story is fiction? What if the generosity is exactly that, a gift of he author? Very interesting, to me at least.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-50714257997727275592014-01-15T13:30:13.300-06:002014-01-15T13:30:13.300-06:00Things don't always end exactly well. Some cha...Things don't always end exactly well. Some characters are run off the page. Some people don't get what they want. For this reader, I think Trollope's generosity to his characters may be where the 'comfort' comes from--if that's an adequate term. <br /><br />Compare to Hardy for example--the other end of the spectrum. I think Hardy is merciless with his characters.I wouldn't mind living in a Trollope novel, but Hardy's world is harsh and unforgiving. <br /><br />Some of Trollope's characters are BAD but their venom is contained and less destructive. Guy Savagehttp://www.swiftlytiltingplanet.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-62720578222547658712014-01-15T09:55:17.229-06:002014-01-15T09:55:17.229-06:00This is very interesting. It is obviously hard to...This is very interesting. It is obviously hard to look at with any objectivity. We are talking about physiological responses to literature! What could be more idiosyncratic?<br /><br />My task as a critic is to pull the response back into the text. How can the idea of comfort help us understand the <i>art</i> of Trollope? What does it help us see?Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-37064467180881807692014-01-15T09:44:09.787-06:002014-01-15T09:44:09.787-06:00I sent a comment but received an error message, so...I sent a comment but received an error message, so I'll try to reconstruct it. <br />Reading Trollope is like returning to an old friend. I never find him boring but there is a familiarity there (in common with Tony). He still manages to surprise. It's not the happy endings as lots of bad things happen, but for this reader, he's very calming. <br />I always read a classic at night before bed--no crime. I recently started Proust which I am loving BTW, but I found myself tossing and turning--perhaps dwelling on my own memories? Anyway, I had to switch to Trollope. Perhaps his books release chemicals in my brain. You'd have to hook me up to an MRI and monitor my brain waves or something. Guy Savagehttp://www.swiftlytiltingplanet.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-21487599119366881182014-01-15T09:16:29.830-06:002014-01-15T09:16:29.830-06:00Re: comfort. For me, reading Trollope is like retu...Re: comfort. For me, reading Trollope is like returning to an old friend. I always read classics at night before sleep (no crime). I recently started reading Proust which I love, btw, but I found that I was tossing and turning. Was I chewing it over? I don't know, but when I read Trollope I sleep better. I have no explanation beyond that really. His books are so genial--even the nasty characters are rendered impotent by events most of the time. Or they walk off the page. I don't think it's the happy endings. It's the narrative...perhaps even some sort of chemical release in the brain. You'd probably have to hook me up to some brain machine and monitor the brain waves. Guy Savagehttp://www.swiftlytiltingplanet.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-70707751729867174882014-01-15T08:10:47.262-06:002014-01-15T08:10:47.262-06:00Trollope can be dull, for good and bad reasons. H...Trollope can be dull, for good and bad reasons. He wrote so many books - there must be some that are dull pretty much all the way through.<br /><br />But he also can be tart, even sour at times. <br /><br />Guy, not <i>The Claverings</i>, no. This is just my 8th Trollope novel.<br /><br />What do you mean by comfort? I asked Tony, and he said it related to familiarity. In that case, my comfort reads include Flaubert, Kafka, and Faulkner. Familiarity seems kind of idiosyncratic.<br /><br />Or do the happy endings vitiate everything in the middle of the books?<br />Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-44692098725830851242014-01-15T03:38:17.221-06:002014-01-15T03:38:17.221-06:00Trollope is another 19th century I'm always wa...Trollope is another 19th century I'm always wary of reading because his novels are massive and I fear they'll be dull; I always feel this way about 19th century novelists, before I read them and realize they're great. In this case, the passages you quoted are very good.LMRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08538873868140070018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-7959140683872298492014-01-14T23:34:13.555-06:002014-01-14T23:34:13.555-06:00He's a comfort for me too. Have you read The C...He's a comfort for me too. Have you read The Claverings? Sophie Gordeloup is a remarkable character, but George in CYFH is also worth some consideration. A nasty piece of work indeed. Guy Savagehttp://wwww.swiftlytiltingplanet.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-28651266223067453662014-01-14T23:13:22.518-06:002014-01-14T23:13:22.518-06:00The ride you describe does not sound at all comfor...The ride you describe does not sound at all comfortable. Nor all that safe.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-78617683348267694532014-01-14T22:57:24.136-06:002014-01-14T22:57:24.136-06:00Never - although we know that Trollope (and everyo...Never - although we know that Trollope (and everyone else) will by the end...<br /><br />As for comfort - despite the bumpy ride, we know that we'll reach our destination safely, leaving us to enjoy the scenery in comfort, despite the lack of springs (or our seat on the roof).Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07546287562521628467noreply@blogger.com