tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post8083177007466373358..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: a kind of immense, Homeric laughter racked my entrails, unable to burst out freely - notes on The Late Mattia PascalAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-84420611695535175262015-09-23T11:42:02.038-05:002015-09-23T11:42:02.038-05:00Ah, then he is working on the same theme here. Th...Ah, then he is working on the same theme here. That is useful to know. Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-80067737831898776792015-09-23T11:14:27.099-05:002015-09-23T11:14:27.099-05:00You say, "The arbitrariness of Pirandello’s s...You say, "The arbitrariness of Pirandello’s story is an ingenious conceptual move that made the novel difficult to pin down. Pascal’s life is the one that happened, one of many possible lives. Given the chance to make a new life, he makes another series of arbitrary choices (also some less arbitrary choices) and experiences another set of contingencies. He rents a room with a theosophist, for example, which drives a surprising amount of the later plot, especially in an amusing séance scene. It is just something that happens (the theosophist would disagree). The Late Mattia Pascal is a novel of accidents." <br /><br />"Arbitrary choices," "chance," and "accidents" seem to me to be the key words I most often try to keep in mind in approaching anything written by Pirandello; those words, I think, encapsulate his consistent thematic POV regarding the absurdity of life. <br />R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-74229790186005561542015-09-22T16:13:37.825-05:002015-09-22T16:13:37.825-05:00I was thinking that Morandi's art is to paint ...I was thinking that Morandi's art is to paint arbitrary groupings of objects. Maybe. Who doesn't like Morandi? But the salmon just swallows the reproduction. The color, not the fish.<br /><br />The experiment is not quite pure in that Pirandello does pick a life and stick with it a bit. The potential is obvious enough. A novel with a different identity every couple of chapters, or something like that.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-65229201324681435242015-09-22T16:01:41.027-05:002015-09-22T16:01:41.027-05:00I've not read this, but have picked it up a co...I've not read this, but have picked it up a couple of times, attracted by the premise (a sort of pure existentialist experiment?), each time abandoning it after a few pages. I'll try again.<br /><br />Perhaps the Morandi painting was intended for the cover of <i>Six Characters...</i>?<br /><br />seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-56932518170955603612015-09-22T08:07:02.734-05:002015-09-22T08:07:02.734-05:00Yes, strong endorsements. It shares something of ...Yes, strong endorsements. It shares something of Machado's tone, as well as subject. Pirandello is not as Sternishly digressive as Machado once he gets past the opening chapters.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-43234681901093235222015-09-22T07:29:51.093-05:002015-09-22T07:29:51.093-05:00If it's reminiscent of Machado de Assis and tr...If it's reminiscent of Machado de Assis and translated by Weaver that's recommendation enough for me.... :)<br /><br />kaggsysbookishramblingsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com