tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post6581999135722088570..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: too beautiful to let her read - writing other than dialogue in The Awkward AgeAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-45427461713838560702017-02-03T10:01:52.981-06:002017-02-03T10:01:52.981-06:00Rough going, isn't it? And there's no rel...Rough going, isn't it? And there's no relief, no point where James backs off to let me catch up. All the way to the end, which is about as satisfying as the rest of the novel promises.<br /><br />Your comments on the characters are great. Some of the minor male characters are not gay, but, yes, all of the main characters make more sense if they're gay. Then Mitchy becomes not just a ridiculous but a pathetic figure, and Van's story becomes one of evasion.<br /><br />The more I understand the novel, the more interesting it becomes, but what an effort.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-53703561498793265522017-02-02T23:22:23.811-06:002017-02-02T23:22:23.811-06:00I'm really struggling with The Awkward Age. I ...I'm really struggling with The Awkward Age. I did something I rarely do, which is to read the spoiler-laden introduction in the Penguin edition, as well as another summary from a slim volume of James criticism. Now that I know what to look for, perhaps I'll be able to stomach the vagueness of the descriptions and the meandering indirectness of the dialogue. I do like the heightened sense of wickedness that is emerging from the Brookenham salon, and the Duchess seems to be a living skeleton of decadence. The infamous daughter Nanda, like a Shakespearean hero, has yet to make her delayed appearance. I feel like the fossil Mr. Longdon (and I'm even slightly older). It's hard to believe that any of these male characters are even slightly interested in women; they're gayer than virtually all of the gay men I know, and their interest in these women appears to be that of fashion consultants rather than men with heteronormative libidos.<br />cwilson284https://www.blogger.com/profile/01095943424268993611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-7116445502760857182017-01-28T15:56:43.117-06:002017-01-28T15:56:43.117-06:00The Henry James contest could have separate catego...The Henry James contest could have separate categories for early, middle, and late James. <br /><br />The exciting thing about re-reading is the opportunity to replace the mistakes of my first reading with new, better mistakes.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-36165003307930059392017-01-28T12:57:39.044-06:002017-01-28T12:57:39.044-06:00You make me realize that the Bulwer-Lytton contest...You make me realize that the Bulwer-Lytton contest has completely lost the flavor of what made Bulwer-Lytton such a bad novelist in the first place. How much better to have a Henry James contest so you could write something like your comment about re-reading The Awkward Age (which I have just started as an homage to your blog):<br /><br />"He would, he mused, have realized that, had he re-read the slender yet ponderous tome, he would have missed--yes, have missed out on something else, a set of mistakes he would not have made, but instead, perhaps, if he had persevered, if he had rencountered the thing he earlier despised, re-examined it from every perspective, he would have come out--emerged, in fact, magnificently--yes, magnificently--in the end!cwilson284https://www.blogger.com/profile/01095943424268993611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-87488871238392661822017-01-28T08:09:20.825-06:002017-01-28T08:09:20.825-06:00Oh, I almost dread the idea of re-reading this nov...Oh, I almost dread the idea of re-reading this novel. The mistakes I have made! The things I have missed!Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-55800103393461883252017-01-28T04:23:33.627-06:002017-01-28T04:23:33.627-06:00I've enjoyed your quotations: you've remin...I've enjoyed your quotations: you've reminded me how witty HJ can be. It's so long since I read this novel that I admit I'd forgotten much of it, so was delighted to have it all brought back. Must reread it.Tredynas Dayshttp://tredynasdays.co.uknoreply@blogger.com