tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post8277507664965777735..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: Our passionate story drowns in a deep sea of descriptive eloquence - Robert Louis Stevenson on detailAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-5503201652275300412010-04-27T16:23:34.716-05:002010-04-27T16:23:34.716-05:00CB - I think we are drowning in detail, artful and...CB - I think we are drowning in detail, artful and otherwise. I think I am brushing up against James Wood's "hysterical realism" here.<br /><br />Consider, for example, the Dunkirk section of Ian McEwen's <i>Atonement</i>. Or anything by Proustians like John Banville or Edmund White. The encyclopedists - Sebald, say, cataloguing the contents of a shop window in <i>Austerlitz</i>.<br /><br />We live in Flaubert's world. The well-chosen detail is a measure of artistic success. <br /><br />Or that's where I live, I guess. You may mean something different.<br /><br />Rohan - started, yes! But not exactly steaming ahead, which is not a comment on the novel but on extraneous matters such as work and school. So I'm in no hurry.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-87880764748535566562010-04-27T07:59:12.045-05:002010-04-27T07:59:12.045-05:00So you've started The Antiquary--guess I'd...So you've started <i>The Antiquary</i>--guess I'd better do the same, though it's hard to look forward to a mass of antiquarian details at the end of a long day of marking exams...Rohan Maitzenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12111722115617352412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-31583983883396187622010-04-26T11:44:03.202-05:002010-04-26T11:44:03.202-05:00Where do you think we now stand on the use of deta...Where do you think we now stand on the use of detail? It seems rare thesedays to encounter "literature" that includes the depth of detail typical of 19th century "literature". I think what passes as detail in more popular fiction is often just brand name-dropping.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06906212382849291562noreply@blogger.com